I appreciate the advice! I have read a lot about putting money into an escrow and sending a certified letter, but I thought the certified part had to be from an attorney. I don’t know shit about law lol. I’m very worried about this escalating and the landlord trying to evict me for not paying rent, as they have already tried to tell me to “leave if I don’t like it so much”. The issues involved are a pretty bad mice infestation (by lease they had to keep the apartment mostly free of pests, by law they have to fix ports of entry in the infrastructure). The second is my radiator not working, which really sucked the couple nights it was in the 30’s.

I can perfectly understand why withholding rent is within my right and necessary if I want the repairs done, but I don’t feel like the people who are still not fixing my issues for over a month, even after the inspector deemed the building “unfit for humans”, will have the same understanding. Common sense is lacking in some departments on their end. I feel like they will try to evict me and I don’t have anywhere to go or to put my stuff should this happen, so I was hopeful to find a reduced-cost or free lawyer in case, as I moved from a city that had some organizations like that.