Sally and her one year old son, Junior, live in low income apartment building. Sally is a single mother since last year after her husband was fatally wounded in an accident at the shipping dock where he worked. Unfortunately since her husband was not working there for long he had no retirement, nor any type of accidental loss of life insurance to protect his family for moments like this.
Sally's landlord Mr. Sleak owns seven low income apartment buildings and comes by every month to pick up the rent money. Most of the clientele live from paycheck to paycheck, so Mr. Sleak comes by as not to lose out on a weekend splurge by his tenants.
Sally was forced to go back to work at the local restaurant as a waitress, and because she gave up the position when she had her son, and her husband was making enough to support the family, she needs to work two night shifts a week. Her boss gave her the other day shifts to her because he always had a soft spot in his heart for Sally and understood her situation.
Sally always dreaded rent day, because Mr. Sleak would come by and would always find an excuse to have an extended conversation with Sally. He always made her feel uncomfortable. However, she was always able to eventually end the conversation and close the door.
When Sally came home from work that day, her babysitter, Mary, told her that the back door of the apartment that leads to the pool is not closing all the way, she can get it closed with the lock, but unlock the lock and the door eventually opens up and Sally's son has been venturing closer to that door. Mary felt that Sally should not pay rent until Mr. Sleak fixed the door, it was a hazard to Junior. Mary also felt, since she was a clean air advocate, that the door should have a screen door so that it could be left open all the time for the fresh air.
When Mr. Sleak came for the rent, Sally asked him to please fix the door in the back. Mr. Sleak looked at the door and said, "It closes, all you have to do is lock it. I'll see what I can do, as for the screen door that is not part of my responsibilities, you want to add it no problem, but you can not take it with you if and when you leave one day.
The next day Sally told Mary her whole interchange with Mr. Sleak. Mary in her characteristic way started pounding her fist and telling Sally that this Mr. Sleak is taking advantage of her because she is single mother, a widow, you name it. She demanded that Sally stop paying the rent. And that screen door that is his responsibility and if she has to hang it is hers. Sally left for work, and was very confused, so she called you at your office to ask you if you can help her straighten these issues out for her.
Advise Sally about her different legal options. Would your opinion change if Sally were a very wealthy person living in a luxury apartment?