frustrated with landlord

My husband, daughter and I live in a 2 BR 1 BA house in rural Carroll County, Tennessee. Our actual landlords live out of state. However, their son lives within 10 miles of us. He's the one that had us sign a printed list of rules, takes the rent and well, supposed to maintain the place. We've been living here for a little more than 5 years now. But my problem is my landlord refuses to fix anything. There are holes in the roof of the well house, leak in the roof of the back porch, rotted wood with mold/mildew around the bathtub and stains and a hole in the carpet. The house has original electric wiring and plumbing. When notified about a leak under the house from the kitchen sink and the bathtub not draining properly, he come out but only half-a**ed fixed them. It took us 3 years of living there to get him to finally replace the kitchen floor; he still just half fixed it. He told us that whatever repairs are needed are on us to fix, even though it was in that condition when we moved in. How's that our responsibility? There's a hole in the back door at the door knob, so anyone could easily break in. It still hasn't been replaced. The ceiling fan in the living room has a short in the wiring for the lighting and the fan has only 3 blades. He won't replace that. We still have a FUSEBOX! I've called about 100 different numbers about this issue, and where I live there's no one to help me with this. Our landlords' son recently divorced his wife. When they separated, he gave her the house; his parents told him to just kick us out and move in. Because he won't do that, they said they're not putting another dime into the place. Is that legal? Can they just kick us out for no reason? We've always paid our rent, and we even pay for the propane tank to sit in our yard and the gas that goes in it. It's, well, obviously propane heated and window air conditioning. The only thing our landlords actually paid since we moved in was the well went out twice, new storm door on back porch, kitchen floor to just be covered with plywood and business-office-carpet, a small and thin sheet of metal to go in the hole at the bottom of our front storm door. That's it! In 5 years, that's all they've done with the place! My husband actually replaced the rusted door knob on back door( the one with the hole), fixed the well himself before we even moved in, and a bunch of other small things that needed fixing. Please, I need help. Is there any legal action that I can take to have them REALLY fix the house, even though there is no lease agreement and it's month to month tenancy?

Let's take these issues one by one.

Repairs:
There are holes in the roof of the well house - this isn't a living area. Like holes in the roof of a garage, he doesn't have to fix it since it is cosmetic. It won't rain on your head or furniture there.
A leak in the roof of the back porch - again, not a living area. Cosmetic. Unless it is leaking inside the house, it doesn't have to be fixed.
Rotted wood with mold/mildew around the bathtub -this is something that needs fixed. Follow the procedure below for this.
Stains and a hole in the carpet - stains are cosmetic. He doesn't have to do anything. The hole, if a tripping hazard, should be fixed. He can cover it with a plate or a transition strip. He is under no obligation to replace the carpet as long as you live there.
The house has original electric wiring - still legal. As long as no electric improvements or updates are done to the house, it is grandfathered in under the code of the last remodel or the time of building. If it hasn't had any electric improvements recently, it could be legal under the code of that time. Only the building inspector could tell you what code the house has to meet.
Original plumbing. -same as electric. It has to function but can be out of compliance with new modern codes if no updates are made.
A leak under the house from the kitchen sink - needs to be fixed.
The bathtub not draining properly - if you can't plunge it, it needs fixed. If it found to be clogged with your hair, you can be charged for it. Use a strainer in all drains. If it is found to be clogged with mineral deposits, you should not be charged.
There's a hole in the back door at the door knob -this should be fixed. It can be covered with a metal plate. (The door does not have to be replaced. Was this were a deadbolt was?) Or could a deadbolt be installed in that spot? That would fix it and give you added security for a couple of dollars.
The ceiling fan in the living room has a short in the wiring and the fan has only 3 blades. - this should be repaired or replaced.
We still have a FUSEBOX! - see above on original wiring. Fuseboxes are still legal if grandfathered under the code of that time. So is knob & tube wiring and knife switches if grandfathered. The house has to meet the code that it is under, not current codes.

The remedy to repairs above: Don't call for them! It does you no good as it doesn't make a paper trail about any of them. You can't prove you ever asked for them to be fixed. *WRITE* a letter requesting the needed repairs noted above. Send it certified mail, return receipt requested. Keep a copy of the letter and the postcard that comes back. If he doesn't fix these things within 30 days, see TN Code 66-28-502 on how to repair and deduct the cost from your rent. You can only repair and deduct needed repairs, not the cosmetic items. Make sure you follow the statute exactly! You should be following this procedure on all repairs. Keep a log on all requests for repairs and what the LL did. If the son won't fix it, send an additional copy to the actual out of state owners (whose address you should be able to find on the county tax auditor's web site.)

Request to vacate:
His parents told him to just kick us out and move in. - The really bad news is yes, they can just kick you out. You have no lease and therefore, no protection against this. As a month to month tenant, either the LLs or their agent (or you) can give the other person a written notice of 30 days to move out. They can give you a 30 day notice to move and you have no recourse. But on the other hand, you can do the same. With all the problems here, why not? Give them a notice, find another place to move to that doesn't have these problems, and move out. Make sure you give them this notice on or before the next rent due date. Keep a copy of the notice. Take photos when you move out to prove you left the place clean and in good shape. Good luck.

Well, I guess you're right about the well house. But our back porch leak is a(n) electric shock and fire hazard. Guess I forgot to mention that. I do remember mentioning, however, we can't afford to move anywhere. I can't find any info about any housing codes in Carroll County. I've called dozens of numbers, state and federal, about possible housing codes; I can't find a damn thing. I know there is at least a federal standard for housing. I actually fixed the bathtub drain myself unknowingly.....was happy about that. But the mold/mildew in the rotted wood along the bathtub has already, I'm afraid, affected our daughter. She had RSV this last winter, but thankfully she was over it in just a few weeks and didn't have to be hospitalized. I think the fact that our LLs could evict us for no reason is bull****. I think it should be illegal no matter what type of tenant you are. To me, the only legal eviction is for reason of nonpayment of rent, abuse to the "lease" agreement or property, etc. We haven't done either. What has been accidentally broken or torn, however, we fixed that very week. Our LLs' son said that the kitchen sink leak has been fixed. Not true. We had the phone wire replaced under the house, and the tech said otherwise. He said it's a small leak, so we know it's been "somewhat" fixed. My question now is this: is there any action I could take to change this "since-I'm-only-a-month-to-month-tenancy-there-is-nothing-I-can-do-about-repairs-or-take-recourse-for-no-reason-eviction" thing? It's total crap, and any tenant should be able to have something done; it shouldn't matter what kind of tenant.

Bottom line: No. The law only gives you security when you are in a fixed term lease or in one of a few areas of the country (rent controlled areas, NY, NH, CA, etc.) Anywhere else, you can be told to leave (not evicted) at anytime. You will be given 30 days notice in TN (in some states you can get only 7 days notice to move out). If you fail to leave when you are told, then you will be evicted. The only way around this is to commit to another fixed term lease. This law is for tenant's protection so they can give notice to leave and move out whenever they want to. It is also in there so a LL can get rid of a bad tenant. (LLs normally prefer that tenants sign leases since that would obligate you to stay through the whole term.) No way around this in your state or most other states. You could move to one of the areas listed if you want the security to not be asked to move out.

Check out the cdc's website on rsv. It says nearly all children will get this by age 2. It is extremely common.

For housing codes, you need to call your local building inspector, building department, or code inspector. Look in the phone book or call city hall and ask who issues building permits. He should be in the same office. If not, try the local health department. State and federal phone calls will get you no where.