This case is on appeal in 2014 for the second time.
In 2007 I rented a newly built detached house that was one of three on a property lot but the other houses were owned by the residents. The landlord turned out to be a real shady old man. This was a 2000 sq ft house without window coverings but he said he was just waiting until he had a tenant before getting them. After I moved in, he refused to provide them. Then the water bill was high and turns out he had an oversized meter installed so he could lie to the insurance company about having sprinklers in the house. I had to pay a surcharge every month on the water bill for the meter while landlord got reduced insurance rate. A toilet was broken when we moved in but he refused to repair it. And he would hang around the property every day just popping in whenever I opened a door or the garage. Or he'd come around through the back patio. Or he'd just sit outside in his car. We just dealt with all. In the summer of 2008, pigeons began nesting in the roofline overhang of the house. Landlord refused to do anything so I called a guy out to repair but the landlord threatened to sue him if he touched the house. Problem got worse with baseball wads of pigeon feces falling from the house and windows glued shut with pigeon crap. But the noise was unbearable and we couldn't sleep. Landlord finally had someone install spikes, which of course the guy I hired had already said spikes would make it worse and they did. The pigeon crap was now not being pushed out of their nests but retained in the roof. The house started to smell. I contacted every agency imaginable but they all said that if the pigeons aren't in the house there is nothing they can do. Eventually, even with all the air purifiers I bought, we couldn't sleep or eat in the house so we moved to my ex-husband's house. I harassed the health agency and city enough until they came out and upon inspection they ordered the landlord to repair. I refused to pay rent for that month because we couldn't live in the house. The landlord filed for eviction. The Commissioner refused the evidence, basically I didn't pay rent so I'm out. I moved our stuff to storage and we went into a hotel because finding a rental house takes time. I appealed the case. Appellate court reversed the decision. I go back for a new trial but with the same Commissioner. He was pissed that I had gotten the case reversed and he said his decision would be the same. I got him recused from the case for relationship with opposing attorney. After the case was reassigned it somehow got sent back to the Commissioner who then lied about the recusal so he could decide the case. New trial was a waste of time and the ruling was ludicrous. Commissioner said that yes there was a pigeon infestation (pictures and letters of health agency too much to deny) but that there was only "maybe" an odor from the infestation, (only my daughter and I testified about the odor) so there was no breach of the implied warranty of habitability. I spent $6,000 on the first appeal and another $20,000 to get through the second trial all so the Commissioner could lie about jurisdiction and then rule in favor of the landlord because I hadn't 100% proven an infestation had ODOR. Case is on appeal again.