Harrison Brace Slumlord evicted my family in Okmulgee Oklahoma OKmulgee Oklahoma

My family moved into a home of Mr. Harrison Brace in Feb of 2007, We used EVERY penny we had to pay the rent and deposit etc just to move in. We did the cleaning of the house, painted the walls etc. After moving in, when trying to get the gas on-we discovered we could not get the gas on as there was a gas leak. We called Mr.Brace and advised him that there was gas leak. I stayed at home for the next 3 weeks waiting on the plumber to come fix it and NOONE ever showed up. I kept calling Mr. Brace back and he kept tellign me that the plumber had come by and noone was home-which was a total lie. We had to go by space heaters, electric burners to cook on. We boiled water for baths etc. We spent tons of money just to properly take care of our children. Finally the plumber came and even admitted he had never been to the house before and didn't know what Mr. Brace was talking about. So when he left we called the gas company, who came and said still a leak. Plus we discovered black mold growing in the dining room walls around a window. I started gettig sick and staying sick(I am allergic to mold) and called him daily and even walked to his house(2 blocks down on same street and same side of street). He kept promising it would get fixed. Finally the gas did come on but not until 3.5 months after moving in. Then we got a major water leak in back yard-cost us 2 water bills over $200 each as he would nto fix the leak. We continued to have major problems with the house and the mold problem, holes in the floors etc. So I called and was advised by state agency and several attorneys to advise him that we were nto paying anymore rent. That we would be moving. My husband had been working for Mr. Brace as maintenance-half his money was goign toward rent every week which is how to rent was paid. Well my husband quit working for him and we advised him that no rent would be paid until the damages were fixed, if not within a week we would be moving as the house was not safe to be living in. That very afternoon he filed paper work in small claims to sue us for $1300 back due rent-claiming we had not been paying, denying how many hours my husband had been putting in etc. It was nto filed in eviction court-as he would have lost. The judge even admitted he was a slumlord, that it was nto right what he was doing but we should have moved and would not have been liable for rent. Well that is what we were doing is moving when we got this filed on us. He had been keeping half of my husbands money for 5 months. He knew that he was in the wrong. He has evicted or taking to small claims HUNDREDS of people for the same thing. I have talked to dozens of people in OKmulgee that have suffered the same problem and he har ruined them as well. Thanks to him, I can't get a mortgage or even a good house to rent all because of what he has done. He needs to be stopped as he owns ALOT of homes throughout okmulgee county. ALL OF THEM ARE PURE CRAP.

Heather
Okmulgee, Oklahoma
U.S.A.