What is slum housing?
Slum housing refers to highly populated urban residences that are lacking in sanitation, safety, or infrastructure, often due to the neglect of the landlord. Slums are associated with poverty and its effects are often dangerous on the people who live in those conditions.
Your environment has a strong effect on your quality of living. Exclusions of basic needs — or the existence of unwanted and dangerous conditions — are highly linked to physical and psychological effects.
What are the physical health effects of slum housing?
The physical health effects of living in squalid conditions can be various. All of the following situations are attributed to slum housing and may be brought into a lawsuit:
● Bed bugs or other infestations
● Sewage malfunctions
● Water damage due to flooding and inadequate action taken by the landlord
● Mold or weakening infrastructure (often due to water damage)
● Defective plumbing
● Unmanaged, poor, or nonexistent electricity
● Lack of access to water
● Carbon monoxide or lead poisoning
● Compromised integrity of structures such as windows, stairs, or walls
● Cold conditions due to lack of heating
All of the above are just a few examples of how your physical health can be seriously compromised by the neglect of a landlord.
What are the psychological health effects of slum housing?
If you are being negatively affected physically by appalling living conditions, your mental health could be profoundly impacted as well, emotionally and socially. The psychological health effects of slum housing, just like the physical health effects, are numerous:
● Distress due to an emergency situation caused by the poor housing conditions
● Depression, especially due to the long-term effects of substandard living conditions
● Anxiety from chronic stress
● Stunted psychological development of children who grow up in such conditions
Can you take legal action against slum housing?
If you are subjected to slum housing conditions, you can take legal action. When a landlord refuses or ignores their duties as the property owner, they are liable to legal consequences. Evidence of your negative physical or psychological health effects will greatly strengthen your case against your slum housing conditions, but any evidence that you, as a tenant, have been living in uninhabitable conditions makes for a valid claim.
Tenants do have a responsibility for maintenance and ensuring that they take care of any habitability risks that they impose upon themselves, but a valid case of slum housing will involve health effects beyond the control of the tenant.
What are the laws for slum housing in California and in Los Angeles?
There are laws against slum housing in California and in Los Angeles. The California Tenants’ Guide outlines your rights as a tenant to habitability — both prior to when you move into a leased unit, as well as during your residence in that unit. This is due to an “implied warranty of habitability”, put into law during the California Supreme Court case Green v. Superior Court. In other words, you are entitled to habitability every time that you lease a property from a landlord. In Los Angeles, the same state law applies, so if you are living in unsuitable conditions, you may have a claim against your landlord.
A slum housing case may result in the landlord being forced to comply with adequate housing standards so that the tenants may enjoy the implied warranty of habitability. In addition, due to the physical and psychological damages, the tenant may be entitled to compensation.
What should you do if your wellbeing is negatively impacted by slum housing?
Slums can have extremely detrimental impacts on your well-being and should be addressed as soon as possible if your landlord continues to neglect their duties. Because of how serious slum housing can be, if you become a victim of it, it’s a good idea to consult a lawyer. Tenants Law Firm is here to help. Our team specializes in these cases to protect you against the potential impacts of slum housing. If you think you are entitled to a slum housing lawsuit, contact us by calling (310) 432-3200 or by using this form.