My name is Valerie Raith. I'm a forty-one year-old trans woman living with my wife Kymberlee in New Bedford.

In November of 2024, a large hole, three feet across, opened up in the bathroom of my apartment due to years of water damage that happened before I got there. My wife stepped down from the shower onto that section of floor, and almost fell through when it gave way.

We were able to cover it with a 2x4, but there would still be a six or seven foot drop to concrete below if the board broke. You can see what the hole looked like in the pictures.

My landlord, who I shall not name, at first thought I was referring to a hole in the bathroom floor in the unit above me, which had sprung a leak earlier that year. So he ignored it. I informed him about it three more times, and finally had to get the board of health involved to get him to fix it. And he still didn't send someone to fix it until the very last day of the Board of Health deadline.

Now, however, he claims we owe $9800 for missed rent. When I reminded him about the ignored safety hazard, he deducted $614 for "Inconvenience."

We need to make the rent ASAP, and while we are looking into housing assistance to help with this, it usually only covers up to $7000

Once we pay this rent, Kymberlee and I need to find a new place to live. I work full-time, Kym does not work yet. We did fill out applications for low income housing, but those wait lists are long.

I have a notice to quit from the landlord and I'm hoping it won't come to that.