manager demands rent despite....

[Khristopher Kyle Garay]

hey y'all. I'm in a situation with my landlord and knowing that everyone here is in the realm of real estate, I'm looking for some tips on how to navigate the situation I'm in. I currently rent a 2 bedroom apartment in southern california and at the end of last year me and my spouse noticed that the carpet inside of our closet right next to our front door was completely soaked due to heavy rain fall (we had some heavy rain here since at least november 2019 to may 2020). We informed our landlord about the issue and only until march 2020 did the manager of the property decide to get a carpet shampooer and try to soak up the water from the carpet but the rain continued and our carpet went back to being soaked. The land lord is still yet to do anything about the moldy/mildew covered carpet. And because the carpet inside of the closet has been soaked for at least 5 months, the walls of the closet has mold growing up and down them! The stench is unbearable. We gave the landlord a formal notice on july 1st, telling him we will be withholding our rent until he fixes the problem, nothing has been done to fix the problem yet the manager is asking us for the rent already. Im just looking for some basic tips or advice on how to navigate this situation with as little stress as possible. Thank you all!