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Ok, so last year my husband and dropped off an application for an apartment. At that time, we told there would be an apartment available April 1st. When we dropped off the deposit, they then said they'd already rented the April 1st apartment, but there would be one available May 1st and had us sign the lease at that time (almost 2 months before 5/1). At that moment, we didn't realize it was the lease, they made it seem like it was just some paperwork for the deposit, however in retrospect we should have known. We asked for a copy of it and they wouldn't give it to us because they hadn't put a move in or out date in it yet. When we asked why not, or at least why we couldn't have a copy, they said because they hadn't been in the apartment and couldn't guarantee it wouldn't need work that would take more than a day or two. We asked then for our deposit back because we were under the impression we could move in on May 1st like they'd said and we couldn't just sit and wait until 4/31 to find out if we could move in the next day or if we'd have to wait and how long. They refused because we'd already signed the lease and still wouldn't give us a copy. We ended up having to move into a two bedroom apartment with my parents for two weeks along with our two year old daughter because when 5/1 finally came around they said we couldn't move in until the 12th due to having to replace the carpet. Now, we are having trouble with them because after us having signed the lease, they put the dates in as moving in 5/12 and terminating the lease on 6/31, making it a more than 13 month lease instead of the 12 month we had agreed to. We want out ASAP because we are expecting our 2nd child in June and wanted to get the move over and done with before she comes and this place is just horrible (bugs, spiders like you can't even imagine, earth worms in my living room every time it rains, constantly breaking heater, leaky water heater, molding wall in 2nd bathroom, etc.)
Our question is, does anyone know of any laws or anything we can use to get out of here 5/31 like we should be able to or sooner, without giving up my deposit and having to pay rent for the month of June? This was supposed to be a upscale neighborhood (by local standards) and we are paying a decently high rent for this area, yet we might as well have moved into low-income housing or the ghetto for all we got for the money.