unsafe drinking water - deceived!

Hello all. I entered a month to month lease in a 32 unit apartment complex back in June. The landlord said that water was provided free, although I'm not sure if that is specifically mentioned in the contract. It is well water. There is an on-site laundry room (1 washer and dryer for all apts.) where I recently went to do laundry for the first time. Previously, I had gone to a laundromat in town. I found a notice from the EPA or somebody stating that our arsenic levels are 5x the EPA limit. This was never once disclosed or mentioned to me, not before or after I moved in. Nor was the laundry room ever mentioned to be the landlord's forum for posting notices or anything. Wondering what I can do about this. I have put in my 30 days and will be moving out soon since I lost my job and couldn't afford to pay this month's rent and now he's taking me to court and crap. I'm pissed. Can I sue for all the rent I've paid thus far? I would've never moved in had I known this. FYI: Arsenic is considered one of the worst contaminants of drinking water and causes cancer at higher rates than almost any other contaminant.

[OHlandlord]

You cannot sue for the rent money you've paid. You lived in the unit for that period and must pay for it. If you failed to pay for the rent for the last month, he can take you to court, get an eviction, get a judgment against you for any monies owed, and put it on your credit report hurting your score. It will stay on there for years for all future LLs to see. It will make it hard to find a good place to rent later. You will be unable to buy property or large items on credit, and it may raise the rates on any credit you now have (loans, credit cards, items bought on installment payments, etc.) This will be considered a default and many sources of credit have this in the fine print (they can raise your rates if you default on anything).

Additionally, I am puzzled by the term "month to month lease". Your agreement is either a month to month agreement that is written for one month and it renews each month thereafter; or it is a lease, written for a specific term. Which do you have? If you have a term lease and are breaking it, he can sue you for all the rent due to the end or the rent due until the unit is re-rented (depending on your state's law), utilties if your lease said you pay them, advertising costs, agent fees if he uses one to find a new tenant, and any other costs he suffers by way of you breaking your lease. So which do you have and what state are you in?

Next, you are panicking too soon. That notice may only apply to the water in the laundry and not to the water from the taps in your unit. (That may be why it is only posted in the laundry area.) Laundry water does not need to meet potability (drinkable) standards since you are only using it to wash with. Many laundries use a seperate source of water in areas covered by wells. (Otherwise, your tap might run dry if too much laundry is done.) The notice may be posted to remind you not to drink any water from that laundry area. You should have contacted the agency that posted the notice and asked for more information. If the EPA or a water quality department had noted contaminant levels in the drinking water at a dangerous level, the owner would have been ordered to remediate and correct the problem immediately. He may be ordered to truck in drinking water for the tenants in the building until the water meets quality control tests again. You should have contacted the agency that posted the notice to see if this was the case. Please post details about your rental contract and the name of your state.