Question: When to Stop Paying Rent?

[Carter Kemper]

My friend rents a 3 bed house in Columbus, Ohio. One night there were gunshots across the street and stray bullets hit the house. One bullet went through a window and into her roommate's head board. Police investigation found 6 bullets lodged into the house. 

Since then there have been murders on the street and one directly in front of the house.

All roommates have moved out and cleaned, done repairs, etc. The landlord is not interested in early termination of the contract which just renewed for 12 mo in July.  It has been a month and the window is not fixed and he is not willing to show the house for sub-leases.

She has paid through August but doesn't want keep paying. Should she stop paying and risk legal repercussions?

[Jim K.]

@Carter Kemper

There seems to be quite a lot of information missing here. Deliberate or not, this missing information makes this looks like a heavily slanted version of the truth.

1. When did the shooting happen? It seems that it was quite some time ago, as there have been, in the interim,"murders on the street and one directly in front of the house."

2. You also state that "the contract [lease?] which just renewed for 12 mo [months?] in July."

ERGO: Did all these murders happen since July? Or did your friend renew the lease in the full knowledge of how bad the neighborhood was, perhaps at a substantial savings over an apartment in a nicer part of town?

ERGO: Did your friend renew the lease after a full year with this landlord, knowing what his usual business practices were?