How to Break a Lease
November 7th, 2005 
Your apartment at “Buena Vista Village” looks out on a junkyard, is infested with roaches, your next-door neighbors are running a meth lab, your upstairs neighbor is a professional tap-dancer, your carpeting still smells like the urine of the previous tenant’s cats (which she definitely wasn’t allowed to have), your car has been broken into three times in the past month, and there are bullet holes in one wall of the complex that haven’t been covered up in the whole time you’ve been there.
With a living situation like that, you really want to break your lease now, and you now wonder why you ever signed it in the first place. Or maybe your apartment isn’t all that bad, but you recently got transferred to a different state for your job, and you’ve got to get out of Dodge right away in order to keep up your obligations with your company. Whatever your reason, you want to break your lease—even though you may have only a vague idea of what the terms of the lease actually were. In order to get out of your lease in the least painful way possible, you’ll probably need to do a lot of research and documentation and even more persuading. This article will help you with both.
First and foremost, you need to get some legal advice tailored to your individual situation and lease contract. If you don’t have or can’t afford your own lawyer, get in touch with your local legal aid office and contact tenants’ rights organizations. Attorneys can be expensive, but being sued by your landlord for breaking your lease could be much more costly. If you don’t want to pay the rest of the rent that you’ve committed to shell out by signing the lease, you’d better get some sound advice so you don’t end up paying more than you had to in assorted late fees or other conditions stated in obscure parts of your lease. Tenants’ rights organizations are experienced in representing tenants who want to break their lease, and they’ve likely seen almost every situation imaginable—as well as a good number of pretty unimaginable situations.
The legal aid you acquire may tell you there’s not much to be done. You entered into a legal agreement of your own accord, after all, and you knew—or should have taken pains to investigate—the physical condition of the apartment and grounds and the nature of the available amenities before signing the lease. For this reason, claims about noise problems or facilities shortcomings are generally unlikely to work well unless you can thoroughly document the existence and severity of the problems, your attempts to have them resolved, and your landlord’s failure to do so. The vague complaint of “too much noise” is probably useless; you knew (or should have known) the noise level of the apartment complex when you moved in. For example, why move in to a rowdy complex that caters to hard-partying college students if you start work at 5 in the morning? Your landlord is only responsible for providing basic amenities and ensuring your “reasonable enjoyment” of your rental unit. The definition of reasonable varies wildly from person to person, and even if your demands seem reasonable to you, they might not seem so to your landlord—or to a judge in court.
1. Find an easy out
Once you line up some legal resources, investigate the terms your lease to see if there’s any clause that provides you with an opportunity to break lease early. Perhaps you can get out by giving two months’ notice or by finding someone else to rent the place in your stead. These are viable options that you should carefully consider. If your lease itself doesn’t point to any easy outs, the best approach is probably to find something wrong with the apartment that’s impeding your own personal well-being and hasn’t been fixed by your landlord despite repeated and well-documented requests. You’ll need significant documentation of such an issue, of course, so don’t just claim the chipped paint is chipping away at your psyche and head out the door. You might feel saner in another apartment, but you’ll still be paying rent for your old one. Requirements vary by state, but in many situations you’ll need to prove that you repeatedly notified the owner of the apartment (not necessarily the management—be sure you know who to get in touch with) via certified mail with return receipt requested and provided ample time for him or her to fix the situation cited. For this reason, repair issues may not be the best way to get out of your lease fast—you may just end up successfully getting the repairs done instead of successfully getting out of your apartment.
2. Find something wrong
Likewise, if particular amenities were promised to you upon move-in but have never surfaced (or do not work), their absence is only a factor if you can document your landlord’s claims to provide. Your landlord is legally obligated to provide only what’s in the lease; unless the lease promised specific amenities, you’re not likely to get far by complaining about the absence of such features. Landlords are allowed to change their minds; tenants, sadly, are not (not about keeping the lease, at least). Even if you were promised a swimming pool by next summer and they haven’t cleared the ground for one by mid-June, the lack of the pool is only significant if you can prove its presence was guaranteed in a legally binding way. Don’t expect casual conversations to hold up in court—focus instead on obtaining and understanding written agreements from the beginning, rather than after the fact.
Turn on the waterworks—because yours have been turned off
Living without water or heat is a tear-jerking situation for sure. If your apartment complex has been so neglige
nt (perhaps in part due to your sketchy neighbors failing to pay their bills) that the utilities are shut off, you’re home free. Once the lease is broken by one party—the landlord, by failure to provide utilities—it’s breakable by the other party. (Likewise, if you fail to pay rent, the landlord’s obligations to provide safe housing and utilities and respond to your complaints are also out the window—so know what you’re doing when trying to break your lease.) As always, it’s advisable to consult with your legal aid and landlord in this situation so everyone knows that you’re leaving and why.
Beyond finding something wrong with your apartment, you do have other options for breaking lease:
3. Don some fatigues
The easiest way to break lease is may be by signing up for a stint in the military, as landlords are legally required to let you out of your contract early if you’re going into the service. Be aware, though, that you’ll still need to notify your landlord of the situation in advance and possibly pay a month or two of rent before you’re in the clear. If you’re not yet ready to shoulder a rifle, don’t fret; there are still other options to explore.
4. Pay out the nose
While not a desirable way to break your lease, you can probably get out of it by just paying the months of rent left according to your contract. If you’re getting out only a month or two early and aren’t too short on funds (perhaps you’re moving due to a promotion accompanied by a sweet salary increase), your easiest option might just be to suck it up and pay rent even if you’re not living in the apartment anymore. Many rental agreements will force the tenant to pay at least two months’ rent (or give at least two months’ notice) before breaking lease anyway, so if you’re that close to the end of your contract there may not be a significantly better (or cheaper) option. Don’t vacate the apartment without giving notice, though; honesty is always the best policy and keeping your landlord informed is important. If your landlord knows you’re ducking out early, he or she may be able to show the apartment to potential tenants earlier and possibly find new renters for you—potentially saving you a month of rent. Communicating your plans to your landlord is also crucial to avoid being accused of breaking your lease—something it might seem you’ve done if you’re leaving. If you don’t tell your landlord you plan to continue paying rent despite your absence, how will he or she know you haven’t just broken your contract? Avoid messy misunderstandings by being clear about your plans and needs.
5. Stay just a little bit longer
Likewise, if your contract has a clause allowing you to break lease with two months’ notice, toughing it out for a bit longer may not be a terrible option. Even if the conditions in your apartment are pretty awful, you can use the time to investigate your new place to make sure it’ll be better than the current one, or to gather up a group of tenants interested in taking legal action against the poorly managed apartment complex. However, waiting out your lease may be…
6. Living on the edge
…in more ways than one. Some lease contracts may have “automatic renewal” clauses that require tenants to give notice before moving out—even if their planned move-out date is the date the lease “ends.” This type of lease is assumed to be renewed—in turn renewing your responsibility for paying rent—at the “end” of the lease term unless the tenant gives notice by the time specified in the lease. Tricky situations like these are why it’s important to read and understand legal documents thoroughly before signing. You should also beware of any “ break-lease” documents. If your landlord happily agrees to you breaking your lease but asks you to sign a “break-lease” document, be careful. Read the document thoroughly and consult with an attorney. This document may confirm that you’re breaking your lease, but it will likely also require you to pay out the balance of your lease agreement—not necessarily a successful resolution from your point of view.
7. Sweet-talk a friend, or a dependable stranger
Subletting your apartment is a viable option, if you can find someone trustworthy to do so. Subletting is generally legal unless specifically prohibited in your apartment contract, but it’s probably a good idea to notify your landlord of your subletting plans regardless. Don’t try to stealthily sublet unless you’re sure you’ll succeed. Your landlord is unlikely to appreciate the duty of housing a new, unknown (and unapproved) tenant on his or her property. The main issue with subletting is that your name remains on the lease and you are still responsible for paying rent and for any damages that occur in the apartment—so it’s not really “breaking” lease per se, more like finding a cheap way to skedaddle. If you can create a subletting agreement with an upstanding member of society that you think will actually come through and pay you, great. Your subletter pays you, you pay the landlord; everyone’s happy. Be careful, though—because you’re still responsible for the condition of the apartment at the end of your lease term, you’ll need to cautiously consider your choice of subletters. You probably don’t want to pick your friend’s cousin’s brother’s buddy Thrash as a subletter, no matter what a nice guy he seems to be on your first meeting.
We’re seeing that getting out of your lease can be rough. The main lesson to take away from this article is that you should consider provisions for getting out before you get in. Investigate the apartment thoroughly, ask questions, and above all get it in writing. Your promised swimming pool is just a pipe dream unless you have a signed agreement proving your landlord agreed to provide you with chlorinated bliss. Know your apartment and your lease agreement before you sign, and things will work out better for everyone involved.
Disclaimer: This does not constitute legal advice. Specific rules may vary in different state and local jurisdictions. For definitive answers, please consult an attorney or your local tenants’ council.
November 11th, 2005 at 12:28 pm
As an experienced leasing agent, I will say that these ideas are options to explore,but not many of them are very likely to get you out of a lease quick and painless. You’re best option always is to use a buy out agreement ( most landlords offer that ) and if they don’t offer it, try to negotiate one, with the help of an attorney of course. Unless you have huge issues, such as no utilities due to landlords neglegence, it’s not at all going to be easy to just say I want out, and expect them to let you go without paying any fees. In most cases, buy out agreements come out to be the cheapest of penalties, and the quickest way out.
November 18th, 2005 at 6:22 pm
The easiest out of all.
The writer of this blog obviously does not know Texas law. In this state any piece of property conveyed whether by lease, rent, or sale is conveyed with the resident having the “right of quiet enjoyment” of the property.
Strictly interpreted this means that if I can hear your stereo inside my apartment I have lost the “quiet enjoyment” of my property. A sternly worded certified letter to the manager should get some action. If the noise persists, as it usually does among people who like things loud, then a second letter to the manager via certified mail with a date certain deadline for the management to provide you with “quiet enjoyment of your property or it would be evidence of management’s unwillingness to enforce their contract with you” and it would be grounds for termination of the lease. Sidebar: It would also be to your advantage to have a tape recording of the noise.
Additional sidebar: For those afflicted by the boom-boom-booom music afficianados which shake your walls but do not record well, most Texas cities (national ones as well) have enacted what they call “Vibration Ordinances.” These are evidenced by your walls, windows and occasionally your ear drums vibrating incessantly. If you can feel it, it’s too high. A good time to write another letter AND call the police.
Do not give up. Apartment leases are called “standard lease agreements” when they want you to sign them but “contracts” if you want to break it. In Texas alone there are 63,000 attorneys (more than seven times the total number of attorneys in Japan) just chomping at the bit to split some other lawyer’s contract to show him/her who is better. Every lease can be broken by one means or another with no penalty to you but you have to study to know your rights and what is required of you to assert those rights. If you are unwilling to study to assert yourself then you have no right to bitch.
November 20th, 2005 at 11:01 pm
BLOW THE PLACE UP AND RUN! OK, that probably won’t work. Read your lease, find an out. Worse comes to worse, tell them the truth; you are struggling financially and have found a cheaper place to live and forcing you to stay in the lease will inevidably be toublesome for both parties!
November 21st, 2005 at 8:46 pm
i think that if managment dosnt do their job right, then they should let the tenant out of there lease. Especially if there are children involved cause let me tell u somthing… my sister is stuck in a bad situation and she should be able to get out of her lease. She has mold that she has reported like 5 times and they still have not fixed it.
November 28th, 2005 at 12:34 pm
Sorry, but “quiet enjoyment” does not mean your apartment has to be quiet. It is legalspeak which means your landlord cannot interfere with your occupancy, excepting reasonable lease stipulations and instances designated and defined by local, state, and federal law.
Noise stipulations are contained in lease paragraphs or, more likely, in the “Rules and Regulations” section. In these cases, the Landlord does have the obligation to remedy the situation, so lack of response can well be used as cause to break the Lease. Just look for that other provision, and do not rely on the “quiet enjoyment” term.
November 28th, 2005 at 2:59 pm
What happens to your credit if you decide to get out of a lease early? I’m getting married in 7 months and moving in with my future husband would save us about 4,000 dollars. If I were to pay out the lease until a new resident moves in would my credit be hurt in any way?
November 28th, 2005 at 10:56 pm
I agree, being in the industry as a leasing manager for several years know that alot of theese options listed above really are propably not going to be effective. Commercial apartment communities are not stupid and will ask for a huge amount of evidence to prove anything. They may work with a private owner but in most lease agreememts ive ever used the one and only exception is military clause, and even then official PCS Orders must be provided with the 30 or 60 day NTV.
November 29th, 2005 at 2:06 pm
i agree with all of this and have experienced much of this due to new tenants (kids)upstairs..Does it have to be only in Texas. I live in Florida and have told my landlord about the rudeness and it still persists.I even told my landlord I will break my lease if they do nothing about it..I have even called the police in for them parking outside my window blasting their music causing my pictures to fall and break..So Im going to do whatever it takes to be happy when i moved in these kids were not here,they moved in after I resigned my contract for 2nd year..So I will look into it more with an attorney and see what I can do legally..You can warn anyone we want about any problems we may have but if noone is doing anything about them take the next step to be happy…. Thank you for this blog..
December 1st, 2005 at 2:59 pm
Yes, it will. The absolute same thing happened to me. I broke my lease, but paid up to the month I moved out. I found someone to move in the same apartment within that month, but they still reported me and put it on my credit report. With that broken lease on my report, it brought my credit score down by 50 points alone.
December 1st, 2005 at 11:44 pm
Refer to the Apartment Lease Contract that you signed or ask the Property Manager. Do not seek advice from a website from people who do not know your lease agreement.
December 3rd, 2005 at 3:12 pm
What can I do in a case where I am renting a house in Colorado from a private owner and the owner has not been making their mortgage payments? Is that cause to break my lease? I’ve found out that our home may be going into foreclosure because the owner is behind over $7,000 in payments and has until December to catch them up.
December 4th, 2005 at 4:00 pm
Wow! Contact legal aid or someone that deals with renter’s rights…immediately!! Let them know the situation it might put you in. You might be able to recover some of your money “paid”. Good luck
December 4th, 2005 at 11:11 pm
I am a VICTIM of being at the wrong place at the wrong time! About 8 months ago i was at a party where 6 men robbed that party and took everyones things. I get shot outside and police caught the robbers that shot me. The suspects face 10-32 years and now i have a hit on me for someone to kill me. The rumor is they know where i live and i just want to move so i can be safe.. What do you think i can do to get out of this case.
December 5th, 2005 at 4:21 pm
Don’t worry - the bank will probably have to honor your lease even if the house is foreclosed upon. The only difference from your standpoint should be that your landlord will be a faceless corporation, and not your original landlord. You should double-check Colorado law, but I’m fairly sure your lease must be honored.
December 5th, 2005 at 10:28 pm
criminals (most) talk big but that’s it. mostly you are being forced to sweat because terror is the power most can enforce.
i say stick to it, cowards always bark louder than they can bite.
most don’t even know how to bite.
December 5th, 2005 at 11:09 pm
Wait a minute..what state do you live in? If someone else moved in, did they sign a new lease? If so, they are liable and you need to contest it with the credit bureau.
December 5th, 2005 at 11:10 pm
Call the Apartment Association! Then call the health department. Trust me..I used to work in apartments offices for 5 years.
December 6th, 2005 at 12:23 pm
I have a Mold and Flooding Problem that I have been reporting for the last 3 months, and still is not fixed. (They think it might be a foundation problem.) I have asthma and often can’t breathe in my apartment. They offered to move me to a larger apartment in the complex, but I would have to pay higher rent for the place. Is this legal? Can I break my lease based on flooding and mold problems?
I live in New York State
December 7th, 2005 at 2:40 pm
The SAFEST way to sublet is if you get an OVATION (a release of legal responsibility for the rest of your lease), which needs to be in writing from your landlord. Keep in mind that it is entirely up to your landlord to give it to your or not, and whether there is a fee.
December 7th, 2005 at 3:16 pm
i need help i have a four year old and am trying to break my lease because my roomate is pot smoking fiend. Any advise….help!
December 8th, 2005 at 8:59 pm
I need to get out of a group lease.
My roof leaks, and plumbing leaks, roommates are noise and break holes in the walls. We also have a sewage line running down the stairs. I’m a student and I need to go.
December 8th, 2005 at 9:14 pm
The best thing to do is to read the lease in detail and sign it only if you agree to the terms. A lease is a LEGAL document, and you have to be accountable for your own actions. (Even though it seems that most people don’t like to take any responsibility for anything, its always someone else’s fault.) Most leases have a buyout clause specifically for people who are buying homes, getting married, changing jobs, or are generally dissatisfied beyond repair. Of course, military reasons are the only way to get out of a lease without hassle. If you are unhappy with your surroundings, consider it a life lesson and do more research next time. I have been in the apartment industry for a long time and I have also been a long time renter. While I have never mislead anyone into renting an apartment, there may be more leasing professionals who do. Make sure to ask about what is important to you, such as noise. Any community near a college will have college students and that should be taken into consideration. Also, walk around the community at different hours of the day. Of course during office hours people will be on their best behavior, so drive around during the evening or on weekends. Use your best judgement and don’t rely on anyone else to ensure your happiness. Don’t discount the leasing office either. They care about you and I hope that if you had a good feeling about them and leased at their community, you will feel comfortable about discussing any issues you have. Report noise complaints, because I’m sure that the community would be much happier getting rid of problem residents than a great tenant.
December 8th, 2005 at 10:43 pm
Can you get out of an apartment lease in Texas, due to a drastic rise in serious crime in the complex.
For example….my car got the window knocked out of it and the stereo stolen. Two days later, tire slashings awaited all the tenants. Gang tagging has just recently shown up on the stair steps and dumpsters. Then there is a murder in the apartment right behind mine.
I can’t even sleep at night in this place.
December 9th, 2005 at 8:46 pm
I’m not familiar with NY state (and certainly not whatever municipality you live in), but many states require the landlord to maintain the unit in a habitable state.
If the conditions are as bad as you seem to be describing (actual water infiltration within the unit?), you might send a written request (preferably via a Return Receipt Requested mail-piece) to the landlord describing the problem and requesting that it be fixed in a timely fashion (perhaps give them a reasonable time limit). Obviously keep copies of this request and save the delivery receipt.
If the landlord then fails to remedy the problem in a reasonable time (this period is probably determined by the severity of the problem, its impact on you, and the technical feasibility of fixing it within a given time-frame - but is probably on the order of days and rarely on the order of weeks for most problems), you may want to contact your local building code enforcement agency (city or county?) and describe the problem, what you’ve done to try to get it fixed, and request an inspection by a housing code compliance inspector. At least in some areas landlords jump pretty high when they receive an order from the housing department to fix a housing code violation because the cost of noncompliance can be high.
Many areas have some sort of renter assistance entity that can at least give generic advice and educate landlords and tenants. Some have formal mediation programs as well. You should check the web page for your city, burrough, county, and state to see if such a program is offered. If you don’t find anything there, try calling the main (or “Information”) number for the local government - sometimes these things are hard to find.
December 9th, 2005 at 8:50 pm
Probably good advice. Remember though that the full cycle of foreclosure can take a while. Once the bank owns the property, they may be glad to have you break your lease (they might even pay you to leave) because they often want to be bankers, not landlords and, esp. with the “bubble”, might really not want to hang onto the house for any longer than they have to. But, IANAL so ignore everything I said!
December 12th, 2005 at 12:41 pm
My apartment complex is the apartment is the complex from hell. My next door neighbors whom I’ve had problems with from the very beginning of my lease, just resigned a new lease. I’m upset beause after all I’ve been through with these people with their noise and them failing to cooperate, those idiots still let them renew anyway just because they have lived there for years. Not only were they involved in making life miserable for me but also some of the employees who live on sight (Except the manager who doesn’t live on sight) as well. They would also clue these neigbors out when something was about to happen so they knew what was going on. I saw them 2 times from my window. They would harass me because they were upset that I complained on the next door neighbors who were making too much noise. All of these people involved are of the same race as well. They basically took their side and felt sorry for them thinking that they are innocent because those jerks would pose as innocent when in fact they aren’t. I was going to wait to put in my 30 my notice to tell the manager everything that happened during my residency here and tell on all the employees who got involoved and then contact the property owners about the behavior of them as well. I just hate pouring out my cash every month to these people and when I do, I see red. When they signed their new lease all it meant to them was 3 more chances to screw up until next year. They wouldn’t even stop being noisy when they were warned that they wouldn’t be able to renew if they caused anymore disturbances.The manager should have been smarter than to let these people renew or what the manager should have done was transfer them to another unit but this person did not and so I’m stuck next to them until my lease is up. I am not planning to transfer to another unit to get away from them but move out when my lease is up. We’ll see what happens when those troublemakers get too noisy with the new tenants and they try to pull that innocent crap with management then. If only the people who lived there before me said something about it before they left and I moved in. I’ll post the name of this place on the apartmentratings websight when my lease is up and update you all on this blog what the title of this place is and location as well on what happens when I conact the manager and the property owners about what they have to say about this and what has been done. I wish that I could also talk to a lawyer to see if I would have a case against this complex as well. What do you think? It sounds more like a “Lifetime” movie story. Just wait until you read what I have to tell you, you’re going to fall out of your chair!
December 12th, 2005 at 2:35 pm
You need to get ahold of the nearest legal aid office and contact one of the lawyers. You should be able to get out of the lease if you feel your life is in danger and if you have proof that your property has been damaged (make sure there is not a clause in your lease that states that the landlords are not responsible for the tenants property)
December 14th, 2005 at 9:09 pm
I came home from Iraq and moved into a “luxury apartment” only to have my car stolen. Then I found out my downstairs neighbors enjoy loud music all night long to go with their cocaine dealing parties. The jerk was beating his girlfriend’s face in in broad daylight. We contacted the people in the office to show them what was going on and they didn’t even call the police. We had to, I guess they didn’t want to add to the thirteen pages of exisiting police reports for 5600 Babcock in San Antonio, TX. I broke my lease to move in to a house and now I have a collection agency posing as a law firm that call and harass my family. They made up all kinds of charges and say that it is going to ruin my credit. The place looked great when I was first moving in, I didn’t realize that none of the fancy equipment in the gym would work and that the security gates would be left open so that thieves would have easier access. Now I warn anyone who will listen to stay far away from this complex.
December 16th, 2005 at 4:49 pm
A SPINKLER BLEW IN MY APARTMENT FLOODING THE ENTIRE
PLACE,I CALLED MY 24 HOUR NUMBER BUT IT WAS A RECORDING IN SPANISH, NOT ENGLIS FOR FOURTY FIVE MINUTES IT FLOODED AND FLOODED WITH NO REPLY FROM LALNLORD SO I CALLLED THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WHO TURNED OFF THE WATER AFTER 45 MINUTES, THE NEXT DAY I WAS AT A FUNERAL THE APRTMENT OFFICE TOLD ME COME AND MOVE THE FURNITURE, I SAID I WAS AT MY GRANMOTHERS
FUNERAL SHE TOLD ME WE WILL NOT REMOVE WATER TILL I COME AND MOVE FURNITURE, I PLEADED TO PLEASE AT LEAST EXTRACT THE WATER SHE SAID ILL SE WHAT I CAN DO,THE PREVIOUS NIGHT THOUGH I SEARCHED FOR A HOTEL ROOM WITJH NO LUCK AND WAS FORCED TO SLEEP IN WATER, THE NEXT NIGHT I MOVED FURNITURE PER THERE REQUEST AND STILL NO NO WATER WAS REMOVED SHE TOLD ME I WAS NOT THERE THAT NIGHT TO LET CARPET MEN IN STILL NOT TILL DAY THREE THE CARPET MEN ARRIVED MILDEW IS NOW FORMED NOW THAT MONDAY I SENT A LETTER REGARDING MOLD RESPONCE TILL FRIDAY NIGHT TELLING ME JUST KEEP CLOSETS OPEN , I WANT TO LEAVE I FEEL MY HEALTH AT RISK CANT I BREAK LEASE
December 19th, 2005 at 3:03 pm
For the future, if you need to check a place out before you move in, try going to
wwww.apartmentratings.com
They have reviews there, and you can get it by city, state, all that good stuff. It helped me move into my place. I think there’s a link on the top of this page. Hope this helps.
December 19th, 2005 at 3:08 pm
How much longer until your lease is up? What type of lease is it?
December 19th, 2005 at 3:09 pm
Take TONS of PICTURES, Get a LAYWER, Go to COURT!!!
December 22nd, 2005 at 1:21 am
I need help with termination of my lease because i have found at least 4 industrial strength roaches within the three weeks i have lived there. i have contacted the office of this situation more than once and the problem has still not been solved. when i moved in i should have shopped around more because i remember hearing that neighbors of mine also had these unwanted invasions and they were also getting frustrated. the first day that i moved in it had a heriffic smell for over a week, it has those big roaches who get bigger ever time i see them, i have a snooty manger who suggests that i have already brought this pest with me from my last move, she also insists on coming into my home even without my permission. so who ever reads this please give me advice on how to terminate my lease now and get my freakin deposit back before i loose my mind.
email:cafeole21@yahoo.com
December 23rd, 2005 at 6:46 pm
Need Help!! I am renting a duplex in Texas, but have the opportunity to purchase my first house. How should I go about breaking my lease when I have 6 months left???? The only out clause I have is finding a tenant or subletting but would like to avoid those two options if possible. Could an excuse to get out be roaches and the fact that various items were promised to be fixed when I moved in and never have been fixed?
December 27th, 2005 at 5:57 pm
My fiance and I just signed a lease, however he is currently deployed to Iraq. And we just found out, that once he gets home he will be stationed somewhere else. We still have a month before I move in, and three months until he is home. Is there any way I can get out of this lease?
December 28th, 2005 at 10:57 am
It’s under “3. Don some fatigues” There’s a link with all of the info.
December 28th, 2005 at 8:04 pm
My friend lives in a complex where the man who lives below her is abusing his girlfriend. My friend has called the police multiply times and told her leasing agents that she is fearful of her life because the man figured out that she is the one calling and reporting him. The leasing agent said that is not a viable reason to get out of your lease. Is there anything she can do? She is afraid to stay there alone.
Southern California renter’s friend
December 30th, 2005 at 1:12 am
Check with your apartment office to see if they have a roommate release form. Most apartment communities offer this. The one catch usually is, all responsible parties will have to be in agreement to sign the document to release you from the contract.
December 30th, 2005 at 1:25 pm
I moved into my new apartment in Fort Lauderdale in October and there are many problems not evident when we signed the lease.
1. The security gates and doors are constantly broken.
2. They have a clause on their website that Dogs should be less than 35 pounds and no agressive dogs permitted in the building. Yet, there are large dogs and I even saw a pit bull in the building.
3. The water that comes out of every faucet is yellow. Management says that all water in Fort Lauderdale is yellow. I don’t believe that.
Are these grounds for terminating a lease early?
January 2nd, 2006 at 3:55 pm
We reside in a rental community in the Texas area with a pretty standard TAA lease agreement, although the “automatic renewal” is written in and the length of notice is longer than usual, there are no other variations. (We’ve been leasing in Texas for over 12 years now.) The problem we’re encountering recently is that of a new neighbor (who is not actually directly next to or under us but actually one unit over and another level down). They have the loudest surround sound system we’ve ever encountered and it is apparently hooked up to their television as well. We occupy the second and third floors and have been disturbed by this for days on end. There has even been a neighborly visit to ask for them to lower the volume to no avail. (And one not so neighborly by another tenant who IS actually door to door with them.)
According to paragrah 21 in the lease agreement, we, as tenants, agree to not disturb or cause disturbances to other tenants, etc, etc. Is the leasing office or owner (we have the owners name, address, and telephone, the actual management of the property apparently changes often) that we need to contact via certified mail should we not be able to get this resolved?
January 2nd, 2006 at 6:43 pm
We have been living in this complex for about 14 months and for the past 6 months we have been having problems with water leaking. We have been having problems with roaches for the whole time we have been living here. Throughout our whole term we have been complaining about the roach problem and in turn been promised to extermination. Yet the apartment has been exterminated this did nothing to the number or the activity of the insects. For the last 4 months we have been having a problem with black mold growing in the ceiling of the After 3 1/2 months of complaining we finally get someone out to cut a hole in our ceiling but not fix the leak upstairs so it is now leaking directly from upstairs to our apartment. I also found that black mold is growing in the floor joyces (which are also rotting).
sincerly
angry tenant from delaware
January 2nd, 2006 at 10:16 pm
Ok, I’m 22 years old so I Don’t know to much of the legal jargain to get out of a lease, but i’ve had an issue with vandalism on many occations, dating back to october my Jeep Top has been Slashed To Threds twice, causing me to lose my insurance…getting a new insurance and it doubling….haven to fork out a combined $2000 for both Tops And Alarm with Motion Sensor And it still being torn to shreds, i just got my top fixed for the 3rd time (dec 26th) and i put a boat cover over the top (dont laugh) every night to prevent further vandalism…I’ve notified the apt managers every time…Even when my car was screwed up these people would unzip my back window everynight to remind me they are still there….Due to this i never get any sleep, my alarm goes off at all hours of the night whether its windy, raining, or if someone really is messing with it because of the motion sensor…i’ve got 2 police reports, receipts of the 2 tops plus alarm system…and i constructed a list of the every day shit i have to go through here, There is no security here because its a So Called “Safe Neighborhood”. On The Lease it States That they are not responsible for any Vandalism committed on the property, but im not interested in reinbursement, i just want an end of lease contract formulated so this will not be an issue no more, also since i got my top fixed with the boat cover on top there have been nice little indentions in my top where an attempted vandalism has begun but was thwarted by either my alarm or thickness of my boat cover, i shouldn’t have to live like this, i wrote down on the list of concerns safety being a factor, because everytime my alarm goes off i run downstairs with my baseball bat ready to kill somebody, i shouldn’t have to do this, give me some advice plz, im in north carolina and i’ve actually searched the North Carolina Rental Laws and nothing is really stated about vandalism????
January 4th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
umm yeah!! You have grounds for immediate termination of your lease right there water infiltration!!! The apartment complex was responsible for immediate clean up of your water and damaged items, although they are not responsible for the items damaged thats what insurance is for also your landlord is responsible for putting you up in a hotel while everything is properly repaired ! and/or they can also move you into another unit in your complex permanetly also
January 7th, 2006 at 11:23 am
I’m 20 yrs old and I signed my lease in October. Three months later I was followed home by a strange man. He saw what apartment I went into and everything. I live by myself and I was so scared. I filed a police report the next day. I’ve been living with my parents ever since. I signed a 12 month lease! Even though I haven’t lived in the apartment for 2 months I’ve been paying rent and utilities. I live in Ohio and i have no idea what to do. I’m allowed to sublease but I’ve had no luck. HELP
January 7th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
Ya you are pretty much SOL. My advice would be to either invest in a hardtop. Yeah they are expensive but may be cheaper than buying softtops all the time or just to trade and get another vehicle.
January 7th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
Holy crap I would hate to know that you are a leasing manager because the amount of grammatical errors you made is terrible. Although tenants looking to break your lease might find it easy from some errors in the agreement. =-)
January 7th, 2006 at 2:05 pm
Are you sure you are not just being paranoid over someone watching you. Being 20 years old im sure that you are getting alot of looks. Did this man actually come to your door or something. The police office probably threw your file in the trash when you left. Plus where do you live in the ghetto. Most apartment places I find are pretty well lit especially around student apartments and ususally there are plenty of other people around to not have to worry.
January 7th, 2006 at 2:11 pm
We signed a lease in October. We had a neighbor downstairs who didn’t smoke. Then our neighbor moved out, and someone who is a chain smoker moved in. Our apartment now *always* reeks of cigarette smoke.
My wife is asthmatic and allergic to tobacco. We asked the Landlords to ask the guy downstairs to smoke outside, or to seal off our apartment from his so we don’t smell it. The landlord said they asked the person downstairs to smoke outside, but he still doesn’t. Also, the landloard said they would seal off our apartment, but at our own cost. Is that legal? And since, in my opinion, it’s a health issue, whose responsibility is it? Can we break our lease over it?
Thanks,
Matt
January 7th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
i dont believe anything will happen to your credit.
i broke a lease a few years ago but i paid for the remaining rent so i didnt owe any money - i believe the only way to have problems with your credit is if there is an actually JUDGEMENT against you from the landlord, and why would he do anything like that as long as you paid him what you owed?
January 8th, 2006 at 11:09 am
You might want to check on the legal issues dealing with mold. Because of the toxicity of mold in living spacesthe landlord might be required to remove it or allow you to break your lease. some areas equate mold to asbestos. so do some research and see what is allowable in your area.
January 8th, 2006 at 12:13 pm
sounds like alvern gardens apt as i do have a problem with the smoker who lives upstairs across from me and the smoke find a way to sneak to my apt; i think you got a good case and if the landlord does not help, take them to the nonsense Judge Judy
January 8th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
HELP!! I had moved from a not-so-great apartment complex in October to a very nice ‘luxury’ apartment complex. I never had any problems at my old complex, it was older, but never a problem with noise, management, or neighbors. The complex I moved into is in a very nice area of town and is only about 5 years old. It is gated, beautifully well kept grounds, and very nice floorplans and features. I did plenty of research before I moved in. I didn’t want to move into a complex where there was a bunch of teenagers or college students, and this price range (I thought) would limit the number of problems, partying or noise that was typical in the lower price range apartments. Here is my problem, I moved into my apartment, and was mortified to find out that the apartment they gave me was not like the two (of the same floorplan) they had shown me. This apartment was set up for handicapped access and had a completely different bathroom and lowered counters (I am tall!) and the bedroom closet was 1/3 smaller. They apologized and unfortunateley they didn’t have another apartment available for almost two months. So they agreed to lower my rent by $20. for the two months I would be in the wrong apartment, and they would pay for the movers and utility transfer fees to move me to the next apartment. Well, during those two months, I was forced to live out of my boxes, and I had the neighbors from hell living upstairs. They would fight for an hour or two some nights, screaming at the top of their lungs always around 2 AM. I had to call the police on one occasion. Then I noticed my patio was wet all of the time, I didn’t think much of it until my plant that I had grown for over a year, turned yellow and brown, and when I smelled the plant, it smelled like dog urine. I picked off all of the dead parts and didn’t think too much of it until one day I smelled dog poop and looked into the grass and saw at least 12 poops laying there less than a foot from my patio, I then realized the wetness on my patio everyday was dog piss. It was on everything!! My really nice wicker chairs with cushions smelled of pure piss. Upon further examination, it was all over my sliding glass doors, and my chairs, and it even stained the ceiling of my balcony where it was running off of my upstairs neighbors patio. Apparently they just let their large breed dog go to the bathroom on their balcony, and just swept off the poop, and let the urine run off, rather than walking the darned thing. I notified the apartments and wanted reimbursement for my patio furniture. They took care of the problem, maintenance hosed off my patio, and said they would get a check to me for my furniture on more than one occasion. That has been almost 3 months ago. When it came time for me to move, the property manager was too busy to arrange the move, and asked if I would just like to call and arrange it myself. So I did, there were no stipulations or limits given to me on the move. I tried to find a reasonable company to move and arranged the move. The movers then ended up charging alot more than they quoted. A month later the moving company is calling me threatening to send ME to collections because it had been almost 30 days and the apartments were dragging their feet on paying them. I called the apartments the next morning and they had just paid it. Now I am finally in the correct apartment, but have upstairs neighbors that sound like they try and stomp when they walk, my light fixtures rattle in the kitchen when they walk. There are some other young teen girls that live in the next building that have called me a whore when I stepped out on my patio to nicely ask them to consider their neighbors one night when they were outside screaming and laughing and running around with a camera at 3 AM. Then I was treated to them screaming HAPPY NEW YEAR, SLUT a few nights later for new years (also around 3 AM) I AM FED UP!! Now my heater is not working. I will have to call it in today.
I went and got preapproved for a mortgage and have found a little house I would love to buy, do I have grounds to get out of my lease? I still have 9 months left on my lease, but this has been an AWFUL living experience for me.
I still have not received the compensation they have promised me for my patio chairs that were ruined.
January 8th, 2006 at 3:44 pm
PS, I Live in Fort Worth TX (for the above post)
January 10th, 2006 at 1:08 am
what about renting a house and its full of cockroaches, it been 3 weeks since they sprayed for the roaches and there still there, the bathroom has dry rot, feels like you will fall threw, the garage has 2 inches of water on the floor from the last rain. we paid 6 months in advance, We haven’t even moved in yet. And don’t want any part of it. Can we get all of our money back? please comment… can we get of the lease, because we didn’t know that all this was here.
January 11th, 2006 at 6:21 pm
Put an ad in the paper, craigslist, etc and see if you can find someone to take over your apartment. Usually the apartment management can have the person qualify for the apartment on their own and have them sign a new lease with your name removed. This is the best thing to do, depending on the cost to break the lease, it may be cheaper to break the lease.
January 12th, 2006 at 2:46 pm
Can I withhold rent?
January 14th, 2006 at 8:22 am
If you lose your job in NY can you break an apt lease?
January 14th, 2006 at 7:55 pm
Your story doesn’t add up. It seems like your not ready to leave home yet.
You lease your apartment in October and 3 mos later the stranger followed you home. That would be Oct, Nov and Dec he must have followed you home around the 1st of January or the end of Dec! Right!
Your letter dated Jan. 7th said that you haven’t lived in your apartment for the past 2 months. Right!
Lets see 2 months back from Jan 7th would be Nov 7th that you moved back home with Mom & Dad. Right! Only 1 month after leasing your apartment. Long before the strange man followed you to your apartment.
If you are ever to grow-up and get out of your parents home you need to be more confident. Have you ever thought of taking a self-defense course. It may lessen the fear of living alone. A cell phone with a speed dial to the police department emergency can be a useful tool too. (if you can’t afford one many women’s groups give them out free but they only connect to 911 emergency), also a whistle can be helpful too! Also a little counseling maybe in order so you don’t make the mistakes many young girls do by marrying the 1st guy that comes along as a subsitute for her parents.
Its not easy being an adult. But at 20 yrs old you should be moving out of your parents home and accepting responsibility. If you indeed signed a 12 month lease you should honor that commitment. Its what grown-ups do.
If you cannot stand to untie Mommys apron strings, and move, talk to your landlords but be honest with them. Let them know the truth. Tell them you thought you wanted to move away from home and be an adult. But after doing so, you are having second thoughts. That you didn’t know how hard it would be. Ask if they have any sugesstions on how you could shorten the lease or would they help you with renting it to another. Its possible, if you are honest, they may be willing to help you.
But be ready if they don’t, You may have to learn a valuable life lesson on what it means to be a responsible adult, while you continue to live at your parents and pay for an apartment you don’t use. When you sign a contract as an adult it is binding and you can be held financially liable. You need to consider this before you sign it, Especally if you cannot hold up your end of the bargain. Remember its not your landlords fault you do not want to grow up nor is it your landlords fault if you allow someone to follow you home. You are responsible for your own actions.
I hope you work this out. It would be nice to hear that you are going back to your apartment to be a confident responsible adult. Best of Luck, Your Dutch Uncle
January 15th, 2006 at 9:45 pm
Does anyone have any advice? When I moved into my apartment on the 3rd floor (no elevator) my husband and I had no idea that we would be getting pregnant. Now I am 8 months along and I cannot medically walk up the stairs. Is this a reason that you can break the lease? Please help, This is the most miserable situation.
January 16th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
We just bought a house and are closing this month, January20th. My fiance’s apartment lease is up in July of 2006. To break it the lease we have the following conditions because we received 5 free months:
5 free months at 1095 per month, 5475
5 months to break the lease at 1095 per month, 5475
270 off each month since may, 2430
total 13380
Is there anything we can do because we just bought a house? A friend mentioned that if you buy a house they are suppose to give you a lighter penalty but I haven’t heard that before.
January 16th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
about 6 mons ago i signed a lease to a very nice apartment. the property itself is only been there for about 8 or 9 months. When i signed the lease i was under the term of first come first serve parking. not to long later i come out in the morning and my car was towed. I missed work and school that day. I had to call the police dept to find out where my car is and only to find out later that evening that the apt complex change the rules and that every tenants need to have a sticker to park in a first come first serve parking. Even after all the talking and arguing with the girl down at the office i still had to pay 200 hundred dollars to get my car back. I was upset because during my conversation with the girl down at the office (she was being rude and very unfriendly) i was told that and i quote “visitors are not allowed on the premises and that they are to park outside on the street if they wanted to come by” might i say the street is a two way. Which is not safe for traffice coming both way and having parked cars in the way. I have two cars one of which is my dad name. I was told that if i dont have papers showing that the car belong to me or in my name then they can’t give me a parking permit. That leaves me to park it outside and walking into my home. But lately there has been alot of robbery going on. It started with cars being broken into now there is actual people being robbed and gun point. I have emailed the corporation twice and i have not recieve any response from them. And i dont feel safe i work so by the time i get home it is dark out. The community has gate around the property except there is no gate at the entrance that means any one can come and go as they please. With this being brought to there attention they have no intentions on putting any entrance gates though they keep sending out letters stating that they are concern for the tenants safety. Also lately there has been so much noise going on. There is a few motorcycles parked by my apt and just about every night they start their bikes and make noises along with theirs friends who also have bikes. I dont think that it is fair that i as a tenant who pays rent on time and never cause any trouble being treated like this. i deserved a parking space and i should be able to feel safe. Is there anything i can do to better the situation or break the lease.
January 18th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
I moved in with my ex boyfriend… I moved out when he decided the ex part… I went to our apartment office, they told me I was responsable for 60days of rent in which I paid…well a month later I get a call from the ex that says that I have to pay until May or else he will take me to court…the thing is, we agreed that I would pay for 60 days and then he would be on his own…I have proof of this, he wrote it on his live journal…what do I do?
January 18th, 2006 at 8:41 pm
NEVER MOVE INTO NORSTAR APARTMENTS OFF OF HENRY CLAY BLVD IN LIVERPOOL, NY. BEST ADVICE I CAN GIVE TO EVERYONE.
January 18th, 2006 at 11:19 pm
The reply about “growing up” was kinda harsh, because even the most “responsible” adult would be scared crazy if someone followed them home (by the way, she probably didn’t LET him do that!). Anyway, let the landlord and police know that there is a safety issue and you are feeling that you may be in danger. Hopefully your landlord will understand and you might be able to get another apartment in the same complex in a different building.
January 18th, 2006 at 11:27 pm
Yeah I saw a show about a toxic kind of mold that was growing in a family’s house. They had permanent neurological problems from it and it covered their house so thoroughly, the whole house and everything they owned had to be demolished. The husband couldn’t even remember his son’s name, he had to resign from his job, etc. Mold is definitely a health hazard and a major issue so do anything you have to (complain to the health department, etc) to get it investigated!!!
January 18th, 2006 at 11:31 pm
witness protection program (i’m not kidding.)
January 19th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
I am researching broken leases & the outrageous fees added by Texas apartment companies. I would love to know more about your situation. Please email me: pepperlombardo1@yahoo.com. I am particularly focusing on the “agency posing as a law firm” & the fees charged above the normal monthly payment you were making while you lived there. This is happening all over the state!! Please contact me.
January 19th, 2006 at 9:30 pm
I am researching broken leases & the outrageous fees added by Texas apartment companies. I would love to know more about your situations. Please email me: pepperlombardo1@yahoo.com. I am particularly focusing on the “agency posing as a law firm” & the fees charged after lease-breaking above the normal monthly payment you were making while you lived there. This is happening all over the state!! Please contact me.
January 19th, 2006 at 11:26 pm
Can an apt complex change the terms of a lease before it expires? We currently pay to have 2 covered parking spaces, as parking at our apt. complex is an utter nightmare if you don’t. Our office just gave everyone a notice saying that everyone would be assigned only one space and that the other space would have to be found amongst the non-existent “free” parking. Can they do this?
January 21st, 2006 at 4:06 am
i have a silimar situation where we owed the months free and because we gave on ly 30 days notive instead of 60 days, we pay two additional months penalty. we were turned over to collection agency immediately. there is nothing that i know that can relieve some of the beating to the pocketbook. if you here anything let me know…
January 21st, 2006 at 12:32 pm
Unfortunately there is no “break” for new homeowners, the 5 months rent to “break” the lease seems a little steep. The free rent payback is definitely owed back to the property. I would make sure the management company can legally charge a tenant 5 months rent as a lease term break penalty. Most communities only charge 60-90 days of rent.
January 21st, 2006 at 12:41 pm
The apartment community does not have to let you out of your lease, but they should be required to allow you to transfer “free of charge” to a ground floor unit because of your medical condition.
January 22nd, 2006 at 8:59 pm
If there is a felony like a murder committed in you’re complex you can legally break your’e lease, a murder happend in the buiding behind mine and the complex immediately sent out a memo offering counseling and they lowered my rent, I found out later they had people leave in droves
January 22nd, 2006 at 9:07 pm
FYI for anybody who has had anything go to a collection agency and it has already hit you’re credit you might as well not pay it, it won’t fix the ding on you’re credit and if you don’t pay for 10 years it goes off you’re record, but you’re record starts over if you pay on it, I have great credit but I worked at a collection agency just some advice
January 23rd, 2006 at 11:16 am
I live in a bottom apt. and new tenants just moved in above me. the problem I am having and did not have with the last tenant above me, is that all day and even up to 12:30 am they are jumping and banging on the floor,the banging is very loud and to the point of giving me a head ache. I have asked them not to be so loud and to consider that they are above other people and to be condiderate of this ,but as of yet they continue , I am kept up late and woken in my sleep due to the noise..is there any thing I can do ???sincerely ,disgruntled neighbor
January 24th, 2006 at 9:27 am
I signed a 12 months lease along with my daughter to live in an apartment. Apparently we signed a concession agreement. That is the rent was reduced $190 a month for the 12 months. She lost her job and being without transportation decided to move back home. We gave notice and paid an additional 3 months rent then, turned in the keys and vacated the apartment. Now they say we owe over $3000 in fees for the concession and termination fees. What can we do. They say collection agency will be called. What can we do to avoid this?
January 26th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
I broke a lease 2 months early in Fort worth tX apt complex. I really didn’t have a good reason. However they charged me 3800 dollars for all sorts of things such as retexturing bathrooms and bedrooms, concession payback, carpet replacement water billing for 6 months( I never received a bill)move in specials two washer dryer fee’s, termination fees relet fees. When I called them to set up a payment plan so I could rent another apt later on they said they wouldn’t take anything but the full payment. I’m 25 and I was 23 at the time. I don’t have this kind of money anywhere. Should I get a lawyer. I love TX but I sure hate TX apt complexes
-ftworth girl
January 26th, 2006 at 10:02 pm
The only thing i can think of is to get a letter from your doctor and bring that to court if you break the lease and the landlord sues you for the money.
January 27th, 2006 at 10:11 am
Threaten them. Annoy them everyday. Be at thier door as soon as they open, and, if they haven’t done anything that day, be there when they’re about to leave.
Someone will recognize you eventually… Look into legal action, it may be worth it.
January 27th, 2006 at 4:57 pm
Does rape count as a felony? One of the maintenance men entered a single young lady’s unit across the parking lot last year, cornered her, and raped her. This maintenance man lived in the unit above and next to my husband and me. I found out about it from a neighbor, and from the Ft. Worth police department. Our apartment office never sent any sort of notice out to residents about the crime. Is there a time limit from when an incident occurs until one breaks a lease?
January 27th, 2006 at 9:56 pm
you dont have to live in the ghetto for someone to follow you home. or you could be in my situation, where just about every place in or near this city is a varying degree of ghetto, but theres nothing you can do about it at this point in time because of your obligations which require you to be in or near this city.
January 28th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
I moved in with a roomate and had a falling out. We both signed the lease. Now I have been kicked out. Can I get out of the lease so that I can rent my own apartment?
January 30th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
I have a month-to-month lease next month because I don’t know when I am moved.
Now, I’m searching for a job so I will move out whenever the job is ready.
However, my apt management office says that I need to give alt least 60 days notice before I move out. I can’t understand that how I can notice them 60 days ahead. I would better get 6 month lease if I have time to notice 60 days. Some place needs only 7 days notice to make a termination. Please help me what to do to.
January 30th, 2006 at 5:01 pm
Do I need to pay back the concessions? I am on a 12-month lease for my apartment which will end in June. When we signed our contract, we received a $175 concession per month.
Recently, I found a house on a quick sale but I need close the deal by the end of February (4 mos left to the end of the lease). I asked the leasing staff how much I had to pay to break the lease. She told me that I need pay 2 full months and pay back all the lease concessions that I received during my stay in the unit. I checked the contract, and I only found the clause about the 2 months rent (not even saying full month or the rent with concession), and nothing about paying back all the concessions during the time I stayed in the apartment. I am ready to pay the 2 months rent, but not the concession for the 8 months I stayed in the apartment.
If I had to pay the concessions back, I am indifference between paying the remaining 4 months of my contract or paying the penalty for breaking the contract.
Can I insist that because there are no clause about paying back the concessions, and only the 2 months lease penalty, that I will only pay the 2 months penalty stated in the lease contract?
Any advice?
January 31st, 2006 at 6:44 am
My husband and I were having problems and I ended up leaving him. Before I left him I had been talking with the aprtment complex letting them knwo what was going on. They knew 4 months in advance that this would happen. I left in November and he stayed there thru half of December. The apartment complex says we owe $3200. I found out that the rented the aprtment one month later. Can they still ask for the rest of the lease amount if they rented the aprtment out? I don’t think I should be liable for some of that if they knew in advance that I was having problems with my ex.
January 31st, 2006 at 6:34 pm
An apartment complex cannot collect double rent. Whatever portion of your $3200 that was considered rent cannot be collected once a new person occupied the apartment. However, cancellation fees and notice fees (most places require a 30- 60 day notice and if you fail to give it you must pay through it) would still be owed. It doesn’t matter that the complex knew in advance of your personal problems. Everything has to be in writing.
January 31st, 2006 at 6:53 pm
It’s very common for a complex to require you to pay back the concession if you break your lease. The concession was given with the agreement that you were staying through whatever date your lease expires. I would read that lease, EVERY page of it; it most likely states that breaking the lease requires concession payback. If you can’t find it ask the office staff to point out where it states that in the lease. If they can’t and in fact dosen’t state it within the lease agreement, I would argue it too.
January 31st, 2006 at 6:57 pm
If you are in fact on a month-to-month lease, 30 days notice is all that is required by law. Read your lease agreement carefully; if you have been told differently, I assume you were given wrong information.
January 31st, 2006 at 7:02 pm
If you no longer reside in the apartment getting your name off the lease would be in your best interest. Most apartments will provide a “roomate release” form that is signed by all lease holders to relieve you of your rental obligations. It is important that the remaining roomate(S) can qualify for the aparment alone in order to approve the release. Talk to the leasing office; they can advise you of the best plan of action to take.
January 31st, 2006 at 7:04 pm
Contact the office to advise them of the problem. Document everything and be specific.
January 31st, 2006 at 7:08 pm
Whoa you got a HUGE special when you moved in. Unfortunalty, everyone must fufill the same lease breakage penalties, regardless of the reason you need to move. Refer back to the signed lease agreement: you are required to fufill whatever is stated as the lease breakage penalty within the lease agreement.
January 31st, 2006 at 7:10 pm
You should inquire in the office about a transfer within the property.
January 31st, 2006 at 7:15 pm
I’m a fellow soft-top jeep owner and feel your pain. Are there garages on the property? Maybe you could rent one? Unfortunatly the lease agreement covers the landlord and you cannot break your lease without penalty for the vandalism issue.
February 1st, 2006 at 12:10 am
My fiance and I just moved to Houston from Dallas. Not knowing anything about the area we drove around for days looking for a new place. Thinking we had found a nice place in the Galleria area we moved in about 2 weeks ago. Three of my neighbors apts have been broken into in the last week. Cars are constantly vandalized, I have seen people smoking pot in the stairways, drug deals, people screaming and beating eachother in the breezeways and our neighbor told us of a girl who just got shot in the parking lot. On our visit this neighborhood seemed pretty nice. It’s well kept, quiet (during the middle of the day while we were there of course) and seemed just like a normal place. We have renter’s insurance and car insurance of course, but now i just don’t feel safe at all. The burgalers broke in the front window and took everything (even his underwear from his drawers). I’m even too afraid to take my dogs out to go potty by myself so i make them wait until my fiance gets home. Is there anything i can do b/c it’s such a security issue? we REALLY REALLY want to leave…NOW!!!
February 1st, 2006 at 9:03 am
My husband and I signed a new lease about 4 months ago and 3 out of those 4 months we have had to make police reports. 2 of them were because of our cars and the other one was from someone trying to get in the apartment while I was home alone with our one year old. My husband works a lot because he is a restaurant manager and I am a stay at home mom. I have lived on my own for since I was 17 and have never had to worry about my safety before, but now I am always paranoid, I always have to worry about if my car will be there when i walk outside or if when he goes to work if someone is going to try to come in. It is really starting to stress me out and is keeping me from sleeping or from normal daily activities. What can I do. I can’t keep living this way, but we have about 6 more months on our lease.
February 2nd, 2006 at 5:42 pm
Me and my wife are finalizing our house it closes on march 17th of this year, my contract is up with the apartment complex. When we originally moved in, the apartment was a nice and safe place to live. Since then two and a half years ago, now it is infested with trouble-some individuals, there have been so many robberies and attacks at the complex, even a rapist was terrorizing the complex. I work out of town six days and off for three, my wife and four children are alone a lot due to my hectic schedual. There have been so many complaints by us about the toilets leaking and flooding the apartment three times (I am talking about flooding the whole down stairs). A water leak that went on for two years and was never really looked into, my furniture in the closet was ruined. An old sewer system that was never really maintained by the city. In the past six months the local police department has been to the apartment grouds at least 200+ times (no lie), we have non-working security systems in each apartment. The agreement was if you paid for it, then if enough sign up for it they will start the service. Well, no one signed up, and we were charged for four months extra for a non working security system. The entrance gates have never worked since we have moved in in 2003, so everyone can come and go as the please, even if they do not live there. For six months I was fighting with my electric company about my bill, when they finally showed up, we discovered that it was the apartment’s fault for not servicing the heater and air conditioning systems. We complained to them everyday for six months, and nothing was ever done. My van has been broken into and vandalized twice, the radio was stolen out of it, my car was also vandalized, the magement said there was nothing for them to do about it, I should file a Police report and I did, nothing has happened since. When we moved in the assisant manager (Now Fired) called the electric company with out my knowledge, and told them we were not moving in until a later day, so they did not turn my power on. I had to spend three hours on the phone to convince them to come over and turn it on, plus it cost me an extra 500 dollars for immeditate service. Management has changed so much in the past two years, and so have all of the rules. We will have one month left on my contract, and I can not possible afford to pay a house note of 1200 and a 900 apartment note as well, for a rat hole. When we moved in i actually liked the place, it was safe, my wife could walk to work with no worries. We have been informed that there is a courticey officer on the grouds, well i have never seen him, and i am up all night. One night in particular, I saw A person, that fit the description of the security officer, well, I tried to walk over to him, and he took off running the other way. I need to break the lease, I am not happy, we have bent over backwards for this place, now they want to fine us 500 dollars for having patio furniture on our patio, and my childrens bikes.
February 4th, 2006 at 1:26 pm
Usually when a resident brings in a Dr’s note, they will allow them to transfer within the community to “accomadate” you. I would consider doing as the other person said and contact your rental office. They should help your situation out. If all else fails go above the manager and see what their boss says.
February 4th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
NO. they will file on you in court. You should go to the courts and open a “escrow” account. Deposit your rent money in there. The only thing is that unless there are damages in the apartment and that is why your withholding rent. Otherwise your wasting your time. Pay your rent!
February 5th, 2006 at 11:36 pm
I can relate. I live in Nashville, TN in a not-too-bad apartment - until recently. I’ve had my radio stolen once from my car, the whole car stolen and recovered, and my soft canvas top on a utility trailer slashed and one set of wheel blocks stolen. The trailer is in a storage now with other belongings. And while it’s usually quiet, recently we’ve gotten the neighbors from hell with the loud music at crazy hours and the stomping “elephant ballet” above us and of course it’s all “with attitude”. Sounds to me like you live in one of those neighborhoods the local scumbags like to mess with. Not likely you can get out of a lease with that. Maybe you know someone you can get to take over your lease.
February 6th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
dEPENDING ON HOW MUCH MORE TIME YOU HAVE IN YOUR LEASE, I WOULD FIRST GO TO THE OFFICE COMPLEX MANAGER AND TRY TO TALK TO THEM. iF YOU HAVE AN EXTENDED AMOUNT OF TIME YOU HAVE, i WOULD WAIT UNTIL IT CAME A MONTH WHERE I CAN PAY OUT MY LEASE, JUST LIKE ANYTHING ELSE. IN DOING THIS ALSO, GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING FROM THE LEASING OFFICE AND SEEK LEGAL ADVICE.
February 8th, 2006 at 12:22 am
Check state laws, they can over rule anything written in a lease. for example the state of Oklahoma reqires 30 days notice given….yet My current Lease on our apartment states 60 days….guess who would win in court!
February 8th, 2006 at 12:26 am
Let him take you to court, don’t you watch Judge Judy? She would tell him to kiss it. You have it in writing that he was going to be responsible after th 60 days. Make sure you have a copy of the check or a reciept from the apartment complex to prove you paide 60 days.
February 8th, 2006 at 8:46 pm
My daughter has six months remaining on her lease. This past weekend gunshots were fired into the apartment below her. Her roomates and her feel that they are in danger. When they signed the lease a security gate was in place. It was removed 2 months after they moved in. Based on this should they not be able to break the lease without much cost
February 9th, 2006 at 3:26 am
Hello, I moved into an apartment complex 7 months ago and when I was moving in, I paid a deposit and the terms of the lease were 6 mos. with a concession of $400 per month. Now that I’m trying to move out, they provided me with a copy of my signed lease showing the lease term of 12 months! I still have the signed deposit sheet showing 6 months. I believe the leasing agent may have changed this at the last minute to earn more commissions as he had quit a couple days later.
They are now saying that I must pay 2 months penalty (at full price) plus the concession x 7 (for 7 months) which is actually more money than it would cost to stay there for 5 more months. I feel like Im being con’d into staying there.
When I approach management to have a simple conversation and state my position on how I believe either I was mislead or there was a simple mistake with the lease print-out they litterally claim that they are too busy to meet with me.
I really need to move out as my income has changed and without moving I am spending 4 hours + $25/day in gas commuting, so staying there is the worst option.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!
February 9th, 2006 at 10:56 am
I signed a lease on Fri. to move into an apt. on Sat. The mgr. said it would be ready Sat. so, that would’ve been my first time seeing it. I wasn’t able to find movers until Mon. and I called to notify them about this. On Mon. I called to confirm I’d be moving in that day and they said they were expecting me. My movers and I finally get there on Mon. and their maintenance people are painting the stair rails and molding on the inside of these walls, there is no window in the living room and the mgr. tells me my bathtub needs significant repairs but that the work orders have been drawn up. It was already 6pm and they close at 7pm. They said they were working to replace my window, however, no one was in my apt. doing such a thing. I told them they failed to provide a habitable place for me to live at that point and they put me out a lot of money because there was no way my movers could move my furniture up the stairway without damaging it. One of them had already gotten paint on his hands and clothes from taking a few simple items upstairs. The carpet had many large black stains on it and did not look clean; it even had a huge, green bubblegum patch in the entryway. They said they could clean it again though did not refute when I said the carpet had obviously not been washed. I want to take them to court to get my $410 back for moving expenses and have it official that they broke the terms of my lease with them. Do I have a good case?
February 9th, 2006 at 11:36 am
You should beware of signing a lease before you see the apartment you were going to be living in. You might have a case because technically they broke the agreement of the lease to have the apartment ready by the specified date, however, you also technically broke the same agreement because you weren’t moved in by the specified date. I feel that you have a better case than the landlord, however, beware.
February 10th, 2006 at 11:57 am
I just moved into my apt a week ago. When I first saw the apt, the landlord said that they were going to have a professional come clean the apt because the previous tenants had destroyed it. Even though I really didn’t want to sign the lease, I signed it on Feb.1st, but couldn’t move in because I hadn’t showed proof of electricity. I felt like I had no choice. If I didn’t sign the lease by the 1st, they would have kept my 100.00 holding deposit and put the apt back up for rent. The next day i showed them a electricity receipt ,but they still wouldn’t let me move in because the electricity was in there name and not mine. I was finally able to move in on the 3rd. My apt still needs alot of work. I paid a 400.00 deposit and my rent is going to be 625.00 a month. The air conditioner doesn’t work, theres paint and stains all over the rug, cracks and dents everywear. Outside is okay, but late at nite, you can tell that someone is smoking weed, and its really strong too. Is there anyway that I can break my lease and still get my deposit back?
February 11th, 2006 at 10:24 pm
Failure to properly do repairs…
We turned in our 60day notice that we would be moving out when our lease ends on March 13th.
Then a couple weeks later our bathroom overflowed raw sewage from the mainline out of our toilet and tub all over the bathroom and into the carpet of our bedroom, closet, and hallway. This is the 3rd time this has happened. Each time they have not properly repaired/cleaned the contaminated areas.
We notified emergency maintenance and they called out a plumber to unclog the pipes.
Now the apartment manager claims that the clog was our fault, although she has no proof, and is trying to force us to pay the plumbers and carpet vacuuming bill. She is threatening us with a lawyer if we do not pay within 1 week, but she will not release the apartment owner’s phone number so that we can discuss this with them.
According to our local health department, anything contaminated with “Black Water” should be removed if it is a porous material which includes carpet, dry wall, linoleum etc and should be decontaminated with biocides.
The only thing the apartments have done about this manner is have a plumber unclog the pipes and sent someone to vacuum up the excess “water”.
We have an appointment to talk with our city’s coding enforcer, who will perhaps send someone to inspect our apartment.
However the health department does agree, after seeing the photos of our apartment, that the unit is uninhabitable and unsanitary although until someone inspects the property and declares it unhealthy they have no authority in this matter.
Not only do we refuse to pay for the cost of repairs, but we would like to terminate our lease a couple weeks early so that we can get the heck out of an unlivable environment.
Should I send a written notice that we will terminate the lease contract early due to their failure to properly repair our apartment, provide us with a sanitary habitable living space, or to provide us with another unit?
We are also trying to contact legal aid since they have threatened us with a lawyer.
February 16th, 2006 at 12:51 pm
Unfortunately, uour liability does not depend on a personal situation just as with a mortgage or auto loan. However, depending on what state, county or city you were renting in, an apartment owner is not able to charge double rent per day - meaning if they are collectiong rent from the new renter, your rental opbligation ends the day prior to their move-in. To be sure, review your move-out statement. Are they charging you “rent” or a lease penalty (sometimes listed as an early termination fee or insufficient notice). If it is anything but rent, fight them in court and they will likely lose. If it is rent, you need to determine the exact date the new residents moved in. I would consult an attorney to determine what the landlord/tenant laws are where you were renting.
February 16th, 2006 at 12:54 pm
It is customery for the concession to be billed back if the lease is broken. Fortunately, if it is not in writing, they cannot force you to pay it back. Insist they produce documentation stating you need to pay back the concession.
February 19th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
I have been in the property management industry for a few years now. The laws are different in different states. I have worked in Delaware and Maryland and both have required 60 days notice on a month-to-month lease. Yes, I know it doesn’t make sense! However, you may be confused…. you only have to give 30 days notice in some states if your current employer transfers you out of state. In that case, you only have to give 30 days notice and DO NOT have to pay any penalties. Watch out for that… some management companies will try to get buy out fees and lease termination fees no mater what!
February 19th, 2006 at 1:21 pm
Unfourtantley, the answer is no. Most property managers don’t care about roommate issues and your roommate CAN NOT kick you out of the apartment. Your name is on the lease too. The only thing I can suggest and I always do sugggest to my residents is that you take your roommate to civil court to work out the situation.
February 19th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
If it is in your lease, then NO they can’t do that. They would have to wait until it expires to make any changes. You signed because of the conditions you were promised legally by the office. If they change it in the middle of your lease,, you can actually take them to court.
February 19th, 2006 at 1:26 pm
No, you cannot break the lease due to your condition…. by the way Congrats! What you can do and what I usually allow my residents to do is to switch apartments if they sign a new 12 month lease. That way they still get their money and you have better access to your apartment. Talk to your property manager in person about doing this. Most of them will let you because they are still getting paid and “retaining their residents”. LOL
February 19th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
Usually if you get fired or laid off you can’t break your lease. However… if your present employer transfers you out of state or within so many miles, you only have to give 30 days notice and not recieve any penalties. HINT: Get a former collegaue to write you a “tranfer letter” on your companies letterhead
February 20th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
I have been living in my new apartment for about a month and a half last week Sunday(12th)-Monday(13th) my boyfriends car was stolen from our premises he went to go to work and his car was gone. We made a police report concering this and i went and talked to my lanlord she said she woud double up on security rounds. and on Thursday(16th)- Friday(17th) My car was ram sacked and torn apart i then got of work early and change my accounts and then went back to my lanlord and told her that another one of our veichles had been broken into she then told her assistant to call and double up on security i belive she never did it in the first place cause my car would have not been broken into also when i first looked at the apaments i asked them what there crime rate was on veichles and Natasha (another one of her assistance) said none on monday(13th) i asked the lanlord (manager) what was there crime rate again i was told this is the first time i have had anything like this happen. (his car was found later that day and we retrieved it) On friday when i went in again to tell them about my car they right away assumed i was being targted by one of my own enimies i replied i have no eniemies. thats when she said she double up on secutiy (again might i add this should have been done on monday 13th. Wheni spoke with the police officer who came out and made a report of it the both snickered and said they have been here alot for crime and other things to do with this aparment. I then asked my friend who has lived ther about a month longer than i had if she had ever seen a security veichle drive by she said the first two weeks i lived her yes but sense then no my boyfriend also said he had never seen a security veichle drive by sense i had moved in. My question now is do i have legal right to move out of my aparment and void my contaract sense it was basically voided after they told me they had no theft or anything like that and then i hear different from someone in the law enforcement. Please get back to ASAP
Thank You
Jennifer
February 22nd, 2006 at 10:45 pm
I occupied a double-br apartment 2 weeks ago and learnt this afternoon that my project is getting over in 5 weeks. The lease is for 6 months and am wondering if there is like 14 day or 30 day rule for tenants which can be used to minimize the penalties if i walked in and tried to re-word or rectify the lease agreement. Any pointers appreciated. Thanks.
February 23rd, 2006 at 4:24 pm
I am in a similar situtation, please post any updates you may have.
February 27th, 2006 at 2:25 am
hello,
my husband and I are about to close on a house too. We are now in review. I have one month left on my lease but I never had any problems in our apartment. After reading our lease over I read that i was supposed to let him know in writting three months in advance. I will talk to him tomorrow and see but i’m so scared that he will make us pay. I defetnetly cant affor a 2300.00 mortgage and a 975.00 rent at the same time?
February 27th, 2006 at 6:25 pm
It’s your responsibilty to do some research about the community before you moved in. There are many websites that list crime reports by area and address. I think the Sunday newspaper lists every single police call and is sorted by county. You can’t simply ask the person who is about to make a commision off of you and expect them to report all the break-ins and thefts that happen in the complex. Your landlord has no duty to provide security unless otherwise stated in the lease agreement. You cannot break your lease becuase of what someone told you (or didn’t tell you). Look into renting a garage.
March 1st, 2006 at 9:26 am
I have a similiar question as post #183. My company is transferring me to a store that is 60 miles away from where I live. The community policies and regulations has a moving out provision. Under the provision it states I have to submit a 60 day notice and to make sure my lease has expired when giving notice to avoid being charged a lease cancellation fee. The cancellation fee is equal to one month’s base rent. There is nothing in the policies and regulations about a job move. You said that if my present employer transfers me so many miles I only have to give 30 days notice without any penalities. Is this for every state or only certain states? Will I only need a letter form my District Manager stating they are having me go 60 miles away in some way or form?
March 1st, 2006 at 1:09 pm
I moved into an apartment last fall with an ex-boyfriend of mine. We are both on the lease and he has since moved out. We are splitting the cost of the rent for now while we are still on the lease togather. I can’t find a roommate and can’t afford to pay for everything myself. I am thinking about moving to another city and transferring to a branch of my company elsewhere. Would I be able to break the lease in this circumstance? If not, is there anything I can do just based on the fact that I don’t have enough money to pay for living in this apartment alone?
March 1st, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Hi, I moved into an apt. 6 mths ago. Recently my roommate and I were faced with the problem of bed bugs. We have got our apt. fumugated and have been following certain procedures to eliminate them. They will not go away. I spoke to another tenant upstairs and he said he’s had bedbugs 8 times and laughed at that fact. My roommate and I have reason now to believe that the bedbugs are not being eliminated due to the lack of care of the tenant above us. I don’t like the apt that much anyway, so is this grounds to get out of my 12mth lease???
March 2nd, 2006 at 11:49 pm
Ok so i moved into a condo with two other girls last july. Since that time, i’ve realized the two of them together are like… a two headed satan. Aside from that, one of them has a cat and the other has a ferrit. our whole place smells of urine now, no matter how many times i try to clean the carpet. Since i never signed a pet addendum, is that grounds for me to break the lease? And the fact that the urine is a health risk??
March 3rd, 2006 at 4:52 am
This is my first apartment and it is horrible! If you can, avoid living here at all costs! Im a student at University of Hartford and was tired of the tiny dorm rooms. My boyfriend and I moved into a studio apartment at 30 Forest St. The apartment is really tiny & has many problems. INSIDE: The water changes temperature rapidly and I have been burned in the shower several times. My “kitchen” consists of a stove/sink/fridge all right next to eachother, no counter space, and no room for a table. I had to buy a stand to put the
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microwave on. There are three cabinets, but I cant reach all the shelves inside of them. One of the cabinets is over the fridge so you cant reach it unless you stand on a chair. The oven is very tiny and has no temp. dial on it, and the coils get hot when the oven is on. The kitchen is carpeted too. The rug is this nasty brown/grey shag-like rug. The bathroom is tiny and the tub was stained when we moved in. The only outlets are behind the mirror/cabinet(which is hard to slide open) and you cant get to them unless you take off the glass light cover. Some of the tiles in the bathroom are cracking too. The whole bathroom is black & yellow, its really ugly, but thats the least of the problems. The boiler is directly below us and makes the floor shake. The girl upstair has techno music on all the time, and our neighbor across the hall had the police called on him by his girlfriend, and the police questioned us. The manager of our building is a witch, to put it nicely. She even over charged us for a one time late fee! When we first came to look at the apartments, she promised us a nicer room which she gave to someone else the next day, without telling us. So there I was with all my stuff in the uhaul and the manager gave our place away! Im from NY and she told us that we were “lucky because there is another apartment available”. OUTSIDE: There is a high school directly across from us and the kids like to roll tires down the street at on-coming traffic. They also get into fights all the time when they get out of school for the day. Its a good thing they have cops and metal detectors. But the worst thing that ever happend was that my BOYFRIEND WAS SHOT AT LESS THAN 100FT FROM MY FRONT DOOR!!!! He was almost hit by another car because they had hit some ice. My b/f got out of his car to see if the guy was ok, and then the guy gets out of his car while singing along to some rap song, pulls his 22(gun) out of his pants and fires three shots at him! He filed a police report, and they found two out of the three bullet shells that were fired at him. They never caught the guy so hes still out there somewhere. All of this is 100% true! Trust me, do not live here! My boyfriend almost was killed for trying to help someone! I will be moving out asap! Do you think there is any way I can get out of my lease so I can move somewhere safe? Please help!
March 3rd, 2006 at 1:37 pm
you can do it….
I was on this site trying to find the sneakest way to get out of my lease. When I finally realized that I didn’t have to be sneaky and that all I needed to do was talk to the landlord. I just got off the phone with her a couple of minutes ago. I explained my situation to her….”my car has been broken into, I don’t feel safe, my husband works late hours.” I made her understand that I was not comfortable and that I had no other choice but to move. She understood and today I am giving my 30 day notice
March 3rd, 2006 at 1:37 pm
Every company has their own policies. It is important that you read your lease before signing. You should always ask to see the apartment that you are signing for. Think about it… you would never buy a used car without test driving it first.
March 3rd, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Again,, read your lease. You as a resident should have known that you were required to give some sort of notice. Yes, the apartment community should make you pay.
March 3rd, 2006 at 10:49 pm
i have a big problem, if anyone can help, what are my rights? i live in a complex, just moved in 6 months ago, now they are telling us we all have to move out, due to the fact they will be tearing down the apartments.they gave us other apartments information where we could possilby move to, but we have no money, and frankly no where to go.they didnt really tell us or even put it in writing, warning us, we were hearing it from the other tenats, so i called to the office, and then thats when i find out, we have to be gone in 30 days. what do we do???
March 5th, 2006 at 4:37 pm
Cleaning cat urine: This site provides information and products to eliminate cat urine stains and odors from all kinds of surfaces. There is a free downloadable eBook about how to clean cat urine permanently.
March 7th, 2006 at 9:24 am
Great website — very informative. Thank you!
March 8th, 2006 at 1:37 pm
CANT AFFORD THE RENT ANYMORE
Does anyone know how to get out of a lease if you can’t afford the payments anymore? I’ve had a very bad string of luck as of late; lost one of my jobs (department closed), & my car caught on fire, (88 honda-hung on for dear life.) Transportation is a big part of my job, actually a must, and I can’t afford a car note and the rent right now. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated-thanks.
March 9th, 2006 at 10:40 am
I would say this belongs in reviews of your complex; not on a page about breaking a lease, even if that IS what you want to do.
March 9th, 2006 at 12:01 pm
Why does that apartment complex sound like The Cliffs of Dunwoody to me? If they are tearing down the apartments, they should have some sister companies that you can transfer your lease to. Also, if you don’t like the alternatives that the complex has given you, go through ProMove to find a place.
March 9th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
Make sure to keep EVERYTHING out of your car. When they look inside, they should just see things that are bolted down. Not even clothing, papers, or other clutter.
Either give up on having a radio or get one with a faceplate you can take inside. I installed my radio, and the plugs on the back of it are rather simple. Like the rca jacks on the back of your dvd player could hook one up and take the whole thing inside with you.
March 9th, 2006 at 6:13 pm
The best solution is to call the cops. Nothing pisses a police officer off more than going to a loud music call (waste of his time). Just make sure the music will probably be on when the cop gets there (party, etc). Where I live it’s a $300-$500 fine.
Hurting their wallet really gets their attention.
March 9th, 2006 at 10:53 pm
From what I know, If you read the lease it should state what happens with the consessin if you break the lease for any reason. Mine said that I had to pay all money given in the consession plus any rent too in that event. Look it up.
March 10th, 2006 at 10:40 am
Hi all. I don’t seem to see anyone else on these boards with this problem so here goes. Two months ago my husband and I moved into an apartment we absolutely love but noticed when we went to bring our two year old little girl out to play in the small playground area that there are high tension wires located right behind it and are very close to our apartment. My concern of course is the research out that shows a significant increase in childhood luekemias in small children ages 2-4 who live or play near this lines but to date have no medical explanation for it. It kind of like when they noticed that smokers had an increase in cancer rates but until they could prove a biological reasn for it they couldn’t warn the public about it. The Jounrnal of Medicine and the American Society of Pediatrics admits an increase and correlation but no medical explanation yet for it and until more is known to exercise prudence and this area and where you choose to live and alow your children to play. Can I legally get out of this lease where the play area and apartment is so close to all of this. I didn’t even notice that they where behind these trees or that they could potentially be so dangerous. Thanks all Sharon.
March 10th, 2006 at 11:57 pm
I’m renting a house in Indiana, that is just INFESTED with biting ants, and this is still Winter weather for us, so imagine how bad it will be this summer. The place is falling apart, they tiled over rotting floor, and the wooden cabinet the sink sits on is rotted and infested with a colony of ants. The landlady said she fulfilled her obligations by buying us a tube of ant bait…..but if it doesn’t solve the problem, she’s still obligated to hire an exterminator right? She says “you are just going to have to have ants and live there with it.” But that’s not legal right? Send any reply to licoricesticks(at)angryforlife.com
March 11th, 2006 at 2:40 am
Help!!
I moved into my studio apartment about 8 months ago. Along with the numerous problems of the building and area itself that I failed to notice before moving in, I was always able to deal with everything up untill recently. I went out of town for 4 days, and came home to a dead rat in my bathroom, I called my landlord and he took care of it (came and threw it away for me because I’m a pansy). Well I haven’t been able to even be in my apartment without being creeped out, I am well aware that rodents are more afraid of me than i am of them, but still.. So I haven’t been staying there, Yesterday when I stopped by to get some of my things for work I heard ANOTHER rat and saw in my cupboard rat feeces, and chewed up paper/food. Along with the psychological issues of living in a rat infested dump, I am severly allergic to cats and at least once a month since I’ve moved in I have had either a respiratory infection or sinus infection. I’ve talked to my landlord about getting out of my lease since I saw the rat.. But I actually have no copy of my lease, because he told me he would drop it by for me and never did. (Is this a loophole I could jump through?!?!) Also on the day I moved in I noticed that my window was broke, he called about a week later to say he had the window in, but it has yet to be replaced.. Which leads to my next issue, small bugs getting in because there is a tree right next to that window…
there is a billion other points in this story that I am leaving out but please help me find a way to get out of this hell hole!
PLEASE!
please send any reply to Kelsaroo12345678@aol.com
March 11th, 2006 at 2:44 pm
hi, does anyone have an idea on breaking a lease. my wife got very sick and need family to help,because i work all the time to keep up on bills. my wife could die if she isnt taken care of. we havent found out what is wrong. i dont care about losing my month in half security.i just dont want to get sued for my the next 6 months.what can i do. i live in nj
March 13th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
I signed a 12 month lease. I liked the apartment very much when I first saw it in the daytime and paid half month rent just to keep it because the landlord was unwilling to keep it for a month. But the truth is the apartment is still not rented out. Before I moved into the apartment I went to see it. It was evening and I heard this low frequency noise coming from the basement, right below the apartment, very annoying, especially if you tried to sleep. So I asked the landlord whether he had another apartment because I actually saw another ads on the web for another apartment on the second floor in the same building. And he agreed. I was relieved thinking that now the noises would be gone. But after staying in the apartment for about 2 weeks, I found myself restless because of the low frequency noises. Besides, there is a factory outside the building making constant noises, even with the windlows shut. When I came to see the apartment in the daytime, the noise was blended with other noises in the street, the factory is hiking in the woods, so I didn’t notice. But I thought I can just close the window and stay in the bedroom where the noise level is much lower. However in the night, it become more eminent. And because the building is not well soundproofed. The downstair neighbour sometimes play rap music and drum beat just pierce through the wood floor making my head spin. But The worst thing is the low frequency noise from the basement and from some electronic devices. They greatly affect my night sleep and I feel very bad.
I lived in a studio very quiet so I didn’t thought quietness would be a big concern. I really wish I had noticed all these noises before signing the lease but I think that’s only possible if you actually live in the apartment. And now I just become very anxious to move out.
I wonder if this is a good reason to break the lease with least penalty if a dispute should rise. I know I need to talk with the landlord. But I don’t know what will happen. He did say that I need to pay for the cost of finding a new tenant. But since nothing is written, I don’t know what would happen if I try to terminate the lease early and they do not agree. Could someone give me some good advice before I take any actions?
March 13th, 2006 at 1:45 pm
I wish I had read your post before looking for an apartment. Now that I am in the situation what you called “a life lesson”. And as there’s a full year ahead, I don’t know what’s the best thing to do: force myself to live in the apartment or negociate with the landlord see how it will turn out. Since it’s unlikely the factory who is making all the noises will relocate and the landlord will be putting some soundproof material in a short period of time.
March 14th, 2006 at 11:03 am
WELL I COULD USE ALL THE ADVICE I COULD GET. I RECENTLY LOST MY JOB AND TOOK A 1500 PAY CUT. I CANT AFFORD MY APARTMENT ANYMORE AND CANT SEEM TO FIND A WAY OUT BUT TO GET A SECOND JOB. AND WITH 2 LITTLE BOYS THAT JUST ISNT AN OPTION. IS THERE SOME LEGAL WAY OUT OF PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THIS? ANY ADVICE IS GREATLY APPRECIATED. THANKS !!!
March 15th, 2006 at 12:45 pm
There are variations in Landlord tenant law in each state. But you can get access to one in lay language from the state attourney general’s office. Check to see what it says about the landlord obligations and the tenant obligations and the responsibilities about breaking a lease. You may be able to negotiate a payout to release you from the lease.
As a site leasing agent, I have had a few break leases, but I found that if the tenant must move for economic reasons, the tenant writes the best ad and gives good reccomendations. A great way to advertize free is Craig’s list. I was able to turn broken leases quickest. See if you can get the management to help out, as you will offer to help them out. In most cases the landlord is not supposed to collect double rents. So if you can help get a new renter sooner, you have to pay less future rent. You probably have to lose the security and pay other sorts of “damages and costs”
March 15th, 2006 at 3:59 pm
My roomates and I are looking to move out of our apartment which we have been in for 8 months. We assumed that our lease was for 12 months, so we were going to find sublettors. However, when I looked at a copy of the lease, I realized that the term of the lease had never been filled in, only the beginning date is listed. Does this mean that we are tenants at will? Nowhere on the lease agreement is there a stated term.
March 17th, 2006 at 7:50 pm
Hi all, I have a issue I need advice on. I moved out for the first time with a friend of mine in Oct. 2005. Both of our names are on the lease. Things went from good to hell. For the past couple of months this former friend of mine turned out to be a crazed lunatic (not really but you know). She’s been trying to make my life a living hell. Our lease is not up until Oct. 2006. I was just wondering if there was any way possible to get out of the lease??? And if the landlord does let me out, would I owe anything to her?? This is my first time renting and I have no clue on what to do or what my options are (if I even have any). Please help if you have any advice. Thanks
March 18th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
Just signed a lease - not even moving in - how do I get out of it?????
OK, so I just signed a lease on Thurdsay 3/16 with a move in date of 3/17. Now we (my fiancee and I) knew going in that NO pets were allowed at all, so we made other arrangements for our pets. However, right after we signed the lease, we found our that our arrangements had fallen through. Now I have paid the security deposit, the application fee, and the rent through the end of March. I called the night I signed the lease and left a message for someone to call me first thing the next day. I explained, that unfortunately we will not be able to move in to the apt because we have our pets and do not want to bring them and get evicted. After speaking with the landlord about getting out of the lease since it was less than 24 hours from the time I signed, and we had moved nothing in, we were told that they were not able to let us out of the lease. They said that we would have to pay rent until they were able to lease the apt to someone else. So now we are paying rent for an apt that we can’t live in. My problem with this whole thing is the fact that since there was a mistake on the lease, which was corrected by hand, I was told that I could wait to sign - which I requested, and was then told that I needed to sign now. This is my first apt, and I thought if I didn’t sign I would lose the apt. and at that point did not know that the arrangements we had made for our pets would not work, and I wasn’t willing to lose the apt. My next problem is the fact that my lease states a move in date of 3/17, and the lease term from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007. So technically, the way I see it, the lease hasn’t even started yet..is that correct??? Lastly I was told I had to sign a piece of paper stating that I would be responsible for the apt until it was leased so they would be able to market the apt to other people that came in. Now, I am not sure that this is all legal, and I wanted to know if anyone had any ideas as to whether it is or not. I think that I should be able to get out of the lease with no problem and they are not letting me. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!! I am getting married in 2 months, and now have to pay for an apartment that I can’t live in and can’t get anything else until I free of this lease. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 20th, 2006 at 12:51 pm
i have a friend who wants to break her lease on a house she has. she has another place lined up but the landlord won’t let her out of the lease. when she first told him that she wanted out due to the insulation problem (and lack thereof) and the fact that she was paying not only the rent but an additional $1200 every 2 months for gas because she couldn’t keep the place any warmer than 64 even in the dead of winter which it was then harder to get it above 50. anyway he initially told her that he would work with her to give her at least half her deposit and such back but has since changed his mind and is now saying that either they take another place he is offering or pay rent until the place is rented. HELP!!!! she can’t afford a lawyer and she wants to move somewhere closer to her job and better for her son and husband.
March 21st, 2006 at 6:43 pm
Maybe someone can help me out with my issue, as well. I recently signed a lease with a friend for an apartment, and am not scheduled to move in until June 2006 (people currently live there now and will move out when the school year is over). My problem is, I’ve recently been accepted to another school, as has my friend, and we both need to get out of the apartment ASAP. What are our options? All this news came to me today, so the rental company is currently closed, but what are the forseeable options? So I haven’t moved in yet, can I still get out? Or am I screwed? The whole thing is making me sick!
March 24th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
I am in apartment management and you may need to double check this, but you shouldnt have already had to sign a lease. But if you have actually signed the lease agreement- it should not be legally binding until June 2006 when you are scheduled to move-in. You may loose your deposit but you shouldnt be held responsible your an apartment that you havent even moved into yet.
March 24th, 2006 at 11:20 pm
I had the same exact issue!!! Almost to a tee! And I was wondering if anyone has gotten back to you yet? I signed a lease on March 10th and had a family emergency that we have to deal with and will not be able to move in at all. We were due to move in April 1st and the lease states that it starts on April 1st, and we, just like you have not moved a thing into the apt. but yet they are telling us that we will be responsible for the rent until it gets rented by someone, that they can keep our deposit, and all of these other things. i need some help. i am in the same boat! What did you find out if anything? you can e-mail me at dmmaxwelll33@cox.net. Thank you!
March 25th, 2006 at 9:00 am
Legally you have not taken possation of the apartment yet , So you can still get out of the lease. If the office will not help you out the contact the Corperate Office. You should be able to find them online if the main office will not help you. But you may lose any money that you have already paid.
March 27th, 2006 at 9:22 am
ok. singned a lease on a house.. but the lease was wasn’t fully singned . i didn’t get to do a inspeaction on the house.. and some other things . but the agerment was no money down o nthe phone but the paper said differnt. so the landlord said he will take it to he’s lawyer the next day to to get the ball rolling but i check all my money and i can’t get the full amount so icalled him back 45 mins after i just singed the pappers and told him i can’t afford the down payment. so just cancell the lease.Then he told me that the lawyer has the pappers and is getting it finallized,but the was no money changed hands. no keys taken the lease wasn’t fully signed. so what do i do? i have no clue what to do this is my first place . please hit me back if you have a anwers @ rcspence@nmcsd.med.navy.mil thanks
March 27th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
My lease states that I was renting apt 5 but I am actually in Apt 6, Is my lease still valid?
March 27th, 2006 at 10:12 pm
I would like to know the answer to this too. My lease says a different street name than the one my apartment is actually on.
March 28th, 2006 at 7:26 pm
Have you found out any information, any feedback? I have the same situation. I live in an apartment that i signed a lease for 6 months, and that date cam e and went and I have been living there without a lease. I am assuming that to be nice all I need to give is 30days notice, but I wasn’t sure. Did you find anything out?
March 29th, 2006 at 12:24 am
Your mistake was signing the paperwork without reading it carefully. You’ll have to pay or they will ruin your credit and send you to a collection agency,
March 29th, 2006 at 9:03 am
I signed a lease in January 2006 and found out I’m going to transfer through my job out of state. Is there a way to get my company to write a transfer letter or another way out of the Lease through transfer. If not I do realize the lease states animals weighing no more than 45 lbs although I have a dog living there that weighs around 55-60lbs. Could this be grounds for dismissal, or would they not really care about that?
March 29th, 2006 at 10:53 am
Dont Break the lease pay the 5475 for the remainder of the term and move out.
March 29th, 2006 at 10:56 pm
As a leasing agent myself, I do believe that an open-ended lease agreement requires an additional addendum specifically stating that the apartment is “at will” or month to month. It is in your BEST INTEREST to get answers to your questions IN WRITING from your landlord ASAP! Not only is this practice shady, but very dangerous for renters, and favorable for landlords. Im not saying your situation is completely negative, but the fact that there is a blank on the lease agreement with no additional supporting documentation sends up red flags. PLEASE do yourself a favor and write your landlord a letter, hand delivered or delivery confirmation mail and request a reply within 10 days. If you do not receive an answer, look up your community tenant council in the yellow pages and ask them for further help! And remember, keep copies of everything you send and write notes with everyone you talk to. (Laws regarding tenant/landlord issues generally favor landlords, so come prepared for problems!) Also, request the legal procedures required from them regarding subletting. It is illegal at most properties without the owners consent and/or additional paperwork. And dont think they wont find out if you just do it without them knowing! Hope this helps!
March 29th, 2006 at 11:28 pm
Unfortunately, there is nothing in the lease that states that dangers like these must be acknowledged before a lease is signed. In a perfect world, MEN and HOMES would come with warning labels
The only thing you may be able to do is appeal to your landlord’s motherly natures, if she is a woman. Just go to her, mother to mother, and express your concerns, and she may have a solution for you. She isn’t required to let you out of your lease, since leases do not insure buyer’s remorse. PLEASE talk to your landlord, and remember you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. My point is, be reasonable while expressing your concerns, but remember that they have no obligation to waive your lease termination fees. Best of luck to you!
March 29th, 2006 at 11:34 pm
Unfortunately, they will not cancel the demolition just for you. Your neighbors are just as put out as you are! Although the means in which you found out about the situation was not ideal, the apartment legally is not required to give more than 3 days notice to vacate for any reason they choose. (I know, that sucks!) Unless ALL of the tenants require an extension, there is not much you can do, except to accept that you’ve got a crappy situation on your hands, but dont allow it to stop you from finding a new place. Call a local apartment locator, and see if they can help you. They have the best databases, and are your best help in this situation. They will know where to find a place in your price range.
March 29th, 2006 at 11:40 pm
Unfortunately you are ALL on the lease together. You werent given these roommates, you chose them. It is not the apartment managers fault if your health is at risk, it is your roommates. Talk to your landlord about signing yourself off the lease, and leaving your two roommates on the lease. Make sure you will not still be financially responsible for the lease after you have signed off. Otherwise, when it gets time to move out, you will be stuck with the costs of your satan roommates ferret and cat pissed carpet, as wel as other damage they may have caused. You cannot have your own lease terminated because of animals, but your apt manager can. It has to be their decision to rescind the lease, not yours. I believe those would be your best options.
March 29th, 2006 at 11:44 pm
It is the landlords responsibility to insure a liveable and safe environment, which bedbugs are a serious issue! Not only will you have to replace your matresses, but most fabrics including towels and clothes! This problem will not go away, so you have to do some work! The squeeky wheel gets the oil, so let the landlord know where the problem is coming from, and encourage him/her to require that apt to clean itself up to ensure safe living conditions. This is not the time to frivelously get rid of an annoying neighbor, but a legitimate problem legally needs to be addressed.
March 30th, 2006 at 1:28 am
Hello, I purchased a puppy and the management company is now asking for a $500.00 non-refundable deposit, which I have no problem with, but only that my lease I renewed stated nothing about pet deposit, no addendum of any kind was attatched. So, what are my rights in this situation, I signed a lease for a year with no pet addendum in the lease.. Should have to pay??
Thanks so much,
Melissa
March 31st, 2006 at 7:32 am
I have been living in my current apartment for just under a year now, and was just asked to renew my lease at the end of February. Technically, my old lease does not expire until the end of June, so there is a 4 month period from which my old lease ends and new one begins. I have just found circumstances that require me to move out of the area….is there any way to break my lease legally?
March 31st, 2006 at 9:10 am
My landlord is extremely unethical, but I am not sure if this is grounds for us to terminate the lease. There are many issues with her and I wonder if they would fall under landlord harassment or some other legal way out of the lease.
In February she sent us an addendum to the lease with a message (I have the phone messages still) stating that if we do not sign the addendum she wants to end the lease.
In March, she came to the apartment and threatened us with eviction. She told us that she was going to have the sheriff come and evict us on grounds that we broke the lease. That same day she placed a ‘For Rent’ sign in the yard and a few days later we found a posting on the internet. She sent us an e-mail asking to show the apartment to new tenants.
We sent her a certified mail (with return receipt) stating that we did not violate the lease and we have paid all of our rent on time. After she received the letter, she took down the sign and never came to show the apartment.
We also asked for a response in the first letter, waited over 2 weeks, and sent a second letter asking her what her future plans are in regards to ending the lease. In both letters we requested a response in 1 week. She has yet to respond to the first letter, now sent 4 weeks ago.
Additionally, she has called my renter’s insurance company and had herself added as an additional insured and has refused to provide notice before entering the yard. I have contacted the previous tenants and they informed me of their circumstances with her - she lied about advertising to get more money from them as well as keeping the security deposit and last month’s rent (the apartment was vacant for less then 1 week).
Please help! I want to move, but not if she is going to charge me $2,000+!!! Do I have any options?
March 31st, 2006 at 10:54 am
I suggest talking to your landlord. If you explain the situation you may be offer to find a replacement tenant and your lanlord will allow you to leave. I highly recommend reading your lease to see if you will be charged to break your lease - for example, you may forfeit your security deposit. However, your lanlord may understand your situation and allow you to leave.
Whatever decision you do reach, get EVERYTHING in writting! (Certified mail with return receipt).
March 31st, 2006 at 3:11 pm
Oct 2005 i leased an apt i was working 2 jobs and i was injured on a job and lost the job i told my landlord that i could not afford to live there anylonger(i hadent even been there a month) i had nothing unpacked, so i cleaned the apt put my stuff in my fathers truck and left shortly after my auto was reposessed i have nothing but debt.
Now the collections agency is going to take me to court to collect 6,689$ for the year what can i do to protect myself? Please help
April 1st, 2006 at 9:12 pm
My new apartment is infested with bed bugs! Creepy crawly blood sucking tick like insects. I have read a few web sites and I seem to be headed for a long up hill battle. theese bed bugs are very tough. I was wondering if this kind of infestation is reason enough to break my lease? I’ve only lived here for about half a week and after seeing at least 5 - 10 bed bugs a day, knowing that they’re mainly nocturnal, it’s hard to sleep. Any sugestions would help.
April 3rd, 2006 at 9:19 am
Noisey Neighbors in Colorado-
Not sure if anyone knows the legal clause to protect us from neighbors who roam (stomp) all hours and drop heavy objects. It sounds petty, but this is really loud wake you up shocked sounds. Any idea how we can force the landlord to resolve the problem - or do we have to move?
April 4th, 2006 at 8:52 am
Yes you do- They do not have to give you a pet adedem unless it applies to you. They would not supply you with an addemdum(addition) to the lease unless it was something that applied to your situation.
I worked for a big property managment company in Northern VA and that sort of stuff was done all the time in compliance with the state laws. As long as they advertise themselves as a pet friendly community and that they have a fee attached to having a pet at the community then they can do it. Do check the advertisments though. If they advertise no fees then check into it with a lawyer…Otherwise you have to pay.
April 4th, 2006 at 9:19 am
It is a fair housing issuse for landlords to tell you there is any crime in your area or no crime in your area. Reason being is that if you lease an apartment and the leasing agent says to you that it is a safe place to live and you go out the first day you live there and get shot you can sue the company for providing you with faulse info under the fair housing laws… They should provide you with the local law enforcement website when you asked them for the crime info and told you that they cannot provide you with any information….
April 5th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
My husband and I just resigned our lease, but it doesn’t start until August 9th. It is now April. Would we be able to get out of that easily? We live in NC.
Please let me know soon!
April 7th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
I am going through the same thing, but with my upstairs neighbors,it’s domestic abuse, requiring me to call the police twice just this week. It’s been going on for several months, and I am exhausted from no rest at night. I have been here for 3 1/2 years, and have 11 months left on my lease. I will definitely be moving in March of next year. From that day forward every single complaint WILL be in writing with every i dotted and every t crossed. Good luck!!
April 7th, 2006 at 5:48 pm
When a person breaks the lease because of moving
do you have to give back the security deposit
April 9th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
Hi, My husband and I moved into an 2 bedroom apt and when we first moved here we had 3 kids and they new we needed more room. We now have 5 kids expecting another we just found out. Please anyone we found a house to fit us, but our lease isn’t up until Feb 2007 we need to move. Does anyone know how we can break our lease? I thought this is an violation to live in an 2 bedroom apt with all of our kids. In the lease it says something about paying two months rent and a anotice. I feel that they have already violated by having us in here. We been having Mice problems and when we moved in in 2003 we had other problems as well. Can someone who knows about this help me. Thanks
April 10th, 2006 at 3:38 am
I get dizzy and short of breath in my new apartment. I let it air out for a couple weeks and went to see a doctor but nothing helped so I let the apt. manager know. She’s trying to help the best she can, but the owners are being stubborn (she wants to reclean the carpets with hot water to remove possible chemical residue but they won’t let her until she gets trained on the new equipment, and they won’t let her reclean the walls or anything else at all because they say they cleaned prior to me moving in, though she herself can see they didn’t very well). I know it’s something about the apartment because I get better the more I’m away from it.
I have to sleep with the windows to get fresh air otherwise I feel like I’m going to faint, and can’t find another place right now to move into. I think it may be mold but I’m hoping the carpet cleaning works. Otherwise I also asked about moving into another unit in the same building. It’s a month-to-month lease, but I have to give 30 days’ notice before moving…can I avoid the 30 days’ notice if it’s making me this sick though?
April 10th, 2006 at 6:08 pm
She can’t change the lease terms unless you argee to them. She is bound by the lease she signed the same as you are. If she sends you an adendum, throw it in the trash.
KEEP NOTES. Buy yourself a journal and make a daily entry just like a diary of your encounters with her! It will be very useful later in court.
April 10th, 2006 at 6:10 pm
Yes.
April 11th, 2006 at 9:53 am
Hi, I am a freshmen in college and currently living in an apartment that I hate! I want to move, but my lease isn’t up until Jan. 2007. The only reason I moved in was because my parents made me. It was Jan.3 and I started school on jan 10 and I needed somewhere to stay considering the college is out of state. The appliances in the apartment are like from the 80’s. THe bathroom is dirty even after I clean it. THe bath tub is peeling and has mold on the water stopper thing. The sink faucett is detoriating. THen what makes it worse, I think I have OCD. But I haven’t been clinicly diagnosed with it. PLease Help!
April 11th, 2006 at 6:13 pm
I work in property management and I used to live in an apartment where the person above me was a stomper. I complained to the office and they called the girl who lived above me. They kindly asked her if she could try to be more considerate of her walking between the hours of 10pm - 9am. There was a little improvement however I was still not happy. There will be noise transfer from apt to apt, and some poeple are more sensitive than others. So in your case it is best to live on the top floor. Ask your landlord about transferring on-site to another unit. I had to.
April 12th, 2006 at 1:50 am
Hi, I have a huge deal! Am I truly stuck? I recently found out a few things… I live in B’ham Alabama and I lived alone. My fiancee’ and I discovered in late January that she was pregnant. She, at that time, lived with her sister. I knew we had planned to get married, and had paid fees and along with the apartments had been bound by the terms of those contracts ( photographers, church, ministers, etc.) So, we got married April 1st this year. We placed an ad in the paper, I called my landlord, and racked my brain doing everything I could to give my lease away, i.e. giving away nice furniture we weren’t gonna be able to use anyhow. I wound up getting a lease alone not on credit, but by paying first and last months rent up front and had to turn around and pay that following months rent. I was told that someone had to have as good of credit as I when I signed my lease, but it wasn’t based on my credit then, and I am confused as to why they told potential tenants that, especially if I never had a report ran. It came down to the end of the ad, and a potential renter (2 actually) had bad marriages, and no good credit. They don’t consider taking on co signers anymore, as did when I signed my lease. So, now I have a baby on the way, an apartment I don’t live in, and bills with my wife. Yes, it sucks so don’t bash me please.lol. I just need a hand. Is there any sound advice you may have for me. If you do, thanks a bunch and I promise to write a song for you on my next album.no kidding! I just can’t afford to pay May’s rent, and my landlord has no sympathy for the baby deal, ( not that she’s supposed to) but is there something I can do? Is it possible to break the lease, and how if not posted, or given as offered info can I see who owns the property? Any help to the questions could help me, my wife, and my baby on the way, so thanks! Extremely concerned Jeremy from B’ham!
April 12th, 2006 at 8:40 am
Is it true that you can break a lease on the grounds of moving to a different city for school/work?
April 12th, 2006 at 10:47 am
I have a slob for a roomie, and by saying slob I am being kind. I have 79 days until the end of my lease and I just cannot live in her filth anymore. How can I break my lease or move out due to unsanitary living conditions and mental health issues? I am bipolar and she sends me off the charts when I am otherwise a controled medicated person!!
April 14th, 2006 at 8:26 am
Ever see a bag of lint for sale on Ebay?
Some people pay up to $30 for one stupid bag of lint.
Here is why.
The lint exhaust for a dryer when stopped up is concidered a FIRE HAZARD.
Depending on the design the owner may have to break out the wall just to fix it.
Good way to get out of a lease.
April 14th, 2006 at 4:30 pm
i signed a lease 2 days ago with $500 down not due to move in until 4/29 today is 4/14 do i have a way to get out of the lease and get my money back? this was thru a realty co. thanks help asap
April 15th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
Usually if you work for something that your apartment complex calls a preferred employer, all you need to do is give the leasing office staff a letter from your company to prove the transfer. If it is another circumstance, you will more than likely need to look closely at your lease (there should be a section about breaking the lease) or contact your rental office. Also, there are many apartment management companies that have properties in different areas/states where you can transfer to another one of their communities, so that technically you do not have to break you lease.
April 15th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
Honestly, you have 5 children and 2 adults in a 2 bedroom apartment? It is a law (at least it is in Ohio, and should be everywhere else) that only 2 people per 1 bedroom are allowed to occupy an apartment. This is definitely for the safety of you and your family. You have way too many people in that apartment. First of all, if the landlords knew you had that many children, they should have told you that there is an occupancy law. On the other hand, if they were misinformed about the number of people living in the apartment, they have the right to ask you to leave. I don’t know what state you are from and what the laws are like there, but I would be more worried about getting evicted than trying to get out of the lease. I am not trying to be mean, just honest.
April 15th, 2006 at 8:52 pm
Perform an online search for “tenants’ rights organizations” in your area or state. I happen to work in the multi - family industry (TX). If all five children are’nt listed on your lease then there is no violation. However you can always add the children to the agreement…Try the search and also apply for low cost or free legal aid. Sometimes it is easier to prove your complex is in violation. You could try sending a Certified letter (to complex) with return receipt stating the violaton and your intent to move due to the violation. Unbiased attorney’s advice can always help. Congratulations on your new home!
April 15th, 2006 at 9:12 pm
When you sign (AGREE) a lease contract you are responsible for the term of the lease regardless of how much time spent in the unit. It appears you commited to only 6 mos (judging the $ reported). 12 mos would’ve been much worse. Try to work out a minimum payment arrangement so in the event you need to rent again you can, with ease. As most apts require good rental history to approve prospects.
April 15th, 2006 at 9:23 pm
That’s a good question for a Lawyer.
Search Legal Aid of whatever county you live in.
April 15th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Discuss this with an attorney. Your legal description is incorrect.
April 16th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
depends on the state; some state’s allow a three day attorney review period in which the lease does not become legally active until that period passes…find out
April 16th, 2006 at 10:57 pm
What can we do?
My mother and i are hoping to move into a new townhouse as soon as possible but we have a lease agreement of our apartment for at least 6 more months. The apartment itself is really not in good condition not to mention it’s located in a bad area. We could just wait it out but the opportunity of this townhouse won’t last long. This Townhouse we could possibly own is actually in the downtown area and closer to my school. We would really like to know some legal ways to break the lease.
Thank You, Andrea
April 17th, 2006 at 9:22 am
I RESENTLY MOVED INTO AN APARTMENT AND THERE ARE COCKROACHES EVERYWHERE!!!! IN OUR SILVERWEAR DRAWER, OUR BEDROOM, BED, SINK, BATROOM,KITCHEN, EVERYWHERE!!!I WAKE UP WITH COCKROACH BITES ALL OVER! THE APARTMENTS HAVE COME TO SPRAY BUT THEIR STILL ALIVE EVERYWERE! I CANT LIVE LIKE THIS AND I SIGNED A 13MONTH LEASE AND BECAUSE IM ONLY 19 YEARS OLD AND I DONT HAVE CREDIT I HAD TO PUT DOWN A 950$ DEPOSIT, I WANT TO BREAK ME LEASE BUT WILL I GET MY 950$ BACK? THIS APARTMENT IS DISCUSTING AND I CANT LIVE THIS WAY!!!
April 17th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
Last july I signed a year lease in Madison Ohio rent was 545.00 plus deposit the same amount for months i had very little hot water take a shower and the water turned ice cold,the noise from upstairs was very loud when they walked.I moved out in Febuary after a 30 day notice am i intitle to the deposit back the apartment was rented in march their was no damage and no real cleaning that had to be done Thanks
April 17th, 2006 at 10:11 pm
my ex became abusive while i was pregnant so i left and am staying with family. the property manager told me that if i had a restraining order that they would take my name off of the lease. Then when i took the restraining order to them they said they wont take me off the lease. I was so pissed and they basically told me that it doesnt matter if he killed me because they wouldnt be responsible for it. even if that is true, how rude of them to say such a thing. does anybody know anything about this? (im in az)
April 18th, 2006 at 8:48 am
In most states you have 30 days to break your lease with no penlties. read your lease!!
April 21st, 2006 at 9:41 am
I just wanted to mention that I have had similar issues with breathing/ashtma since I began to live in my current apartment. I read that new buildings (mine is less than 3 years old) are FULL of chemicals that are ‘out-gassed’ by such things as carpeting, paint, even the woodwork. It takes about 7 years for this outgassing to be over. Be sure to look for buildings that are over 7 years old and try to find hardwood floors over carpeting. Sorry I cannot help with the moving question.
April 25th, 2006 at 5:54 pm
were you able to break the lease or did they take you to small clamis
April 26th, 2006 at 8:59 am
I am into about 6 months on my lease and I was wondering if I could break it legally? I was planning on moving to another city, and I was trying to figure out a way to do it without getting into finacial obligations for breaking my lease.
April 26th, 2006 at 9:23 am
By breaking your lease (which is what you did when you moved out early) you most likely forfeit your right to that money. They have the right to apply it to their lost income and their make ready costs. You would be suprised how much it costs to get an apartment ready for the next tenant, even after you did what you thought was a good job of cleaning.
April 26th, 2006 at 9:32 am
If you break the lease you will lose the deposit, unless you have the nicest landlord in the world. You need to make written requests (send it by certified mail) that the situation be resolved. Send three of these letter, each a little more severe than the last. The last one should threaten legal action. This should get them to fix the situation. If they don’t you might be able to pay for an exterminator and subtract it from your rent (check your state laws).
You made the mistake of signing the lease without checking the apartment, so you need to suck it up and try to fix the problem.
April 26th, 2006 at 9:41 am
Absolutely not. You signed a contract, so you are legally bound to honor it. If you break that contract you are still liable for the rent that you promised to pay. Therefore they can apply the deposit to the total owed by you. On top of that you can expect to owe thousands of dollars to the company, which will be on your credit report. Most apartment complexes will not rent to people who have a history of breaking leases, so it will be hard to find apartments in the future. You need to honor your lease and think things through before you commit to long term contracts.
April 26th, 2006 at 9:45 am
Not much. You signed a contract and they have the right to expect you to honor it. Check with a tenants rights organization in your area to see if they can charge the whole amount, or if they can only charge you a reletting fee plus the rent until they find a new tenant. Either way you can expect to owe at least a few thousand dollars. Remember that they have to invest a lot of money to find a new tenant, get the apartment back into a rentable state, and a hundred other little expenses. You cost them money by bailing and they have a right to expect you to pay for it.
April 26th, 2006 at 9:50 am
Not only can she not change the lease, but threatening you with eviction or other retributive acts can cost her dearly. I agree with the other poster, keep records of everything. Log every lease violation (on her part, of course), keep all communications, and only respond to her by certified mail. I would contact a tenants rights group in your area to try and find free legal help. Landlords like this need to be taught that they cannot just do anything that they want.
April 26th, 2006 at 9:52 am
If you signed the lease you are stuck, if you didn’t you are not legally bound. IT is a little more complicated than that, but this will get you started.
April 26th, 2006 at 9:55 am
Wrong, wrong, wrong. The signature is the thing. Pre-leasing is entirely valid, and posession is not what makes a lease binding. If you signed you are bound, but you may be able to find someone to take over the lease. Talk to your landlord about finding an acceptable tenant to take over for you.
April 26th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
I’m not sure if this is going to be helpful but, you may want to try to Sublet your place to a close friend or family. this way there’s someone who can take over.
hope i can help
April 26th, 2006 at 11:50 pm
I just got married 4/1/06. My husband and I found a home and are in the process of purchasing it. My lease is not up until 7/06. I gave them notice of moving and they threatened to sue me for not only the two months rent, but for discounts, redecoration fees, and damages totalling $3500. What (if anything) can I do to avoid this situation?
April 27th, 2006 at 8:49 am
I have lived in the same apartement since I was born. I turned 23 last week. Knowing that I’ve always wanted a dog, my friends bought me a puppy. I am now hiding the little thing because I know that my lease doesn’t allow animals. What I am confused about is many others in my block seem to have dogs. I think that these people live on the ground floor however. If the people on the ground floor have dogs, I cannot see why I should not be allowed. I own this property, does that not give me some rights?
Help?
April 27th, 2006 at 2:14 pm
I would first talk with your neighbors and ask them politely if they could not make so much noise. If that doesn’t work notify the rental office and if that doesn’t work you can notify police. Most states have noise ordinances.
April 27th, 2006 at 11:28 pm
Two months ago, my old roommate wanted to move out, so I went on a new roommate search. I found one. She did everything a roommate shouldnt do. Plus she didnt sign the lese when she was supposed too. Now i tried to evict her, but if i did it would go to court and cost me a bunch of money. So either I live in hell…or go to court and pay out the ass. I just want out of my lease so the landlord can deal with her. But i have four months left. I cant live with her, and she wont leave! what do I do!?
April 28th, 2006 at 7:46 pm
We have 6 months left on our lease and on a regular basis, our apartment fills with secondhand smoke from three of our neighbors who are all chain smokers. We have complained and hand delivered a letter. The landlord’s response: move to another unit, with no guarantee that the same thing won’t happen again in this other unit. We’ve found a single family home to rent, but we need to find a way out of our lease. We are waiting to hear back from our attorney. Anyone else have a similar situation? We’re thinking of suing as my baby and I have both been very sick with upper respiratory problems since moving in here.
April 29th, 2006 at 8:53 am
HELP!
I am currently living in a house that is suppose to be a a single family unit and rent the first floor. The second floor is rented to another family and the basement is rented to another family. It’s overpopulated and there’s a severe parking issue. I signed the lease in November…but I want to get out ASAP. The family upstairs are advid drinkers and are constantly on the front stoop drinking with beer bottles scattered everywhere. This is a private residence, what are my rights???
April 29th, 2006 at 8:55 am
Is your rental a private residence or is it in an apartment complex?
April 29th, 2006 at 10:14 am
I was due to move into an apartment. My lease starts from May 1, 2006. I was going to pay extra money to move in a couple of days early. I went to the apartment to pick up the keys from the renter and when we walked into the place, I noticed a lot of dead roaches, ants, and silver fish bugs. Roaches were in every room laying on their backs, ants were dead in large groups along the wall and floor and the silver fish bugs were dead in the window. There were even dead roaches in the damn freezer and toilet. I told them that I do not want to move in because of this problem. I refuse to live with roaches and other bugs. The place was not like that when I first looked at the place. I didn’t sign a lease to move into a bug infested apartment. Will I have trouble getting my entire security deposit back?
May 1st, 2006 at 10:13 am
My lease is up end of June, but I found a house for rent and I want to move in ASAP. What can I do, to break the lease just a month in advance? Will it be a big issue or what?
May 2nd, 2006 at 10:08 pm
About a month ago my neighbor right across from me was murdered by 2 people. I’m sure there has to be a way for me to break my lease being that now I do not feel safe. Can I break my lease knowing that the apartment is not safe?
May 3rd, 2006 at 11:23 am
I have had 3 water leaks in the 10 months I have been at this apartment. Is there any way to break this lease?
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:13 pm
I signed a lease for 12 months to move-in Sept. 16th 2006. Can I break the lease and what possible consequences would be for that? There isn’t anything in my lease agreement that says about lease termination and i was wondering if I’m liable for 12m pay even though i haven’t moved in yet. Any response would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!!
May 3rd, 2006 at 10:24 pm
A friend and I leased an apartment with two other friends about a month and a week ago for August-May07. The lady who helped us signed the lease was exceptional and told us that if we were to move out for any reason we would get our money back even if it was over a month(deposit of $335). My friend and I decided to just move in a two bedroom and found people to take our spots. The lady is now telling us that we have to pay a $100 transfer fee in order for our other friends to take our previous spot. What should we do in order to break the lease and get our money back?
May 10th, 2006 at 1:10 pm
I signed a short term lease, 6 months. 2 months ago I found mice droppings around the kitchen. I bought traps and told management about it. They provided rat poision, which also didn’t work. I have found a great apartment, CLEAN!! and have written a letter to management asking them to pro-rate my last month’s rate. I really think this is very reasonable. I’ve called the landlord many times and have left two messages, with no reponse. What can I do have managment respond to my request?
May 10th, 2006 at 5:55 pm
Yes. If your new lease has not started yet you can delince your renewal.
May 10th, 2006 at 6:21 pm
SINCE SHE ISN’T ON THE LEASE, YOU CAN LEAGALLY HAVE YOUR LOCKS CHANGED WHEN SHE GOES TO WORK, OR ISN’T HOME. WHEN SHE SHOWS UP YOU CAN CALL THE POLICE AND HAVE HER ARRESTED FOR TRESSPASSING, BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO ALLOW HER HER CLOTHES AND POSSITIONS. PREFERABBLY WHIL THE POLICE ARE THERE.
May 11th, 2006 at 5:02 pm
I had that situation once before. There really isnt anything you can do because she is not on the lease which will make you in breach of your lease and you can end up being evicted yourself. Only thing I can tell you is to change the locks on her. I took different measures and the person moved out on their own but Im not going to list it here.. Good luck..
May 14th, 2006 at 5:22 pm
I rented an apartment that I have a lease for 12 months. I was bit by a Brown Recluse Spider (poisionis) and had to be in the hospital for 8 days and need antibiotic treatments for 20 days (everyday). My apartment also has mold and a musty smell is there a way I can break my lease?
May 15th, 2006 at 10:08 pm
i recently had an apt fire on fri,5-12-06 and they are telling me to pay for damages without investigating what caused the fire. if i dont come up with the money in 5 days they will send for an evition notice. on top of that they are saying because the fire was supposely caused by us they will not relocate us to another apt. is this legal on there part? on top of that while the fire was going on the fire extiguisher they provided didnt work and neither the fire detecter. well because we have no where else to go we have to stay there. today is now mon 5-15-06, they were suppose to come out and investigate but didnt. and per the paper they gave me on fri i have to come up with the money by wed 5-17-06. should they are shouldnt they relocate me until the investigation is made or even at the time of the repairs?
May 16th, 2006 at 11:25 am
I have lived in an aprt for around 7 months and I signed a 13 month lease…Since I have lived here, I have had 5 scorpions and the complex has sprayed two times but they are still getting in. I have also had an upstairs neighbors dog use the bathroom (both) on his patio which would run off onto mine (and myself once) and the complex would come and clean it but this happened several times. With all of these complaints, what do I need to do to get out of my lease??? Dallas, TX
May 17th, 2006 at 5:58 pm
I was bit by something about almost 2 months ago and needed to go through a minor surgery because of it. I have only lived in this apt. for 2 months. At first i wasn’t sure where i had been bitten at but after seeing all the insects in my home i am now sure that it was in the apt. I am now stuck with a 3,000 dollar hospital bill and stuck in my lease for another 10 months. All i want is a way out!
May 18th, 2006 at 11:51 am
My husband was recently promoted so we moved to MS in November. We had to get something very quickly so he went through a realty co., he was told he was signing a 6 month lease wich is what we wanted because we planned on buying. During this time I started working for this co. I let the property manager know that we were looking for a place. I happened to look at my lease one day and it was for 8 months wich we thought that’s fine but I asked her if we would be able to get out early if we found something she made out like that would not be a problem, however we found a place and decided we would stay until our lease was up. Then within 2wks there were four break ins we have two small childeren that stayed in the back rooms and did not feel safe. I repeatedly told the manager to call my husband she would not return the calls and we decided to move. do we have any rights in this matter.
I know that things should have been handled different from both of us.
May 18th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
I have gotten in over my head in Parker, Colorado and need to find a cheaper place to live Denver. I have contacted the landlord, and his approach is: “As you know the lease is a contract. I priced the rent below the market rate so I could get a tenant who would stay for 12 months. If you signed an agreement anywhere else the situation would be the same. I don’t feel comfortable subletting the condo. I would need you to pay the remainder of the lease agreement.” So would I be breaking the law if I sublet even though he is not “comfortable” with it?
May 18th, 2006 at 6:59 pm
I signed a 12 month contract and just the other day a women was raped in her apartment here by a serial sexual predator on the loose, that makes two case in this neighborhood!
May 19th, 2006 at 10:27 am
Call the health department on the bastards. If it is that bad, then they have broken the lease by not providing a relatively safe and healthy living space for you to live. — Glennie S.; Cullowhee, North Carolina
May 20th, 2006 at 9:19 pm
Hi, I am a lawyer in Austin, TX. The apartment is not breaking any laws. As long as they are coming and servicing your requests. I would suggest you work the dog problem out with your neighbor. But if you must get out of your lease most apartments have a clause in their contracts to allow you to get out of your lease by paying a certain amount or losing your deposit and paying the rent until another tenant for that apartment is found.
May 20th, 2006 at 9:24 pm
Hi, I am a lawyer here in Austin, TX. I would say that you are in a good position. Most apartments only make you pay $200 or so plus rent until they find a new tenant but hopefully they will be able to find one.
May 21st, 2006 at 10:27 am
Live in Boyfriend Died. I have lived in the apartment of my boyfriend for 6 years, 3 years ago I also signed the leas too claiming to be his wife, I used his last name. Now I must move to a 1 bedroom apartment, I only get a social security check each month, no other money from any sources, I cannot afford the 2 bedbroom, and I want to move to another city with better people loving there, and a nicer 1 bedroom, can I move and not be held to pay for any back rent? Also can I claim on my NEW rent application I lived here for 6 years and explain I used a last name that realy wasnt mine?
May 21st, 2006 at 10:58 am
New Apartment What does a new apartment credit check actually check? I have lived with someone for about 5 or 6 years. Now I must get a new apartment, myself. About 7 years ago my ex husband who I am divorced from now, racked up thousands of dollars on credit cards which also had my name on them, some he even applied for and signed my name on them. I cannot pay ANY of this money to the creditors, I have never worked, always been a housewife, now only get a social security check, nothing else, which is enought to pay a new rent, utiliies, and food but no other expenses, I will be lucky to afford medicine, can a new apartmentment refuse to rent to me. I have no credit charges or bills in 7 years now, and 3 of the big credit reports which I got free mention NO bills owed to me at all, But Equifax which I cannot afford to purchase their credit report said to Walmart when I tried to get a Walmart card, that there were bad remarks on would not give it to me. I must get an apartment, so will they over look these charges as I have enough INCOME from my S.S. check each month, I will NOT under any circumstances pay any of these credit charges my ex husband caused me. I dont have the money and could not even if I wanted too, Please HELP!!!!!
May 22nd, 2006 at 1:24 pm
I just broke up with my girlfiend and unfortunately had a renewal lease that extends to next April. She now is living with her parents, and I am unemployed and am planning to move to another state to start over and go to school. What are my options of breaking the lease and how can I make sure that my ex girlfriend pays her share of the lease.
May 23rd, 2006 at 7:45 am
If she didn’t sign the lease then she is trespassing and you have every legal right to change locks and not let her return…you don’t have the right to keep her things though and you must keep them in a secure place until she picks them up…you cannot just put her things outside to be throuwn away or stolen. So long as you give her ample time, ie: 60 days to pick up and you notify her adequately you can eventually get rid of her things.
May 24th, 2006 at 9:28 am
Legally, he has to give you a very good reason for not letting you sublet. You are supossed to submit your proposal in writing to him and if his response is unresonable you are free to leave. These are the laws in NYS and I’m not sure about where you are, but look up tenants rights in your state to make sure.
May 24th, 2006 at 10:19 am
READ YOUR LEASE. I am an apartment leasing director in Illinois. Unless there is an early out agreement in your lease, you’re stuck. PERIOD! A nice landlord might work with you though. If the apartment is unliveable (water leaks, roaches, etc) you probably have a good chance to break the lease. But, you will probably need to go to court over it. Once you sign a lease & pay even $1 to the rental company, you have given consideration to the contract & you are liable for all of the terms in the lease. EVEN IF YOU DON’T MOVE IN. Most rental companies will try to re-rent the unit, but if they are unsuccessful, you will be held liable. My advice to everyone is this, READ THE LEASE & DON’T SIGN IF THERE IS ANY CHANCE YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO FUFILL THE LEASE. Education is the most important when it comes to leases & apartments. There is no magical excape from a lease. Sickness, moving, job transfer, roommate issues, buying a house & all of the other reasons do not negate your lease responsibilities. P.S.-I am one of the nice guys, just want to keep it real with everyone.
May 24th, 2006 at 11:57 am
My boyfriend and I along with a friend recently moved into a town house complex. When we looked at the homes they showed us of course the “show” home and told us all other units look like that one, or well can look like that one seeing as it had “upgrades” suposably. Well they put us in unit 12, with out letting us look at it before hand. We moved in, and the place wasnt set up to the way it was supost to be. None of the upgrades. about two weeks after moving in, I started getting REALLY sick, and Was hospitalized on the verg of death. after returning from the hopital I did a full inspection of the house, and noticed, One water stains on the celling, two whole beside the tub, and upon looking in the whole wiht a flashlight, a whole lotta MOLD! we gave our landlord a writen notice to come repair this PROPERLY cause it was causing severe illness in me and now the other two. with in 72 hours he repaired the whole with sillicon and putty, but did nothing with regards to the mold and the water leak. I have now been hopitalized 3 times in two months, the whole is now back (cause the leak is still there eatting away at it) and the mold is way worse. we have told him to fix, and he still hasn’t, also gave him and order form to fix and he has’t. We now want out and we just moved in 2 months ago.can we break the lease…I’m tired of being unable to breath!!!
May 24th, 2006 at 5:40 pm
I have been in my apartment for 1 yr. now. Apon moving in to my apartment I found a cluster of roach egg sacs that had just hatched (literally) I promptly called the management to take care of the problem and the quickly came out and bombed the place. I would have left then, but I had no place else to go. Since then it has been a constant battle with these little suckers. (I see an average of 30-40 of them in a day in all stages of their digusting life and kill every one of them.) I have them come out and spray every week, the bugs are immune. Aside from the obvious annoyance of the bugs, I have to empty out ALL of my cabinets out every week to be sprayed, which is very time consuming. At one point the exterminators came and put this brown tar bait around all the cabinets and the bugs started dying left and right. It didn’t work 100% (saw maybe 2 a week) but it helped a lot. Shortly after this my 2 yr old son was caught picking the bait off the cabinet and putting it in his mouth. I immediately called poison control and the management to get the bait info from the exterminator they used. (My son was fine, and I now gate the kitchen so there is no chance of him getting into it again) Now, because of this the exterminator will no longer bait in my apartment. I have been getting sprayed once a week again with no end in sight.
The people upstairs are so loud and jump around. At one point the cover to this kichen light fixture fell from the ceiling from their jumping. (I have called the police and the management for noise complaints at least 4 times.)
I have at least a dozen items of clothing that have been ripped in the dryers at the onsite facility. Each time I brought the item up to the management and told them about it, and nothing has been done to fix the problem.
I have had many other problems in this apartment.
My lease is up at the end of this month, but I did not give them notice until this week of me leaving because I was not able to find another apartment in my price range. They told me that I had to give them and extra 60 days notice to vacate even though the lease is about to expire and that I would have to live on a month to month basis during that time and be subject to a rent increase of $200. 3 days after the conversation with the management they gave me a lease violation notice for my miniblinds being broken in my sons room and a table that has been on my back porch for the last 6 months. At this point I don’t know what to do. I won’t be able to afford to leave if I pay the rates they are asking for. Is there any way I can get out of this?
May 24th, 2006 at 10:53 pm
pls. give me legal advice my lease is up in 4mo I can not pay alone my portion is $275.oo and shared with 3 others boyfriend and two room mates what do you suggest me to do?
felicia
May 24th, 2006 at 11:01 pm
IS IT TRUE YOU CAN BREAK A LEASE ON THE GROUNDS OF MOVING TO A DIFFERENT CITY WHICH IS LOCATED 6HRS AWAY? pls. respond living in southern ca
May 25th, 2006 at 8:13 pm
LEASE BREAK FAST, ok heres the situation. I recently recieved a Federal Job offer on May 15th. I have to be there by June 5th. When I originally signed my lease in this duplex community, i told the girl i was planning on getting this job and i may have to break the lease early and i may not be able to give a full 30 day notice because i wasnt sure EXACTLY when i would be getting it. the girl who signed with me said if at anytime you get this job its ok just let us know as soon as you know and there wont be any problem. WELL THERE IS!!! come to find out they were all fired or quit in the middle of my lease, now there is all new management, (Which by the way in the middle of the change) felt like he should put my name in the paper, and send me court papers by certified mail saying i didnt pay my rent, which i obviously did and had bank statements proving it. well i got my job offer, he says theres nothing i can do i have to pay the rent till the end of my lease in july and im not even going to be there after june 1st. i still have to pay for a place where im going to be going and i wont be able to afford it. is there ANY way my federal paperwork showing when i have to be there by good enough to break a lease?(im still on INACTIVE reserve for the Air Force if that makes a difference but with no orders) If not that the fact they wrongfully tried to sue me and took me to court and posted my name in the paper like i was a criminal good enough. PLEASE HURRY ANYONE!!!
May 25th, 2006 at 8:37 pm
I signed moved into my apartment in August of last year and my apartment wants to know if I am going to renew my lease for the next year by June 1st (this year). The trouble is that I might be moving but won’t find out until July. I was wondering if there is any way to have them delay my renewing the lease for a month (any other way apart from asking them nicely which I don’t think will work because it’s a complex owned by a company). If I’m not moving then I want to stay since I like the apartment but I’m hesitant about signing because if I have to break the lease it will be half the deposit (2 months rent) and rent until they lease it again.
Am I stuck?
May 26th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
I have lived in my apt for over a year and have had 3 scorpians and countless spiders (black widows). I have had my complex spray and even bomb my apt for bugs but they still get in. I have 6months left on my lease. How do I get out?
May 26th, 2006 at 6:40 pm
Advice from a Landlord. This article is making it too hard, so I’ll help. Regardless of what your lease says, you DO NOT have to pay it to completion. No court in the land will find in favor of a landlord if you forfeit your deposit and a month’s rent. The lease protects you , not the landlord. Don’t spend money on a lawyer, and don’t think it will damage your credit. As a landlord, I’ve been on the other end, and I know you will win every time. It will, however, cost you your deposit and a month’s rent.
May 27th, 2006 at 2:52 am
I too live in an apartment with my boyfriend and a roomate….When we moved in we filled out the form they gave us about all the things we found wrong with our apartment…..We put every little detail we could find, from the hole in the kitchen ceiling, to the water stains in the guest bedroom, to the walls pealing, or the water leaking in the tub…Our electric bill runs us 300 a month, because our hot water heater isn’t working right. they refuse to fix it unless it’s ” broke “. the maitenence guy came over on several occasions to fix our airconditoner, and once while we was out of town he came to ” fix it ” and left it on 70 for 8 days, and left our hall light on….needless to say when we left we unplugged everything, and turned everything else off…our electric bill was sky high…not to mention our noisy down stairs neighbors who blast their music at all hours of the day and night, and beat on our door at 2:30 am and then say it wasn’t them……we live in an apartment complex where three people was stabbed the weekend we moved in….the apartment complex doesnt seem to care about anything…there is litter all over the ground all the time….there is buildings where there is holes rotting away..and they refuse to fix it…should we call the bbb on them, or who should we call ? the one thing i do know is this…..we complain almost every day about our ac, and they do nothing but tell us to run fans….so we hung up curtins it did nothing, so we hung up blankets and they fine you for that because it ” melts the mini blinds “…whats this world coming to if you can’t live in your residence without feeling like the owners don’t care about your feelings, needs and their property and the saftey of the attendants ???
May 29th, 2006 at 9:55 am
If you have a witness that the bugs/spiders were in there and papers proving that you had it sprayed or bombed, Then you have rights in theis case. All tennants in all states have a right to a safe inviornment to live in. Since both of these problems are life threatning–you should have no problms walking out on the lease without pay of any kind!
May 29th, 2006 at 10:30 am
my apartment may be going condo, they are not sure as of yet and I would like to break my lease. I asked them about breaking the lease and they are giving me a hard time, is there anything that I can do legaly.
May 30th, 2006 at 10:54 am
I live with my boyfriend in an apartment complex in Albuquerque and he just got a job transfer to Indiana. He has to be at work on June 5th and our lease is through August. Is there anyway I can get out of this lease without having to pay the remaining months or the fee?
May 30th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
My lease form has my name and my fiance’s name on the lease. I signed it, but they are holding it for her to sign. The effective date on the lease is a week away. Can we get out of the lease even though I signed but she did not?
May 30th, 2006 at 8:30 pm
Is this for all situations? Does it damage your credit?
May 30th, 2006 at 8:43 pm
Help with Roaches:
Since you are a lawyer, maybe you could lend some advice. I have roaches in my apartment. I have lived there 3 months and the exterminators have been there 7 times. I sent a certified letter to the landlord asking for them to release me from my lease and they said that I do not have enough of a problem and that they are taking care of it. They basically told me that since there are not roaches crawling around on my food, that it is not a problem. How many times do I have to petition to move out before they will actually let me? Are there any loop holes out of a lease due to roaches?
May 30th, 2006 at 8:47 pm
I am currently going through the same situation. I called the health department and they told me that they don’t deal with apartment complexes. I was also told that if management sends an exterminator, they are “handling” the problem.
May 30th, 2006 at 11:12 pm
this website might be able to answer you questions: Renter Resource Apartment Locator.
May 31st, 2006 at 11:54 am
that is by far the DUMBEST thing i have ever heard. your telling these people they are assed out of not only their down payments for the apt BUT they have no where else to go and your telling them to go to a real estate broker and they can help you look for an apt. HELLO? with what money!
there HAS to be a law against that and a refund in order. the building knowingly rented you the apt when they were aware that the building was going to be torn down in 6 months. now .. why is it that a lanlord can sue YOU for trying to leave the apt before the time is up on the lease but you cant sue him for tearing down your apartment before the lease is up??
May 31st, 2006 at 12:51 pm
I moved into an apartment in August 2005. The apartments are everything you could wish for. Since it was in an upscale part of town with a good school system I didn’t mind paying $1030 a month to rent. Since there I have encountered nulerous of problems. My main problem is the fact that the apartment is infested with rodents.It seems as if every week I am seeing a mice. After contacting the management all they do is put sticky traps(which has never caught anything but the water bugs and spiders).I myself had to purchase high priced poison, better traps and other rodent killing devices. That helped. Not to mention I am not the only tenant there the has had these problems. This is so bad because I am only using one level of my apartment. My bedroom is downstairs, as well as my kitchen. I could not cook nor sleep in my room( I slept in my kids room).I now have 3 months left in my contract. I have found another place to move, which is lower in payment and has the same school system. How do I get out of my lease?
May 31st, 2006 at 2:43 pm
Hello, I have 4 months left on my lease. I have notified my apartments 4 times now about a leak coming from my living room window. No one has made any effort to fix it and my computer is right by the window. My apartment is too small to move it anywhere else. On top of that, I have extremely noisy neighbors who vaccuum at 6:00 in the morning and stay up all hours of the night playing loud music and screaming. I have notified the apartments 2 times about this matter and nothing has been done. I am ready to buy a house and get out of this place. The apartment doesn’t allow you to break a lease if your purchasing a home and will only allow you to leave if you pay your remaining rent, find a replacement renter, or pay a ridiculous penalty that amounts to higher than the remaining rent. How can I get out of this?
June 1st, 2006 at 6:52 pm
Mine is going to a condo complex…do you have any ideas yet? I need to get out of here fast. Management is going crazy as everyone wants out of their lease and they are not selling the condos like they thought they would…help?!?
June 2nd, 2006 at 2:46 pm
Someone recently attempted to break in my apartment. There is a claue in the lease which states that I am responsible for the damage to the patio glass door (burgular smashed the glass with a brick). I understand that (it’s not fair), but now I don’t feel safe in my apartment. I live on the ground floor and this could happpen again and I will be responsible for the damage again. Is this grounds for breaking my lease?
June 2nd, 2006 at 3:07 pm
I recently moved into my apartment in April and I have had nothing but problems since I have moved in. I have never had roaches EVER in my life. I have had them come out and spray 3 times since I have been there, and they only are spraying my apartment, not the whole building. They are not even pulling out my stove or refridgerator when they spray. THey just prayed two days ago, and they always come in when I am not there. which I know is there right, but this last time jewlery is missing from my jewelry box. It only cost like $70, but still it is the principle of the fact. I made a police report. And my question to you is how hard do you think it would be to break my lease ? I already have an appointment with a lawyer next week !
June 2nd, 2006 at 5:45 pm
i dont know what to do my landloard new i had finacial problems before i moved in and now i need to break the lease because i cant afford to pay my utilities there shut of and i have two kids and im also unable to afford the rent he also raised my rent 3 months after i moved in and i was laydoff from work.What can i do to break my lease.
June 3rd, 2006 at 1:17 pm
hi, i recently signed a lease in an apt. for 1 year. i have now been living here for approx. 3 months,to get out of the lease early i am supposed to give 2 months notice as well as pay the rent and am still obligated under the contract for the remainder of the lease term. What does that mean? if i am able to give notice to move out early then why am i still obligated to the contract? And i was wondering if breking a lease early- even if i follow all the requirements will affect my future credit or house buying?
June 4th, 2006 at 3:57 pm
EVIL LANDLORD…my girlfriend and i moved into a beautiful apartment almost three weeks ago and we already cant stand our landlord. the house is split into six units and unfortunately the landlord lives in one of them. she is always complaining about us going in and out of the apartment and that we are too noisy. we feel that we are being baby-sat 24/7. we dont even have any guests over because we are afraid that she is going to freak out. it is almost impossible to stay quiet when the house has absoulutely no sound-proofing at all. prior to moving in she told us that she was going have movers to help us when we moved in, but that never happened. if my dad hadnt come with me my stuff would still be in the parking lot. she also told us that she was going to furnish the unit with a couch and a love seat, so we didnt even bother trying to look for any furniture. well, she changed her mind on that one too and now all we have is an uncomfortable futon to sit on. i have asked her a couple of times about the couches and she said that she doesnt think we need them now and that it was going to be too expensive to have movers move them into our unit. we havent been here but three weeks and we’re ready to move again! what should i do? she obviously isnt happy with us and we absolutely cant stand her! what can we do to break the lease and have some peace and quiet?
June 4th, 2006 at 10:10 pm
i was just reading this over…and want to know if it is really true…
i’m thinking of breaking my lease but i’m unsure of the consequences……..
June 5th, 2006 at 11:19 am
well i hope so cuz i might have to break mine do you think its a good idea to ask the management? assuming you speak the same language we have communication problems with our managment
June 5th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
Its already June 5th, and my lease expires this month. I paid half the rent and told the landlord to keep the security deposit as I have already moved out of the apartment. I’ve lived in the apartment for 8 years, however I wasn’t allowed to break the lease. I fugured most people do not get their security deposits back - so why pay the full rent and chance NOT getting the security deposit.
June 5th, 2006 at 4:12 pm
it is my assumption that landlords dont care about your safety or your feelings. I am curretly trying to break my lease because I feel unsafe… my only way out is to pay a huge amount of money. try calling tenants and landlord hotline they can help you out, I did and I was told I have no case… it helped to know where I stand, but didnt get me out of a lease…
June 7th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
Do you know a good lawyer in Austin I can hire that will work on my leasing problems (too many to list) Thanks Rob rrbjunkemail@hotmail.com
June 7th, 2006 at 4:23 pm
I have severe COPD and since leasing this Apt. it has gotten extremely worse due to the wool rugs, gas stove and window air coditioning units that draw the outside air which contains mold that is right outside of my Apt. Is there any way that I can break my lease?
June 7th, 2006 at 5:58 pm
I recently moved into an apartment that said I would only pay for the water I used (submetered) and trash would be included in my rent. Now 3 months later they are telling me that due to sub meter failures and their exspense I will have to pay allocated water based on square footage of the apartment and number of people in the apartment plus pay 5 dollars extra a month for trash. Oh and they want me to sign a addendum to the lease, I will not agree to this and will not sign the addendum. Are they breaking my lease by changing the terms of it? I like living here or did, and now that I have questioned them in a pleasant manner they are being rude and not returning my calls. Please help
June 7th, 2006 at 6:59 pm
Go home to your apt. Get some pepper spray. Get a dog, a roomate, whatever. What ever you need. More than likely the guy has already robbed your place if you havent been back.
June 7th, 2006 at 8:31 pm
I’m actually in the same situation. The only difference is I have a roommate who is unwilling to let me out of the lease so I can either pay the remaining 7 mnths so her, her boyfreind and her two pets can leave here or I can not pat rent have them evicted and have it go on both our records. It doesnt seem right that you give them a notice of two months and you end up paying at least in my case more than if you just paid out the rest of the rent. I have been told that it will go on the record but after you pay that balance it is supposed to come off
June 7th, 2006 at 10:46 pm
I have just received a job offer in nc, i am currently in a lease until august 2007. Is there any way to get out of this? My landlord is kind of a stickler.
June 8th, 2006 at 8:39 am
If you sign a car loan agreement, would they just let you out of it because your situation has changed? HELL NO! Why would an apartment lease be any different? There is no trick to get out of a lease (most of the time anyways). Does your signature mean anything? Just because you can’t control your finances, doesn’t mean a property owner should suffer. If you want out of your lease, expect to pay the whole thing. That’s life & if they work something out with you that’s great.
June 8th, 2006 at 5:33 pm
My sister recently renewed her lease for 6 months. How ever they are buying a house after the 1 month itself. Is there any way she can avoid the penalty for breaking the lease.
Thanks,
June 11th, 2006 at 11:28 am
Someone tried to break into my apt. the other night. i am a female college student living by myself for the first time… I just moved into this apt about a week ago, and was wondering if there is a way to break my lease since i do not feel safe there?
June 11th, 2006 at 2:54 pm
Take your rights back, Don’t let the landlord bully you!
I just bought a house and I am going to have to pay about $2000 to get out of my lease early. It’s 2 months rent plus a processing fee. All I can say is read the fine print on early termination carefully before you sign. On landlords not fixing things, take pictures, if they don’t resond to verbal requests, then write them photo copy the letters, they still don’t respond, send them certified mail, still no response, you now have proof. Now, you can get out of your lease. Keep a record of requests and pictures with dates and the damage progression.
As far as places that the surroundings are not livable, don’t move there in the first place.
As far as places where you are responsible for damage if people break into your apartment, such as breaking in the window. Landlord is being cheap, that is sketchy. Beware or Get renter’s insurance, it costs nothing! It is cheap.
June 11th, 2006 at 8:02 pm
I just moved into this apartment in Texas about a month ago. My room mate and I were good friends till we moved in together but now i’m going crazy and he just recently found out that he has HIV. Not only do I feel like I made a big mistake by moving in but now i’m afraid of getting HIV too. Whats your advice?
June 12th, 2006 at 1:51 pm
funny, you didn’t mention that in illinois, at least in the city of chicago, the leasee has the right to sublet his/her unit for any reason and the leassor has to accept any credible candidates. also the leassor has to make an Effort to find another tenant. if he makes no effort, can’t provide ads, et al, showing that he tried, he’ll lose in court.
June 13th, 2006 at 4:20 pm
I’m in the same situation. One of my roommates signed a lease, but my other roommate and I have not and we’re trying to get out of it.
Our effective date isn’t for another two months, so I’m really hoping we’ll be able to do something about it.
Let me know how it went for you.
June 13th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
My current roomate and I signed a lease back in February to move into an apartment this September. We recently found out that a friend is moving to the area and needs a place to live so we took a trip to the realtor to see our options, such as whether we could look for a bigger apartment, even though we had already signed the lease. He told us they have no more 3 bedroom available for September and when we asked what would happen if we broke our lease, he said he would have to get back to us the next day, but we haven’t heard from him. I don’t know much, or anything, about the legal aspects of renting/leases… is it possible for us to break our lease since we haven’t even moved into the apartment yet and aren’t suppossed to move in for another 3 months? Will we just have to pay a fee or are there other legal obligations we have to the realtor?
June 13th, 2006 at 10:49 pm
did you find any way out of this…my roomate won’t “let me” sign out of the lease, It’s like i’m being held against my will.
June 14th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
the only way u can get HIV is if u r sleeping with him or exchanging any types of bodily fluids. the other issues if u both can’t work out move
June 14th, 2006 at 7:26 pm
i just moved into my apartment and i am already late on rent. i was given 250.00 off my fist months rent but since i was late the apartment manager says i have to pay the full months rent+ late fees. can they do that??
June 15th, 2006 at 2:45 am
Please somebody - I just moved into this apartment in Texas about a month ago. My room mate and I were good friends till we moved in together but now i’m going crazy and he just recently found out that he has HIV. Not only do I feel like I made a big mistake by moving in but now i’m afraid of getting HIV too. Whats your advice?
June 16th, 2006 at 10:30 am
First of all, you can’t get HIV just by living with someone. I lived with 2 HIV+ roommates for several years and I’m fine. The only way your going to get it from him is if your have unprotected sex with him, and that doesn’t sound like the case.
If you really want out becuase he’s working your nerves, talk to him. I’m sure the two of you can work something out.
June 16th, 2006 at 10:36 am
I work for an AIDS organization, and I can tell you that HIV shouldn’t be the biggest worry here. I’m looking forward to moving away from a housemate/former-friend myself, and the relationship that you and your friend is the bigger problem.
Don’t exchange bodily fluids, and you’re fine: this includes toothbrush use (gums bleed). Really, if you’re housemates you’re not in a lot of troble. For your own peace of mind, keep the shower sterilized and don’t come in contact with his blood (so, no major construction).
Be honest with him. AIDS is a scary disease, but your housemate didn’t get it by sharing an apartment with someone, and neither with you. Tell him how you feel, and ask him how much he knows about preventing the spread of AIDS.
Be honest with yourself. Are you afraid that you’re going to get AIDS, and/or are you afraid of what behaviors your housemate may have engaged in to get AIDS? You are “going crazy” — were you going crazy before your found out (and ask yourself why), or only because you found out. Search around the net and educate yourself about AIDS. It’s a lot less scary when you’ve got the facts and not just the legends.
June 16th, 2006 at 2:24 pm
You can’t get HIV from living w/ someone.
June 16th, 2006 at 3:45 pm
I appreciate all the medical advice about HIV but I dont know if I’m going to be able to live like this. For anyone who can help my room mate just signed a 12 month lease here in Texas and we’ve been living together for a month, he has HIV and I’m feeling very uncomfortable living with him. I need legal advice on what my options, if any, are concerning this whole thing
June 16th, 2006 at 11:54 pm
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/werenttosection8tenants/
This group is for Real Estate Agents and section 8 landlords who are willing to rent to section 8 clients world wide. My Goal is to find section 8 landlords all over the U.S.A, who are willing to rent to section 8 tenants. God bless Landlords that are willing to give section 8 voucher holders a better life, in a nicer area, All members are willing to do back ground check,rental history checks and drugs screening for all household if required
June 19th, 2006 at 8:30 am
I hope you are absolutely sure about this, cause it’s appreciated very much, your helpful advice? Are you sure a judge won’t make the tenant stick to the lease and pay the remainding balance of the lease, especially if there is about 9-10 months left on the lease? thanks for your input. I have one hell of a bad landlord. She is not consistent, not fair, and picks on me beyond belief. I mean she seems to just pick stuff out of the blue to give me a lease violation over, but yet she won’t make other tenants abide by the exact same rules. They get away with everything! I have proof of at least 3 things she violated me for, yet she did not and will not violate other tenants for - the same exact violations! She is a nit-picker! Seems she really doesn’t like me, and I have always and i mean always paid my rent on time and kept a nice place, and never caused any problems with noise, pets, etc. I’ve always been respectful to her, and just mind my own business. There is an issue with her and I don’t know what it is….jealousy or something, but she is not consistent at all with who she violates and who she doesn’t. She’s even given me violations for something the upstairs neighbor had (a torn blind) and gave me 48 hours to fix at my expense. I called to say that I didn’t have a torn blind, and she admitted it was the upstairs neighbor; but that was 3 months ago, and the blind is still torn. What happened to the 48 hrs? If that’d been my blind, I guarantee she would’ve given me notice to vacate if it was NOT fixed in the 48 hrs she stated! SHE also had my vehicle towed last year when the inspex sticker was 2 weeks outdated. Yet these same neighbors upstairs, have 2 vehicles; one has a 2-month outdated insp sticker, and the other vehicle has NO stickers or tags on it at all - These vehics have been here like this for 2 months at least, and not one thing is done about it. She doesn’t even give them a lease violation, or anything. Their vehicles certainly were NOT TOWED….What gives with her?
June 19th, 2006 at 8:36 am
I don’t know what apts you live in, but your situation sounds very similar to mine. My landlord is a complete B****!!! Do you live in Addison, TX? You should call a tenants association in your home town. they can give you some good advice, help you out. That’s what I did. I finally put a stop to my mgr BULLYING me. Now the page is turned, and things are different. She was just a bully, and I thought I HAD to kiss her A** just to live there…..wrong!
June 19th, 2006 at 1:00 pm
The mice are a good enough reason to get out of the lease. Send your landlord a certified letter notifying them of the problem and make a photocopy of it. Then take pictures of any damage or droppings so that you will have documentation. If possible, ask your neighbors who are having the same problem to join you. Keep receipts for the traps and poisons you buy yourself and contact your local tenant’s association.
June 19th, 2006 at 5:00 pm
Uncle Dave here, a retired man who has a steel leg. When I moved into this Texas apt, I was told that the pools(3) would all be open. They weren’t. This is the only exercise that can possibly “heal” my operated leg. The leases in Texas are a joke from the tenant’s right’s standpoint. I spoke to the VERY rude manager who told me “Why don’t you yell at #XXX, whose kids ruined pool#X?” Yell?, I thought. Me discipline another apartment’s kids? I was speaking in a soft, reasonable tone to her. I would like to get out of here, but, oh well…LISTEN: when you rent an apartment in Texas insist on written standards or no deal. I went without AC for four days. I have caught this woman in many outright lies, to which I was the personal witness of their falsity in fact. Lies, threats, rudeness to the point of…it’s unprintable. This is in a good area, a nice apartment complex. Watch out for Dallas apts! You have been warned! I hope you do better.
June 19th, 2006 at 11:44 pm
I appreciate all the medical advice about HIV but I dont know if I’m going to be able to live like this. For anyone who can help my room mate just signed a 12 month lease here in Texas and we’ve been living together for a month, he has HIV and I’m feeling very uncomfortable living with him. I need legal advice on what my options, if any, are concerning this whole thing
June 20th, 2006 at 10:23 pm
Yeah, my friends just moved into a new apartment, two girls. but it was a shady neighborhood to beging with,. they found out their place was broken into a month previous to their moving in, and were told the security of the place would be tightened per say. but earlier today, while out for dinner. it was broken in, and an expensive computer was stolen. what can be done about that, w/out renter’s insurance?
June 21st, 2006 at 6:10 pm
About 7 months ago i moved into some apt in oklahoma the maitenance people are so rude they come into your house without knocking then kick around my sons toys and things! They even almost hit me with a door in my own apt! we have told them to fix out air conditioner 4 times they try to but it never works!! we have bugs everywhere they wont go away i wnet outside and they were all over the parking lot!! The manager and owner are very rude they are trying to screw me out of money! Can i just move out before my lease if i give notice or will they make me still pay rent for the rest of my lease?
June 21st, 2006 at 11:42 pm
bugs outside? wow what a shocker - you’ll be laughed out of court.
June 21st, 2006 at 11:44 pm
nothing - live and learn - next time they need to do more research and realize that you get what you pay for.
June 21st, 2006 at 11:48 pm
yes - move-in specials are almost always conditional on you paying your rent on time and fulfilling your lease. I’m sure you signed something to that effect. Why would someone who just moved in, received a special and is already late with rent expect not to be penalized. Grow up!
June 21st, 2006 at 11:58 pm
are you sure you signed the actual lease? It’s very rare for a lease to get signed that long before your move-in date. It sounds to me that you probably signed the holding paperwork in which case if you change your mind you forfeit any monies you’ve already paid. If you did sign the lease, it will have a section regarding “failure to occupy” and you should find your answer there
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:00 am
no - a lease is a legal contract - when are people going to realize that?
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:02 am
your best bet would be to get a letter from your doctor stating that the place is making you sick and you need to move.That will usually scare a landlord into letting you out
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:08 am
I’ve been a property manager for a long time and you are a typical case. You probably guilted him into renting to you - making all sorts of promises about paying on time etc, etc, now you are acting like the victim. You will always be the victim because you’ll never admitt to yourself that you create your own problems. Grow UP!!!!!
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:10 am
you risk getting evicted before the end of the month
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:14 am
you signed a legal document! your best bet is finding someone who is willing to take your place. Most landlords will allow you to sign off the lease if someone else who is qualified takes your place. You will not however be entitled to get any of your security deposit back - that will stay with the apt. Talk to your friend and tell him you’d like to move - he might know someone who is willing to move in with him. Forfeiting your share of the security deposit is a fair tradeoff.
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:20 am
No - you are responsible for your own safety - just take more precautions - maybe install more locks. people need to check crime statistics with the local police dept before renting somewhere -if it sounds like it’s too good to be true - it probably is - in other words - you get what you pay for.
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:28 am
your lease prpbaly stipulates that you are required to provide a 30-day notice. teh law states 30 days but if you agree to 60 - you’re stuck. A landlord cannot collect rent for an apartment from two different people - they are supposed to do what they can to re-rent the apartment in which case you’ll owe rent until someone else moves in. You may be responsible to pay for marketing costs though. Most places now have a flat lease-break fee which could be as much as 2 month’s rent. review your lease and call your local housing authority for more answers.
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:32 am
they can’t hold you legally responsible for something you haven’t legally agreed to. Do Not Sign! you will probably have to forfeit any monies/deposits you’ve already paid.
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:36 am
call the city for more answers they can tell you if the owner has to let you out of the remainder of the lease with a 30day notice. Henderson nevada has made it a condition to protect their residents. Owners have to comply or their request to convert to condos will get denied.
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:48 am
take him to court for violating the lease agreement - make sure you have proof - photos etc. you might want to pay an outside agency for a mold inspection - if it is positive the landlord could wind up paying your medical bills too. Mold is a serious issue and the courts will treat it as such!
June 22nd, 2006 at 2:17 pm
make all the noise you want and tell her “too bad” if she complains to you any more. If she doesn’t like the level of noise you make she can kick you out and you’ll be out of the lease.
June 22nd, 2006 at 5:35 pm
me and my husband are seperated. He moved in with a friend and said keep the place. That’s great except his name is on the lease and he’s been saying he would take it off for weeks now and he hasn’t. The main problem with that is he still has a key wich is creepy (if you knew our situation) and it’s also subsidized housing. That means they base your rent by your income so i will end up paying by his paychecks (wich double mine) and my paychecks put together. Is there any way I can get his name off? Again he’s moved in with a friend a while ago?Thank you.
June 22nd, 2006 at 7:51 pm
I leased a duplex in north carolina in 11/2005. The landlord said it was a good area and it appears to be nice and is near a nice housing development. The problem is that two weeks after we moved into the duplex the cars were broken into and all of the cd players were stolen. It is now June and our car was broken into again last night and the cd player was stolen and the car was damaged. Our neighbor’s cars were broken into two weeks ago with damage to the cars and property stolen, at the same time our car was gone through by the theives. This is getting costly for me with mycar insurance, and believe me these are just cheap cd players no systems or anything. I am wondering when will our homes be broken into or worse yet someone coming in when we are there. Directly accross the street there are other duplexes that have had serious crimes committed in this same time frame that required the police to be there for hours.
I feel that the landlord misrepresented the safety of area that the duplexes are located in.
This is not the only problem, the neighbor also has 9 cats that roam all over. They run into your home if you open your door.These animals are urinating and leaving feces all over the common area for the duplexes. If you open a window that is what you smell. Also these cats have ruined the paint on our cars with scratches, and we have tried to nicely talk to the neighbor and she just laughs and tells us to use water on them. We finally called animal control to give her a warning about the cat situation and supposedly the landlord wants us out etc. Of course we have not heard a thing. The cat situation was not revealed to us, althought the landlord is friends with the owner of the cats. He told us we had to keep all pets under control. He stated that the lady next door had a cat not 9.
I am wondering if we document the landlords failure to do anything with the security issues nor the problem with the cats ruining our vehicles and their waste issues, will be able to break the lease early.
June 25th, 2006 at 8:03 pm
I moved into an apartment with my old best friend in december of 2005 under a 1 year lease. in april of 2006 i moved out, not going to go into great detail but lets leave it at that my roommate made it unlivable for me and our 11 year friendship ended. I had no intentions of leaving until i had a final event that pushed my last button and without thought i packed up and left in 4 hours. She notified the apartment that I had left. Her name is on the lease as the primary, I signed as another person living in the apartment. Also everything to do with the billing invoices for the rent, etc. came in her name. I was continuing to pay the monthly rent though I was not living there and now her boyfriend moved in. I sent her a notification saying that I didnt feel it was my responsibility to pay the rent if he was living with her. Tomorrow I am going to the apartment office to get my name off of the lease and inform them that someone is living with her. She is still trying to make me pay the half of the rent, though she has had another person recently move in with her. How difficult will this be for me to get my name off of the lease?
June 26th, 2006 at 1:39 pm
I am considering “breaking” my lease. I have only been living in the apartment for two weeks and I have had one problem after another with repairs needed. I was told that the unit was “move in ready.” But over the past two weeks, I have realized that that is not the case. I couldn’t get access to my mail box because the keys that they gave me were not the right ones. They replaced the lock on the box but it took a week to do so and they didn’t call to tell me it had been fixed. I attempted to get cable and internet hooked up. The first time the cable guy couldn’t find a cable to my apartment. The cable company had to send a “special unit” out to the complex to try and fix the unknown problem. They discovered that when the apartment had repored a part of the sidewalk that they had cut my cable line to my apartment. They had to run a whole new line and they have to have the city come out and bary the cable. (Not cable ready like advertised.) I attempted to use my oven and when I did smoke started coming up between the back of the oven and wall. I called the office and they sent someone to look at it the next day. They found that the tempature gauge on the oven was broken and not to use the oven. (They did not give me a time frame of fixing it.) It has been over a week and it has not been fixed. My garage door lock doesn’t work, I told them two weeks ago and it still has not been fixed. After having these issues and only being there two weeks I am at my breaking point. I have looked over the lease and all it says about moving out before lease ends is “If resident moves out of the apartment before the date of the lease ends, Resident is responsible for rent and any other losses or costs including court costs and attorney fees, and the Security Deposit will be forfeited.” I had my father look over it to see if I missed anything else about breaking the lease and there isn’t anything. I called the assistant property manager today regarding my frustrations and I brought up the fact that I was considering breaking the lease and I asked her what the process and fines are for doing it. She said at 6 months you can break the lease forfeit the security deposit, pay 1 1/2 times the rent and pay back the move-in special with 2 months notice. My question is if this is not in the lease anywhere, do I have a right to fight it? Please advise. Thank you!
June 26th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
I moved into a nice condo with my friend in April. I now believe that he thought he could win me over and become his girlfriend. I thought that our friendship was based on substance, but apparently his only motive for friendship was to hook-up. He has since become like Jekyl and Hyde with dramatic and violent mood swings. Last night it got physical, I have the bruises to prove it. I needed some fresh air after that and stepped outside to gather my thoughts and he locked me out! He even ran around locking all the patio doors like a child. We are both on the lease and neither one of us can afford the rent alone. Frankly after this experience I don’t want another roommate ever again. Is this situation enough of a reason to let me out of our lease? If I move out, I am sure that will be one more thing to make him angry and that he won’t hesitate to come at me with all he can legally-speaking.
June 26th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
My boyfriend and I signed a lease for the fall and spring semesters of school. This is college housing. When we saw the apartment the tenant was still living on the premesis with all of her belongings still around. This made it somewhat difficult to really take a good look at the walls, floors, etc. The stove was not working but the landlord said before we signed the lease that it would be fixed or a new one would be bought, and he also said that all of the windows would be replaced. I of course did not get all of that in writing, althought now I wish I had.
To make a very very long story short, the apartment was not prepped before I moved in. Nothing was cleaned, painted, fixed or changed. WHen I asked my landlord to install screens in the windows (since it is June and fresh air is desirable) he proceeded to have his handyman staple a roll of screen on to the outside of the house. FIREHAZARD. Also, on the same day, as I told the handyman that the window looks like its going to fall apart if I open it (the window pane was coming out of the frame), he removed the window pane and left the window that way. It has since rained and the plastic bag that I taped around the area does not do well at keeping rain out and I now am left with a moldy smell in my bedroom.
After turning the ventillator on in the bathroom, two cockaroaches crawled out of it and into my bathtub. One fell from the vent and got stuck in my shower curtain when it was draped over the curtain rod. The neighbors upstairs have their tv and speakers on the floor which comes through my ceiling all day everyday. Bottom line, I need to get out!!!! HELP!!!! Any information or advice you may have would be extremely helpful.
There is not clause in my lease for early vacation or for repairs. THere is a clause for subletting. I am allowed to sublet with the landlords written permission. Please HELP!
June 27th, 2006 at 1:22 pm
In Texas the law states that your roommate must have your name removed from the lease, you in fact cannot remove your name. It is a form that your roommate has to fill out and it must be notorized.
I can suggest that you do in fact goto the office and notify management that she does have an unauthorized occupant staying there. Her boyfriend is obviously over 18 and therefore he needs to fill out a rental application and qualify just like you did. I would also put in writing that you no longer reside there and have not resided there since the day you moved out. Make sure you ask for a copy of the letter signed by the Manager. Just to cover your bases.
June 27th, 2006 at 5:20 pm
I would like to know I’am having secound hand smoke coming in from the walls from next door. I”am 3 months pregnant,and depite repeadted and well- documented reguests even from my doctor notifying management of the health hazards of secound hand smoke to the unborn baby, I even have via certied mail them and despite all of my regusets they have done nothing, What do I have to Do for managemant to do somthing about it, and do i have grounds to break my lease sence it is a know fact health harard.
June 28th, 2006 at 9:36 am
I recently moved into an apt. in Tennessee. Shortly after we moved in we noticed our apt. has brown recluse spiders. I told the landlord about the problem and he said he would send pest control over. They came, stayed for about 5 minutes and left. Needless to say, we still have brown recluse spiders. Can I get out of a lease because of the spider problem?
June 28th, 2006 at 8:30 pm
I signed a 12 month lease without a specific apartment assigned to me and without realizing that I could be put into any apartment regardless of what I specifically asked for. This complex put me upstairs after requesting a downstairs unit. They now claim that they have no downstair units available and because I signed the lease, I am now responsible for that upstairs apartment. Do I have any legal rights at all to terminate this lease?
June 29th, 2006 at 2:03 pm
We have a sexual predator moving in 2 blocks away and we have a 15 mo. old daughter… the man is a child predator.
are we able to use that as reason to break the lease agreement?
June 29th, 2006 at 8:47 pm
people have problems sometimes….lets hope you never get into a situation where you will need help form someone.
July 1st, 2006 at 2:29 am
Did you check if your apartment allows smokers before you moved in? Or are you living in a complex for non-smokers only? These are important things to know before you break your lease. Talk to your ob/gyn about your concerns & what he/she recommends. If cigarette smoke bothers you, get away from it. Take a walk. Good for you & baby. All the best to you.
July 3rd, 2006 at 11:33 am
I moved into an apartment…and there is not enough natural light and I could not get in my queen bed boxspring through the bedroom door..
is there a way break the lease..?
July 3rd, 2006 at 3:53 pm
i am a college student in oxford, OH looking to get out of a lease so i can live in a fraternity house. I cant seem to find anybody to take my lease, and the landlord says that’s the only way to get our of it. are there any other options to get out now?
July 3rd, 2006 at 7:16 pm
Signed a lease for 1 year, 3 months later employer closed comapany an wants me to relocate out of state to keep my job.Can i legally break my lease for bieng moved out of state for employment. Some say its a hardship case?
July 4th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
I signed a lease on a month to month where the previous tenants were still occupying the apartment ..so i forfeited the walk through .. i paid first and last months rent. July rent is due now .. but, i’ve never moved in because there is live sewage coming up in the sink in my kitchen .. the bathroom was not left cleaned .. the kitchen is a live sewage .. carpet’s are filthy .. the place is a health hazard .. i’m not about to risk my health .. i’m paying more than $900.00 a month to rent this place .. i’ve never lived here .. and i want out and i want my money back NOW!!
July 5th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
heres a nightmare for you, I have a landlord who keeps sending me bills every month saying I owe 3 months rent and deposit…even though I have the cashed checks for every single month I paid and deposit. Ive been complaining to them about noise issues, I mean crazy noise issues!! I couldnt take the noise anymore so I tried to get ahold of him for 2 months to talk about getting out of the the lease, and sent him the receipts of the cashed checks as well as many certified letters about the noise as it states to do so in the lease. he has refused to sign some of my certified letters and does not answer the phone calls. I think hes trying to get me for the full year and in nyc I heard they can charge double rent…so he can make alot more off the next tenant and then sue me for the rest of the year. I think this landlord is sue happy. I dont know why he wont just let me out of my lease, I am paid up in full and now Im afraid I may come home to my stuff being gone w/out him actually serving me an eviction notice. All I know is he is up to something cause I have been completely civil in my letters telling him I cant take the noise anymore and just want to break the lease! I heard he sued another tenant for 3 months unpaid rent and apparently hes trying to extort money from me as well cause he claims I havent paid rent and deposit when I have and then sent him his signature on the check as proof! In addition the last tenant moved after 4 months and told them he was moving to Canada! HELLLPP! Can he charge double rent in NYC…I read somewhere they can!
July 5th, 2006 at 10:15 pm
my lease is up in feb. 2007, but I want OUT!
I called my management about a week ago because my front door handle is falling off and they haven’t done anything about it. they came by to walk-thru my apartment and agreed that I needed a new front door. this place is really ghetto.
anyone have any suggestions? can i get out because of the door?? HELP!
July 6th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
I totally agree with the previous comment. I used to manage a complex in Texas and this was our standard procedure for removing one roommate and adding another. It’s also true about management needing to know about the “new tenant” so that they may approve or not approve him to live there. It may be somewhat of a hassle to, but get everything, everything, everything in writing. After the hassles of it all have subsided you will have peace of mind which is priceless and well worth the effort.
July 6th, 2006 at 4:57 pm
I signed a lease in Colorado on a friday, I changed my mind about the apartment during the weekend and went into the office Monday to void the lease. The apartment complex told me I would have to pay the lease break penalty of a total of $2,500. I never took possestion of the apartment but my ex boyfriend did. Is there anything I can do to get my name off the lease without paying the money? I thought there was a federal law giving the tenate 72 hours to change their mind.
July 6th, 2006 at 10:39 pm
Okay so please help me!!! I recently signed a lease for a duplex and the landlord lives on the other side. Of course the whole time she had only showed us her side and told us that everything was exactly the same including the applicances. Well it turns out that it is not the same. The kitchen is completely different and the appliances are crap (unlike hers). Do I have a case because she told us it was the exact same? (the weird thing is that she still thinks that and it’s not true). She is now trying to rent her side but for 160 dollars more. If it was the exact same wouldn’t it be the same price? Any ideas?
July 6th, 2006 at 11:31 pm
I do not feel safe in my own apartment. I have lived here for about 2 years and recently my husband get his wallet stolen right from our apartment while we were here. We know who did it and called the cops. Come to find out the person had a warrent out for his arrest and the cops took him away. He had many people in and out of his apartment all day long. We have a police report and told the apartment complex of what happened and what we have saw before. This use to be a safe place but recently it has gone to crap. They say they can have us move apartments but how will that help when I know people are doing crack and selling drugs all around here? I am afraid that when this guy gets out of jail he will come after us becasue his girlfriend and baby lives across from us? Can we break our lease. He was not supose to be staying there. They catch people with cats and have them pay for them, but they do not watch who is coming and going. Shouldn’t they are about tenents that are not supose to be there? I did not want to get out of my car tonight becasue I was afraid that if he was home what he would do or if one of his buddies were waiting for us. Can I do something about this?
July 7th, 2006 at 9:01 am
my boyfriend and I signed a 12 month lease and we’re only 3 months into it but need to “Break”.
we moved to north carolina from new york and thought we could handle the rent, but didn’t realize that pay is considerably lower down here. now we’re struggling to pay rent.
BUT the big issue is that my boyfriend recently enlisted and is shipping out for most of our lease-term, leaving me to pay the bills, (which is impossible - because our rent is more than the army sends home for housing costs!) I also am not looking forward to living in an apartment community where, three days ago, a man broke into a woman’s apartment and tried to kidnap and rape her! As a previous rape victim i don’t feel comfortable with this.
is there any way out?
July 7th, 2006 at 9:55 am
I moved into my house about 3 months ago and was told that the house would be cleaned inside and out and that everything would be in working order prior to my move in. Now I am living there and find that nothing was done as promised. I have little to no water pressure, the refridgerator doesnt cool, the washer and dryer dont work, and the stove only cooks part of the food. On top of all that I have a huge crack under the front door that bugs are coming in and cold air is going out. The landlord isnt fixing it and I want out of the lease due to the lack of response from him. It is very frustrating to be in this situation and not know what to do. Can someone help?
July 7th, 2006 at 6:51 pm
How old do you have to be to sign a lease?
July 8th, 2006 at 6:28 pm
People keep being killed in my apartment complex. I’m so scared I am sleeping on the floor between my bed, my dresser and the wall. I hear gunfire nearly every night, and have taken to sleeping with the gun my seemingly rediculous father insisted I keep. Apparently he wasn’t rediculous after all. I know I singed a legal document, but is there another way to break my lease besides being killed? Is the staff at least required to provide safe living conditions?
July 11th, 2006 at 10:50 am
18 to sign it by yourself. But even if you’re 18, most landlords will require decent credit or at least proof of income. Sometimes independent landlords who are desparate for a tenant will lease houses without really checking your credit, though.
July 11th, 2006 at 11:04 am
I was told by a realtor that almost every contract has a clause in it that the landlord will provide a decent and safe living area. I am having the same problem as you and the realtor told me that the landlord has broken his end of the contract by renting to just anyone off the street without doing a background check. Not sure if it’s true but it may be something to look into.
July 13th, 2006 at 11:24 am
In almost all leases there is a statement that your landlord will keep your facilities in a livable environment and will address all safety concerns promptly. Given you are fearing for your life I think that it is obvious that your safety concerns are not being addressed and as such you could make a strong case that your landlord has violated the lease agreement and as such you are not beholden to the lease. I would check with your local state housing authority office.
July 14th, 2006 at 9:21 am
Havent moved in yet.
I recently signed a lease 5 days ago and decided thats not where I want to live. Im not scheduled to move in untill next month. Im wondering if I can break it?
July 14th, 2006 at 10:14 pm
i signed a year-lease with my friend on a two bedroom apartment (i also have a co-signer, she does not), and in the first month she picked up a serious drug habit, in the second month she started dating her dealer. she now smokes cigarettes inside her room, and i just want to move out. what can i do?
July 14th, 2006 at 11:18 pm
what happens if your landlord breaks the lease?
July 16th, 2006 at 2:49 am
yeah… when you find a way out of this, Please post it here… looks like this is pretty common! I lived with my roommate for about a month in my old apartment, and he was AWESOME… once he got on the lease in our new apartment he went a little insane… He moved in 2 dogs (which we’re not allowed to have) who have peed on all of MY furniture AND the carpet, then proceded to move in his “friend” (really just some guy he met on the internet) who was running from the police, without even asking me if I might consider having another person move into OUR apartment! Then he got drunk and when I wouldn’t give him the keys to MY car he pushed me down in the apartment complex parking lot, took my keys out of my pocket, and tried to run me over! I’ve thought about all this, and for some of it I could have had him arrested but the fugitive has since left (because I confronted him and told him that if he didn’t get out of my apartment I would turn him in… lol) but now I probably can’t… and who knows when he’s going to do something else totally crazy? right? I just want out of this lease with him, but nobody will live with him… and I’m afraid to leave, because he’ll just come after me… I even talked to the police about trying to get a restraining order against this guy, but they won’t help me AT ALL… they basically told me to tough it out… what the heck happened to protect and serve?? anyways… that’s beside the point… the point is… I want out of this lease and can’t seem to find any way to get out besides paying it out… which I for sure can’t afford… and if I just leave and keep paying rent, there’s always the fact that my psycho roommate will come after me, and he’ll destroy the apartment just because my name’s on the lease… yep… I got myself into a pickle… lol… go me…
if anyone knows what I should do in this situation please let me know… imadorklikethat at hotmail dot com… lol… it’s like code… yay… oh… and yeah… just so it doesn’t look like I’m just some random dramatic guy I should probably specify that I AM a chick… so I’m allowed to be dramatic… but I actually think I’m handling this pretty calmly and rationally… I just reserve the right to become dramatic at any moment now… lol… just kidding… but really… give me some ideas!
July 17th, 2006 at 11:06 am
Unsure of what to do?? I have been living in my apartment for a year now and there were roaches in my apartment because of an upstairs neighbor. Supposely the roach problem was taken care of. Then a few months later roaches appeared again. But this time they said it was a neighbor next to me. An exterminator was brought in. I thought the problem was taken care of for good so I signed another years lease. As soon as that lease was sign a few weeks later I saw a couple of roaches around my apt. They finally found the “source” and said that this will be the last time and they are sure they got rid of them. But I saw 2 of them just yesterday. Can I break my lease for the following year?? The Landlord said to me that I cant break it because everytime I made a complaint they have called an exterminator and have done something about the problem. Am I stuck??
July 17th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
I’ve been a property manager for alot of years and I will tell you that if you go to the manager and state that you feel “unsafe” living in your apartment, the chances are good that they will let you out of your lease. No one wants to take responibility of your saftey and if something were to happen to you, you could have a Law Suite against them. Make sure to document everything.
July 17th, 2006 at 1:55 pm
First & Last Month’s Rent Question
I currently live in an apt and have been looking to purchase a home. I found the perfect house and put it under contract. Problem is I have to make a first payment on this house when I’m scheduled to make the last payment on my current apartment lease. The apartment has my “last month’s rent” but are refusing to use that toward my last month’s rent.
Obviously, I’m not going to default on my mortgage to pay the apt rent that I’ve already paid up front. Is there anything I can do to keep from getting sued?
July 17th, 2006 at 5:00 pm
I moved into an apartment about 3 months ago, after signing a 1 yr lease. After a loss of hours at my job, it was becoming harder and harder to afford rent, plus my other payments and bill. I asked my landlord if I could have my boyfriend added to the lease so that he could move in and help pay for everything. Instead of having the guts to call me back in person she left a note under my door saying that I couldn’t do that. So i read over my lease and it does not say anywhere that you can’t add someone to the lease. I tried calling her after that and she won’t return that call. There is also a problem with ants in the apartment. No matter how much a spray for them I am constantly killing them. They crawl in from right under the door. Also, one time when I left my apartment for the day I came back to find dirty footprints all over my bathroom floor, AFTER I had locked the apartment. My landlord is also extremely rude to me. She doesn’t talk to the other tenants with the same attitude she uses with me, just because I’m the youngest one in the building. Is there anything I can do to get out of this lease without paying the equivalent of 3 months rent??
July 17th, 2006 at 11:25 pm
What about an apartment where the Ac does not effectively cool the apt to less than 85 degrees most of the time, and you have a newborn baby AND the mgt keeps telling you there is nothing wrong with it?
Will a letter of medical necessity saying the baby hs to be kept cool cover this? My doctor is willing to write one.
July 18th, 2006 at 4:30 pm
We signed for a new lease in Feb as we could not afforrd to move out at the time.
The tow truck company that management hired broke into my car recently, removed the tompoary pass on my rear vision mirror and stuffed it under a road book I haven’t used is ages. Because I was unable to prove this I had to pay $100. Management have been dodging my calls after I complained about this. Apparently there is a tenant sueing teh two trucks for the same thing.
Also when our appartments got sold to a new owner our alotment details with the military had to change. A few weeks after we made these changes we recieved a not under the door stating we had to pay one months rent or we will be evicted in 5 days. Obviously teh allotment hadn’t worked but we are unable to see a statement until the following month and just figured it was an extra payment we were owed. We tried to ask them if we could pay half now half later and it was a no go. We do not think this was our fault.
Do you think we have any rights here?
July 19th, 2006 at 10:59 am
We moved into our new apartment 2 weeks ago. We are allergic to cigarette smoke, the apartment smelled like cigarette smoke for the first few days. We got some advice and were told to use Febreeze, etc. because the smell might be coming from the carpet. Did not help. Then we noticed we were smelling it in certain spots where our wall meets our neighbor’s wall. It is coming through our walls! Our landlord told us to change the filter, we did. It did not change anything, it is still coming through the walls. We don’t know what to do. We have a year’s lease!
July 20th, 2006 at 10:45 am
FYI: There is [usually] no refund on appliaction fees and deposits…
July 20th, 2006 at 9:56 pm
I can’t afford to stay and have no money to move, what should I do? I recently lost a job and was hired somewhere else, but the transition has wrecked havoc on my finances. Does anyone have any advice as to what I can do?
July 21st, 2006 at 10:16 pm
We are seven months into a one year lease and need a way out. There are four of us living in the unit and found out that after month six none of use could really get along. We need help or hints on how to legally break the lease without paying out the nose or ruining someones credit. Any advice that someone has would be helpful.
July 22nd, 2006 at 1:32 pm
We moved to Texas from out of state. We had to find living quarters before we move to Texas cause we have 4 kids. The day we arrived in Texas the apartment lady stayed later (past business hours) to accomodate us.
She had the lease ready to sign and the keys so we could move right in. It was late about 6 or 7 pm. She did not give us the opportunity to look at the apartment before signing the lease, although it was a look-and-lease option. The look-and-lease option included the rent for the 3 bedroom we were getting for the first month to be only $250. The next day they said it was $350 and had to pay another $100.
The apartment community has 3 options for 3 bedrooms, we were told we were getting the 3 bdrm townhouse. After signing the lease, arriving at the apartment which had no parking space, roaches everywhere, no screens in the windows, air conditioner broken, and was a 3 bedroom townhouse with a loft. Keep in mind the 4 children I have are all under 7 years old. The loft is waist high and extremely dangerous to all of our children, not to mention there is no privacy for the 3rd bedroom. Also the set up of the apartment is 1bdrm down, 2 up (one of the 2 up is the loft.) I am and was very upset with the community for deceiving us in this matter, they said they had no other 3 bdrms available. Which later I found was incorrect. We have been lied to, deceived, and disrespected.
Now come to find out almost a month later, they are saying the check for $250 was bounced, but not the $100 check. Instead of telling us that to fix it they had a Notice to Vacate to us on Friday, and have to fix everything for Monday or they will lock us out of our apartment.
I have 2 special needs kids, one with expensive special needs food stored here at our apartment, and one with hearing difficulties, plus another with asthma and the last one is still very small and has been vomiting due to the heat.
I am working and trying to pay the rent due in 1 1/2 weeks, the past due, the electric which is $400+, and take care of necessities for the kids. This move to Houston has drained all of us.
We don’t want to live in this apartment because it is dangerous to our children and infested with roaches, and not to mention the neighborhood is not what they told us it was.
HELP????
July 24th, 2006 at 11:32 am
I am also renting in TN and I have friends who have had brown recluse spiders in their apartments. From what I have learned - they are impossible to get rid of because they nest inside the walls. I have actually been told that you could get out of your lease because of the spiders but you have to prove that you have them. I would try to kill one next time you see it but don’t smash it. Put it in a plastic baggy so you will be able to show it to them. I know that is not much help, but I thought I would share. Are you in the Nashville area? I am just wondering if it is the same apartment complex my friend was having problems with.
July 24th, 2006 at 5:20 pm
Most apts. give you a few weeks to break your lease. Take your copy of the lease and read over it very carefully. you may just find what you need to leave!
July 24th, 2006 at 5:27 pm
Im not sure what state you live in, but in DC a tenant can not be evicted until after they have been to court. You should have received a thirty- days notice and if you do not respond within that time you receive a notice to appear in court. If you fail to appear, or the judge orders you out, then you can be evicted. If this process has not occured but you are evicted anyway you have been wrongfully evicted and should file a law suit.
July 24th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
As far as the rental office not responding to you about their tow truck, you need a lawyer. All you need them to do is send the rental office a letter with their letter-head and I guarantee they will respond immediately. no money for a lawyer? Contact DC Law Students in Court they will help for free!
July 24th, 2006 at 5:37 pm
Yes you are stuck. What you can do is aks them to exterminate every week or every other week to keep the problem at a minimum. If they refuse, have a lawyer send them a letter. They usually dont like to go through any legal processes (unless they are the ones filing the lawsuit)=)
July 24th, 2006 at 5:39 pm
Do to them what they would do to you go to court.You will need a lawyer (you better believe they will have one). DC law students in court (free)!
July 24th, 2006 at 5:44 pm
There are not many ways to break your lease, but this is one of those exceptions. There is a way to get out of your lease if you fear for your life! grab your yellow pages and call the first law office you see. Most lawyers wont charge just to ask a legal question.
July 25th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
Hi!
I am a PM out of state so I can’t tell you specifics about Texas but just advice on general contracts. First, the concession addendum for your discounted rent should have stated what the special was when you signed your lease. I’m not sure what legal options you have considering you took possesion of the apartment even though it was not what you had on hold. I do know that Texas is a landlord friendly state and its hard for me to point you in a specific direction. One thing I can tell you is document EVERYTHING!!! If its a private owner, I would try reasoning with them. If its a property management company, talk to the Property Manager first. Send written notification of your issues and then set up an appointment to discuss your issues, perhaps you can get transferred to the correct apt with no extra fees. Give the PM an opportunity to resolve the problem(s). Follow-up in writing. If nothing is resolved call their corporate office. However, if you check bounced you HAVE TO rectify that immediately, it goes to your credibility as a tenant. If all your attempts goes unanswered I’m sure Houston has a landlord-tenant division where you can file a complaint. Especially if you have a roach infestation that no one is addressing and the unit, that you did not request, is putting your children in danger. Good Luck! You got a doosier.
July 25th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
ADVICE MUCH NEEDED!! Ok I moved out of my apartment 2 months before lease end unanounced to the landlord. The reason is simple I had complained and complained about the mold problem, and a list of other things that were wrong with the apartment. After being sick from breathing in the black mold and fungus that was present I decided to get the hell out. Now I have pictures to prove the mold and fungus problem. My next issue is this, I went to get the rest of my furnature one night, and to my shock, my bed was gone, my roommates bed was gone, and the aprtment was completely trashed… what can I do about all of this?
July 27th, 2006 at 10:35 pm
You are screwed. Texas has very bad apartment laws because Owners have lobbied for more power.
You are at the mercy of the landlord, period. Bed and cry, beg and cry.
Sorry to say it, but welcome to Texas and get used to people two-timing you. This state is famous for its share of scumbags.
July 28th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
The above article said that the landlord had to allow lease-breaking for military service. I’m not sure if that would work for you, since you’re still there, but it’s something to look into.
July 28th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
I am a single mom with a 14yr old daughter. Our apartment faces the pool/spa and on any given night after 9:30 or 10pm we get our own X-rated sex show. They recently changed management companies and I have noticed a substantial decrease in the quality of people moving in. I recently purchased a house and my move in would leave me with 2-3 months left on my lease. There is a buy out clause that would cost me approx $1300. Is there a chance to get out without paying the $$?
July 29th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
i live in the Mississipi area where a vacany unit is above me being occupied by some illegal person-neighbor home invaded and constant reports to repair not being carried out. My lease ends in December 2006. How can i break my lease before then?
July 31st, 2006 at 3:01 am
“Is the staff at least required to provide safe living conditions?”
Actually, that is the responsibility of your local law enforcement agency. Apartment managers aren’t cops.
July 31st, 2006 at 12:02 pm
We signed a one year lease and we`ve been living in the apt. complex for about 3 months and we are having serious ants problems. Everyday gets worse! I have a 4 year old daughter and she wakes up with ants bites all over her body! We find ants everywhere, closet, kitchen, and my daughter’s room. We are the cleanest person you can imagine so I can’t find a reason why we have so many ants. What makes me even more upset is that the staff from the apartments don’t do anything about it! I want to see if there’s any way I can break my lease without getting bad credit? Please HELP!
August 1st, 2006 at 12:32 am
I live in Las Vegas, NV. I moved out of an apt. after a month, and signed a room-mate release form, which my room-mate failed to co-sign. There were roaches everywhere, my shower head did not work, and a neighbor was acting very agressive to me. About a month later she also decided to move because they would not fix anything in the apt. She called the corporate office, and they told her it would be okay to move, so she gave them a month’s notice. I recieved a call last thurs. from a collection agency, who said that I owe them over $5,000 for the full 6 month lease because the lease was broken. I’ve been trying to talk to the manager, but she won’t talk to me. I am still trying to talk to legal services about my rights. What can I do?
August 1st, 2006 at 10:15 am
I signed a 12 month lease for an apartment and after only 4 months my employer transferred me to another location. I could not afford to travel so I gave notice requesting my lease be terminated. The apartment managers were very coopertive about the lease termination and said they would attempt to locate tenants as soon as possible. They located a tenant and of course the tenant could not move in until the following month. They told me on the phone that my deposit would be used for that one month that the apartment was left vacant. My question is… can they keep my deposit without providing me something in writing within the 3 week time period (California law regarding rental deposits)? Or because I broke the lease am I responsible for the months rent and they do not have to provide any type of writing? Hope this makes sense to someone!
August 1st, 2006 at 6:37 pm
My apt was cited for missing part of the roof cap thus causing a roof leak, do i have to pay rent during the time of this violation?
August 1st, 2006 at 9:04 pm
Your best bet in this situation is multifold. One, send a letter to them (certified mail, return recipt requested) informing them of your intent to leave. Strictly as a formality. Two, get it in writing from them that they are accepting your breaking lease and that they intend to retain your security deposit as your final payment and that everything will be considered satisfactory at that point. Unless, of course, you don’t want them to do that, then you will have to negotiate that with them and get whatever you do agree to in writing. The short of it is this: a verbal contract is just as legally binding as a written one, except for the matter of proving it. Unless you want to get into a case of “I said-they said” you’re best getting it in writing because you are technically breaking lease and therefore you are on the default losing side of the argument. Hope that helps.
August 2nd, 2006 at 7:01 am
Have you reported the “x-rated sex show” to the management? the police? If you have not, then you should. It’s called “documentation” ie proof. Certainly, with children of my own, I would not allow this to go on after ONE TIME. If you had given notice to move because management or police failed to respond, then you might have validity to your claim. Otherwise, abide by your lease.
August 2nd, 2006 at 11:57 am
You can fulfill your lease. Nobody ever thinks of that!
August 3rd, 2006 at 2:25 pm
I signed a 12 month lease and live in S. California. When i signed the lease I signed with my ex boyfriend, well like most people we broke up and i moved back home. I now want to request my name be taken off the lease because i heard you can do that but my apartment doesnt allow that. So is there a way for me to break the lease and still have him live there giving me no financial responsibility?
August 4th, 2006 at 3:34 am
I disagree with the last comment — you are definitely not screwed! Tenants DO have rights in Texas.
However, you may lose some or all of these rights for nonpayment of rents. You may want to go ahead and pay the $250, and clear up any discrepancies on your Aug. rent payment.
Chapter 92 of the Texas Property Code lists Landlord and Tenant Rights and Obligations.
Here’s the official website:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/docs/PR/content/htm/pr.008.00.000092.00.htm
Specifically, refer to subsections 92.052, 92.053, 92.056 and 92.0561 with regards to landlord’s obligations to repair or remedy conditions that materially affect the health or safety of the tenant. You DO need to request everything in WRITING, and keep copies of all written communication with the landlord or property mgr. Generally, the landlord has 5-7 days to respond or be liable for other remedies, which may include contacting your local health inspector!
Hope this helps
Good luck!
August 4th, 2006 at 3:44 am
You should be able to contact the landlord (not the property manager) directly and inform him/her of the issues you’re having. Sometimes the landlord is out of state and trusts that the property management is treating HIS tenants fairly and with respect.
An aquaintance of mine who owns apartment complexes was walking the property one day when one of the tenants approached. He introduced himself as the property owner, and to his surprise, the tenant was curious as to why the manager always wanted the rent paid in Cash. Hmmm…my friend discovered the manager was stealing from him. Needless to say, that manager is no longer an employee!
I wish you well!
-Mark
August 4th, 2006 at 4:49 pm
How it is that you think a person is suppose to know the noise level prior to signing the lease is beyond me.
I recently leased a loft in KC, MO.
We (my sister was with me at the time)specifically and repeatedly voiced our concerns pertaining to noise level here and of how I like it quiet. I don’t listen to TV or the radio, I like it quiet and in fact it grates my nerves to no end to hear neighbors TV or music. This was made very clear to the leasing agent whom claims to have lived here and assured us each time the subject was broched that this place was very, very quiet.
Imagine my surprise upon moving in to learn that not only can I hear the neighbor’s TV and music, I can hear them talk to each other almost as clearly as if they’re in my living room. that’s not all.
I can hear the ding go off on their microwave when their food is done. I can hear the elevator ding down the hall. I can hear dogs barking in a loft that’s on another floor at the opposite end of the building.
I’m forced to listen to people in 3 different lofts each and every time they have sex. I’m even forced to listen to the people above me each and every time they relieve themselves in the bathroom which happens to be above my bedroom. Better yet I can even tell you which one of them went because you can read the paper being pulled off from the toilet paper roll after she’s done!
Me being a single man, listening to someone above me that’s loud and clear enough that I can tell if they are eating Mexican food or not, that day when they go to the bathroom isn’t exactly my idea of a great romantic mood setter should I ever want to bring a date home. Just that alone makes this impressive looking place seem pretty useless,if not down right embarrassing to me when it comes to dating.
Coming here from TX I knew nothing about lofts at all prior to leasing this place. They looked cool. They certainly seemed nice enough and I looked at probably 14 or 15 places. I asked about noise and only a couple of them said I might hear anything at all.
You would think at a $1,000 a month it’d be quiet here but it’s got to be the loudest place I’ve ever lived.
How is it a person is suppose to know these things before moving into a place as you contend we should? I don’t believe management is going to let me stay the night without signing a lease first. I’ve never asked before but I seriously doubt they’d agree to it.
Looking at the lease it’s their responsibilty to make this place ’safe and habitable’.
It seems very apparent to me that their idea of habitable is far different than my own and more than likely I’m going to be forced to seek out an attorney in this case even though I seriously doubt I have a leg to stand on.
What bothers one person may not bother another. Still I wanted to put that question to you.
How exactly is a person suppose to know the sound level inside a place before signing a lease in this type of situation ?
Thank you for your time.
August 4th, 2006 at 6:46 pm
If your keys were turned into the management company you are not responsible for the damage, but if they were not your renter’s insurance should cover any of your loss as well as damage to the property.
August 5th, 2006 at 1:01 am
I want to know if I can get out of a lease if I never physically move into an apartment.
August 6th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
I got a new job 100 miles away from where I live. I drive 2 hours every day to get to work. I plan to move out at the end of the month, no matter what the apt. complex tells me since they’ve successfully cheated me out of money earlier this year.
What can they do to me? I simply work too far away to live here.
August 6th, 2006 at 9:18 pm
AHHH!
Ok, My boyfiend and I have lived in a apartment in Houston for about 6 months ( signed a 13 month lease.) and it was fine until about one month into this hell hole. We choose this apartment because of the good neighborhood and location. Then, let’s just say not the “tidiest” bunch of people started to move in. I’m not going to lie, I was scared of walking inside or out after dark. Then, the notices of break- ins and car thefts started to appear on our door. NOW, the part that tops the cake. SPIDERS. I would rather have a sex offender move in next door rather than BLACK WIDDOWS IN MY HOUSE! Yes, our cat Bo, became ill one day when i noticed that on his bed, when he got up, a spider fell off his back. then the webbs start appearing all over the house. My boyfriends brother stayed with us for one weekend and when he returned home, he called to inform us of a black widdow in his over night bag. I AM TIRED OF WORRYING ABOUT MY CAR BEING STOLEN OR MY LEG BEING BITTEN OFF! Can someone help us before we are shot or poisioned?!?!?
*crazy in Houston.
August 8th, 2006 at 9:07 am
Help! My roommate is making me sick. We signed a 1 year lease in March. The lease has a no smoking clause in it. However, it seems that everyone in the building including my obnoxious roommate, smokes constantly. It has taken it’s toll on my health and put me in the hospital 3 times this year. Can I get out of this lease? The landlord says no smoking but has a blind eye toward it.
August 8th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
my husband and I and our 2 children signed a 12 month lease in February, now half way through it, we’re trying to buy a house, and want to break our lease, we live in Alaska, so I’m not really sure what to do. We are military, so I’ve thought about using that to our benefit, but I am not sure how to go about it
August 8th, 2006 at 2:40 pm
My roommate and I signed a lease two months ago to renew our apartment lease for another year (August 31, 2006 - August 31, 2007). Over the past two months we have been fighting and have realized we cannot possibly live together for another year. Because our lease does not end/begin until August 31st - is there a way out of this??? HELP!!!
August 8th, 2006 at 5:18 pm
If your landlord provides pest control, which I’m sure they do, they have a legal obligation to rid you of your pest problems. I would recommend putting the request in writing. State law says landlords that do not attempt or actually fix a main. issue. (pest control would be considered a main issue) in a “resonable amount of time” they are acting in bad faith and are considered to be in default of the lease. However what is resonable? Thats a loaded question… If you know for sure that the spiders are black widows… That would be considered an emergency and requires immediate attention.
As far as the other concerns go not seeing how much pull you have… but black widows, write that request, hand deliver it, give them resonable time to fix it and if they dont that could be your out.
August 8th, 2006 at 11:10 pm
I am in a very similar boat. I signed a lease on Friday and I changed my mind on the following Monday. I was wondering the same thing.
August 9th, 2006 at 12:24 am
Did you ever get any answers from your question. I am in the same boat. Pls respond to stpthmp@yahoo.com-Subject line Apartment in Raleigh NC
August 9th, 2006 at 9:24 am
They can hold you to the terms of your lease, which will affect your credit at the very least. At worst, they can get a judgment against you, and depending on the laws in your state, do a sherrif’s sale of your possessions or even attach your wages. Check your lease to see if you have a buyout provision, or have a neighbor let you know when/if the unit is re-rented, because they have to end your lease at that point.
August 9th, 2006 at 9:26 am
Depends on why you want to get out. Did they fail to produce the apartment to you when promised? Then, yes. Did you change your mind? Then, no. Look at it like an auto lease — whether or not you drive the car, you’re still liable for the payments.
August 9th, 2006 at 9:31 am
Do they have other apartments? Maybe in a newer, better-insulated building? Give the landlord a chance to remedy the situation (transfering you, adding insulation, or letting you out of the lease), and if they don’t do anything, take them to civil court to get out of the lease and ask for a financial settlement to help with costs associated with moving. If you can present your side well (DOCUMENT EVERY CONTACT WITH THE LANDLORD!!), you probably have a 50/50 chance. (Check for a noise provision in the lease.)
August 9th, 2006 at 9:36 am
Yes, unless your apartment was made uninhabitable due to the leak. The landlord is responsible to repair the damage in a timely manner, and as long as he did that, and you were able to live in the apartment, you are responsible for rent. If you talk to him, however, he may voluntarily give you a rent deduction for your trouble.
If he took a long time to fix the leak and/or the damage, contact your locality’s housing department, and they will instruct you how to put your rent in escrow until the repairs are finished.
August 9th, 2006 at 9:58 am
Read your lease and look for a section on exterminating. It should say who is responsible for the cost, the landlord or the tenant. If the landlord is responsible and he does nothing (document your contacts with the landlord and give him a reasonable amount of time to address the problem), you would have grounds to get out of the lease. If you are responsible, buy some ant traps or call an exterminator.
If you leave and the lease is reported to the Credit Bureau, you can always file a dispute with the landlord, and it will be noted on your credit report.
August 9th, 2006 at 10:06 am
You could let the landlord know when you are leaving and ask them to put it back on the market to rent. As soon as the unit is re-rented, that would sever your obligation. By law in PA, anyway, they are required to attempt to rent the apartment — they do not have to advertise your unit specially, but they can’t hide it and refuse to rent it, either. In most areas, this is the prime time of year to move (before school starts), and if it’s a decent complex, they should have no trouble getting a new tenant. You are, however, responsible for rent until the unit is re-rented or the end of your lease, whichever comes first, if you do not choose the buyout option. Late fees will most likely apply, so make sure you pay on time. If you can, have a trusted neighbor keep an eye out for when a new tenant moves in.
August 9th, 2006 at 10:10 am
Do you think most people actually have renter’s insurance? In a perfect world, maybe.
August 9th, 2006 at 10:20 am
Check your lease. Many leases have a 30-day provision that they can break your lease for any reason. You’re kinda stuck there. The only argument you might have is if you think they are practicing some sort of discrimination. Did they tell you why they’re breaking the lease?
August 9th, 2006 at 11:15 am
My girlfriend and I moved into an apt. in San Diego ~5mos ago. Recently we had a less than amicable break up and now I want to move out. The problem is the lease is in both our names and our apartment requires that both of us sign an addendum saying that one of us wants out of the lease; my ex REFUSES to sign. Is there a way for me to get out of the lease without it destroying my credit and rental history?
August 9th, 2006 at 11:31 pm
Okay i just moved into this new apartment and was really disapointed, the carpet was not clean, bathroom was cleaned half way, toilet wasn’t stable, I asked the landlord to change and fix that he said no and that if i wanted he would let me out of my lease but i would lose my security deposit and won’t be liable for the 11 remaining months, i said Yes, so do I need a written letter paper from them stating that? I don’t want to get sued or have my credit screwed. Thanks
August 11th, 2006 at 10:25 am
She pays half the rent, there’s nothing you can do about her smoking. Not unless your lease says no smoking.
August 11th, 2006 at 10:31 am
Yes, get a detailed agreement in writing, if you’re agreeing to what he said. He sounds like a jerk, though. Wonder if it’s a scam?
August 11th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
My landloard called me today to tell me that one of the people in our house had to move out because the county we live in says we can only have up to 3 unrelated people in our house at one time. They did not tell us this when we moved in, and actually told us that if we wanted to put anyone else on the lease just to send them a new application and application fee. What can I do, I don’t want to make anyone move out, but if someone has to can we all? Will that ruin my credit?
August 11th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
Please help. My roomate and I just had a break in at our apartment, and the realization is that we are being charged WAY too much for the neighborhood we live in, without some sort of secure security. Is there any way to break the lease, it is a year lease… I want to cry, and I feel unsafe! PLEASE HELP! Feel free to email me at jesse.kimmelfreeman@gmail.com Subject Lease Advice. THANK YOU!
August 11th, 2006 at 7:50 pm
My wife and I were having problems and we decided she would move to an apartment. She signed a 6 month lease (they said a month to month lease would be a lot more and did not quote her a price) and has paid for 2 monthes rent. After living there for around a month, we decided to get back together. The apartment wants 60 day notice and 20% of the total lease value. She has moved out, and offered to pay the extra rent, but we don’t think we should have to pay the extra 20%. Rent is $900 a month, and with all their charges, this amounts to around $4,000 to live there for less than 30 days. What should we do?
August 12th, 2006 at 4:30 pm
My refrigerator recently broke and the landlord refuses to fix it. He said that I can fix it and deduct it from the rent. I don’t have the means to get a new fridge, is he responsible?
August 14th, 2006 at 1:26 pm
Wow, good question! I went and checked our lease, and believe it or not, it doesn’t mention appliances, except for cleaning them. I’d check with the Housing Department in your area — they should be able to tell you what the landlord is required to provide. Good luck!
August 14th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
why don’t you just stick with the 6 month lease and inform them that she plans to leave after the term is up. Then pay the original amount (which is way less) and just have her not live there. She can go there once a week to make sure that everything is ok and do light cleaning.
August 14th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
i would think that if you contacted with a certified letter showing a copy of the “no smoking” part of your lease agreement and complained then he still did nothing about the problem that you should be able to break the lease agreement, especially since it is making you sick.
August 17th, 2006 at 9:01 pm
Renter’s insurance is extremely cheap. I’ve always paid $10-$15 a month for mine. Every lease I’ve signed talks about getting it. I strongly recommend to everyone renting to get it because you never know what can happen in life. Fire, flood, theft, etc.
August 17th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
Actually the judges are tenant friendly in Texas. I’ve worked in New Mexico and Texas so I have comparison. I’ve seen tenants have more rights and get fair outcomes in court in Houston vs Albuquerque. I would make sure you know all your rights. Good luck.
August 18th, 2006 at 3:03 pm
my son and is girlfriend (who is in college) moved into a apartment in April 2006. The move in special was three months rent free for a 12 month lease. The first few months went great until ALL the other college kids moved in. Every night they party all the time and they get no sleep. Neither of them drink. So her father just bought her a house so they can get away from all the party people.(beer cans, throw up all over) gross.
We can pay some of what is left of the lease … but how much should we offer?? IS there a way to get out of the lease with an offer to pay some of what is left???
August 19th, 2006 at 10:30 am
I think, but im not sure… you can get the mortgage person to write the apt a letter stating you or they bought a house and they have to let you out of your lease.. this was told to me by a mortgage guy…
August 19th, 2006 at 11:45 am
We moved in last Dec. we were up front and told them we were looking for a house and asked about fees and obligations if we did have to break a lease we wanted a 6 month lease the apartments forced us into a 14 month lease, by lieing to us. Since then they have rented to some pot smoking kids that walk around and yell and curse at everyone. We have reported it but nothing has been done, so we decieded to go ahead and look for a house and go ahead and pay the fees that were explained upon us leasing the apartment. When we talked with management we find the want us to pay all the fees plus the duration of our lease out, which is another 6 months. We have seeked legal advice and waiting to hear what can be done. Any advice??
August 19th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
Hi, I live in PA in an interesting situation: A friend of ours bought a house last summer. He is young and single and needed help paying the mortgage so he asked some friends (including my boyfriend and i) to move in. There are 3 BRs–my bf and I live in one, the owner lives in the other, and a 3rd friend lives in the 3rd room. We all share the kitchen and living room and laundry facilities. The problem is, the owner is a PIG. My bf and I clean and clean, but can’t keep up with the mess he makes. I can’t live this way any longer. I only agreed to a 1 year lease, which is over and my lease has converted to month-to-month. But my bf agreed to 2 years. Both agreements were oral, but in PA, they are enforceable. I thought if we moved out now we could just pay off my bf’s portion of the lease, since mine is over, but the owner says my bf is paying for the ROOM, so his rent would just double if I were to leave. Is this fair?? In addition, our heat has been shut off twice and cable once because they owner doesn’t pay the bills. We pay our utilities to him on time every month. Each time it happened, they were shut off for about a week. Can that help us at all?
August 20th, 2006 at 12:12 am
I have been living in an apartment since March of this year. I have recently noticed an infestation of silverfish. I spoke withmanagement & my apartment was sprayed. Four weeks later I was still seeing them so I went in the office spoke with someone & wrote a letter. I have a 2 year old child & seeing pests everynight & being afraid to walk around the house barefoot is unacceptable living to me. Also having to constantly spray seems as if it could become a problem. How long long should I give them to rectify the situation after the exterminator has sprayed this time? If I filled out a maintenace request for a broken intrusion alarm & and a clogged bathroom sink and 1 wk. & four days later noone has fixed it what should I do?
August 20th, 2006 at 4:37 pm
Oh Please tell me who can I check with to see if this is true. They close on the house September 7th. We will be paying Septembers rent for the whole month even though we are moving them out on the 8th. Do we still give them a 30 day notice on September 1st even though they are still in a lease?
August 21st, 2006 at 7:09 am
I was recently in court with my roommate. He made an oral agreement with me and the landlord. He abandoned the lease five months ago. He agreed to pay his portion of the rent till the end of the lease because I am disabled and can only afford 1/2 of the rent. The magistrate threw it out. Judgement was placed aginst both parties, He wont pay. I got the full judgement. I had to have the gas and water and electric put in my name after I paid my roommate my portion they were still shut off because he didnt pay. I had to take him to court. He had to pay me back what I paid him. So in Pa. oral agreements quite often are dismissed. My roommate denied the oral agreement. The landlord was there and told the Judge there was an oral agreement it didn’t do any good. Also the guy you are renting from could say there wasn’t an oral agreement. Then It becomes a case of (He Said,She Said) The Magistrate thinks he’s a funny guy. I think he wants his own TV show. Everytime I would try to say something he would ask me if I want a policeman in here? I would say No. He would reply “He has a Gun”. I said “yea Judge just shoot me dead, thay way nobody gets anything” He shut up about the cop. and I finally got to say something.
Good Luck To You.
August 23rd, 2006 at 8:10 am
I agree that it is inexpensive and necessary; however, many people don’t bother to get it. And even though it says right in the lease “the landlord insures the unit, you are responsible to insure your personal property”, people still think the landlord is responsible if, say, there’s a roof leak right over their brand new computer.
August 23rd, 2006 at 10:32 am
I live in California. When my 9 month lease was up, I renewed it for another 12 months. When the rental associate drew up a new lease she combined the two time periods into a 21 months lease though! Like an idiot I did not read the document correctly. Since then, the owners of the apartment complex have changed and the new owners are not willing to honor or acknowledge the oral agreement made by the previous associate.
Help!
August 25th, 2006 at 9:47 pm
I move into my apartment in May since then my place has been broken into 2 times with a 3rd attempt while I was home with my kids. Now I am afraid to be alone in the house with my children. My landlord was supposed to put up window bars and because he didn’t the burglars broke 2 of my windows. I have mice, I have spiders and silverfish. Although I hate bugs I can deal with those but what I can’t deal with is being afraid someone will break in while me and my kids are sleeping. Breaking the lease wan’t an option b4 but I think it should be now.
August 29th, 2006 at 11:00 am
Talked to apartment manager about getting out of the lease early and offered to pay 6 months rent of the 10 months that are left …and he said NO…..
So son and girlfriend are moving to new house this weekend. When they pay the September rent do they need to give a written notice of leaving??? Since they will be paying the rent each month do they need to turn in the keys?
August 29th, 2006 at 4:26 pm
i have asked my landlord if i can get out from mylease due to job move. They said okay to it i put this in writting. However, my company decided not to send me to the new location and i had to ask for my lease back.
Can i assume my original lease is binding still? Or am i under the mercy of the landlord.
August 30th, 2006 at 7:08 pm
If the lease has not began yet it is not legal yet. Go and ask for the original lease (all copies) and give your notice to move. You must do this before the new lease date starts though.
September 1st, 2006 at 5:41 pm
What you said is not true throughout the country or else here in Raleigh, NC everything is different. THERE WAS A DEAD MOUSE HERE IN THIS RENTAL UNIT! My landlady’s respone to the mouse situation was to hand me some D-Con and to tell me that “everyone has mice.” Which by the way, I have since found out is NOT TRUE - and I have not seen mice ever in over 20 years of renting.
I called the City of Raleigh Housing Department, and they told me that since I lived in a rental townhome that I rent from the owner through a real estate broker, THAT I, THE TENANT, AM RESPONSIBLE FOR PEST EXTERMINATION. The Owner is only responsible for insect or pest/rodent extermination if it concerns multiple units, like an apartment community.
It was super disgusting to find mice droppings in my kitchen as well as mice excrement in the apartment. Now I am stuck with 6 more months in a mouse-infested house, and having to pay $75 initially for an exterminator TO REMOVE A DEAD MOUSE and then also $45 per month for return visits for them to treat and remove rodents. I hate it here.
I am buying after this, I have had it with cheapo landlords. I personally would take much better care of the property than this landlady does.
September 2nd, 2006 at 10:54 am
IF YOU LIVE IN CALIFORNIA…
Just go here:
http://www.caltenantlaw.com/Habitability.htm
September 2nd, 2006 at 12:29 pm
You’re probably OK…just make sure to let them know ASAP that you have decided not to move. They might have “pre-leased” your apartment (rented it out from under you) and in that case, unless the new renter is willing to move into a different apartment you are legally obligated to move.
September 2nd, 2006 at 10:08 pm
We live in Georgia and signed a 12 month lease. The grass wasn’t cut all the way to the property line, what wasn’t cut was very high grass. I cut it down but it was mucky. Come to find out it was the neighbors waste. So eveytime you go outside you smell crap. Not only that, snakes are in the crawl space and now it appears that they are in the attic. The landlord responded to us saying, that they knew about the snakes and to get a cat.They say we can get out of the lease, but they keep the deposit and another months rent plus 200 dollars. What can I do to keep some money?
September 3rd, 2006 at 3:42 pm
I HAVE FOUND MULTIPLE DEAD MICE - right after I wrote the above comment. I did call the landlady and tell her I want to break the lease, that I am doing everything I am supposed to be doing as a good tenant - paying rent and also paying exterminators - but I have these GROSS mice and droppings & etc. here. Don’t the current rodent circumstance constitute an uninhabitable, unclean and unsafe (mice carry disease - check out the CDC website) housing environment? Haven’t the landladay and the owner NOT provided decent housing????? I don’t want to live here and I feel extremely uncomfortable being here.
September 4th, 2006 at 7:01 pm
I need help!!! I moved in to an apartment and singed a 6 month lease. First there are roaches everywhere then my next door neighbor was on the news arrested for gang activity and drug trafficing. The neighbor down stairs for crack. Then I let them know the living room outlets and bedroom outlets were not working back in July. They looked at them said nothing was wrong. I had them come back out and showed they weren’t working. They told me next day was the forth of July and they don’t work and would be back the following day. They never came back. On the first I spoke with the property manager and was angry told him about the electric problem and the bug problem. He said he would have someone out there that day. It is now September and I am still waiting on them. I have extension cords running from the kitchen to the living room and the bedroom. I went to pay rent for the first of September and put in my 30 day notice my lease is up on the 30th. They let me know I have to give a 60day notice (I checked it is in the lease) and again I told them about the electric. They have still done nothing. I started crying when she said I had to stay an extra month. Is there anything I can do to get out of here? I was thinking about talking to an attorney because I have told them now 5 times and nothing is done. Any advice will help me PLEASE!!!
I just want out now…. Thank You
September 7th, 2006 at 5:21 am
Can I sublet my apartment to four other friends if my roomate and his wife moved? Is that breaking my 1 year lease? Can the lanlord refuse to let me sublet the apartment.It is a three bedroom apt.
September 8th, 2006 at 2:53 pm
I LIVE IN DENVER AND SIGNED A 12 MONTH LEASE WITH AN APARTMENT COMPLEX THAT I “THOUGHT” WAS A GREAT COMMUNITY. WHEN I FIRST MOVED IN BACK IN APRIL I HAD A VERY BAD ROACH PROBLEM ON THE FIRST DAY!!! I HAD MOVED ALL OF MY STUFF IN, LEFT TO GROCERY SHOP AND WHEN I CAME BACK 2 HOURS LATER (NIGHTTIME) I WAS GREETED AT MY FRONT DOOR BY A BUNCH OF LARGE COCKROACHES WHICH I LATER FOUND WERE ALL OVER THE KITCHEN AND LIVING ROOM!!! I IMMEDIATELY NOTIFIED THE LEASING OFFICE AND THEY OFFERED TO MOVE ME TO ANOTHER APARTMENT AS WELL AS RETURN SOME OF MY RENT MONEY SINCE I WAS MOVING IN ON A LATER DATE. WELL AFTER BEING IN THE NEWER APARTMENT FOR ABOUT A MONTH, I NOTICED THERE WAS A ROACH PROBLEM AGAIN. SINCE THE LEASING COMPANY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PEST CONROL THEY BAITED MY APARTMENT FOR THE PESTS. WELL, IT SEEMS NOW THAT EVERY 30 DAYS I AM GETTING MY APARTMENT BAITED AND RECENTLY I HAVE BEEN WAKING UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT FROM SOMETHING CRAWLING ON ME!!! I’M SICK OF THIS AND CANNOT LIVE UNDER THESE CONDITIONS ANYMORE AND FRANKLY WANT TO MOVE OUT OF THAT COMPLEX AND BREAK MY LEASE WITH MINIMAL FINANCIAL OBLIGATION. ANYONE KNOW A GOOD WAY TO DO THIS? I’VE ALSO HAD A HEALTH INSPECTOR COME AND LOOK AT MY PLACE AND HE AGREES WITH THE SITUATION
September 9th, 2006 at 6:09 pm
I signed a lease to a huge apartment complex. After being here for a month a half, my job has relocated and my pay has changed, basically. Now, I am definitely not able to afford it with my full time teaching job. Nor will I ever be able to pay the rest of the money I would’ve paid until the lease is up next august. What am I supposed to do and what reason will be good enough to get out of this situation???? Please help!
September 11th, 2006 at 11:53 am
A sewage pipe is broken in my basement and there is over two feet of urine, bowels, and toilet paper filling it. there is a fowel oder coming up through the floor. There are flies coming up through the drain in my shower and we can not leave our windows open because the smell has been making my fiance and I feel sick just thinking about it. It is so embarrassing I don’t invite company over. I want to contact my landlord but wanted to see what advice I can get before I do so. I also have been told that the landlord is aware of it and tried to get it cleaned but the sewage people refuse to go into the basement because it is so desgusting. What can I do?
September 11th, 2006 at 2:46 pm
a military clause isn’t going to help you in this situation. it was meant for when troops deploy or move from one base to another. my husband is military and i’m also a leasing agent for an apartment community so i have lots of knowledge of this. check with base legal and they will go over your lease with you and see what can and can’t be done.
September 11th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
That is absolutely dumb. I agree that there are moron landlords out there, but it is more apparent everyday that the residents are even worse. Read your lease. That is what I would go by. Not what Joe Bob’s Uncle told you.
September 11th, 2006 at 3:55 pm
None. You are responsible for what you signed. Find a sublessor or plan on paying for the unit. Work situations do not void a lease!
September 11th, 2006 at 4:26 pm
since you are military you have a lot more options. go to base legal and they will help you figure out how to deal with this!
September 11th, 2006 at 4:34 pm
no it won’t work for her since they aren’t married. He will be released from the lease but she is stuck unless they have her name taken off the lease before he turns in his notice to vacate the apartment
September 12th, 2006 at 5:24 am
me and my husband just sign a one year lease in may 2006. and in aug 2006, we got some papers on the landlord to were they are forecloseing on him. we are trying to get out of our lease, we dont know how to go about it, we live in ohio,kenton. if this tells you anything,my e-mail address is dcb@alltel.net if anyone knows how to do this please let us know.thank you.
September 12th, 2006 at 11:20 am
I have signed a lease 6 months ago and I have mice in my apartment what do I do.
September 12th, 2006 at 11:58 am
hi, we were out of hot water for almost 4 weeks, it is really pain. We want to break the lease with the manager, do u need to provide some document to support us?
thanks!
September 12th, 2006 at 2:13 pm
I work in a leasing office and I would tell you to call there home office and tell them about your outlets. Tell them that you are leaving and you are not paying anything for the lease break fee. I would have an attorney on the side and let them know that! That is not right.
September 12th, 2006 at 4:53 pm
I had to move from my apt and made friends with the business manager. He allowed me to move and put my apt at the top of the vacancy list so that I owed a minimal amount of money.
September 12th, 2006 at 9:21 pm
Sometimes the employer will pay for you to be released from the contract. Not many do this but just a thought.
September 13th, 2006 at 10:37 am
I signed a 1-year lease about 2 weeks ago. There was still a tenant in the apartment when I looked at it. They told me that the tenant was messy, so to picture the place with new paint, clean carpets, and without his stuff. The day before I moved in, I called to see if it was ready and they kept telling me they had to check it and to call back later, until finally the office was closed for the day and I never got an answer.
I showed up the next day with my moving truck and the office was swamped. They gave me my keys and assigned parking space and that was it. No time for a walkthrough with me at that time. I went up there and the place smelled badly like cigarette smoke, the carpets were disgusting, and there was no fridge (I was told the one that was there would stay). I had all of my stuff waiting in the truck, so I had to at least move it in, and figured I’d deal with it later when they weren’t so busy, so I vacuumed and bought some air fresheners. That has made is a little better, but I’m still sneezing and the place still has a smoke odor, which as a nonsmoker is very irritating.
When I finally got a chance to talk to management, they told me that the carpets had been cleaned. When I showed them the condition and the garbage bag full of dirt and dust I had vacuumed out of it, they told me they were invoiced for it, but they weren’t going to pay it. I asked them to have the company redo it because it really needed shampooed. Haven’t heard anything back on that yet. Plus, I have 2 girls who are horrible chain smokers living below me. They sit on their balcony all day from 11 a.m. until after I go to bed at night and smoke, one after the other, so I cannot open either of my windows to help air the place out. The smell still comes through even with the closed windows.
To top it all off, there is so much dirt and dust all over the place that it grosses me out. The tub and sinks were spotless and there was fresh paint, but it appeared to me that they never finished cleaning the place before I moved in. I literally threw up when I went to clean off one of the top shelves in the closet because it was covered in so much mold and other gross stuff. The management still claims that this place had been cleaned before I moved in.
My deadbolt also doesn’t work because the door frame is all bent up, so I submitted a request for that. They keep telling me all work is done within 24 hours of a request being submitted so they’ll check into why it isn’t fixed yet, but it still isn’t fixed.
They offered to let me move to another apartment, but the cheapest one they have left is $350/mo more than I am paying now, and I’m already paying a lot, so I just can’t afford it.
Am I stuck in this dirty apartment? I don’t really want out of my lease. I love the location and the more expensive apartments that I looked at were all clean and nice. It’s just that mine was half done and is very gross. Does anyone know what options I have to make them clean it or move me for the same rent?
September 13th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Most likely your son and his girlfriend had to sign a concession agreement stating that they agreed to a 12 month term. If they do not fulfill the 12 months upon breaking the lease, they will owe the three months that came free. Double check with the complex b/c that is common with apartment communities.
September 13th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
I am a single mother of two, my children and I moved into this Iowa apartment 7 months ago. My son has been taunted and physically hurt by other children 10 times atleast! I am affaid to let my children go outside and play! My son was chased a mile up the street by another child threatening to hurt him! I have contacted management more than once, I have made a police report in one incident! I do not want my children to have to live in fear and not be able to play outside because they are in physical danger! I just want to break my lease and move, I do not have alot of money to be able to break my lease. Is there away I can do this without having to pay out of my nose??
September 14th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
I work in a leasing office as well and though I would call their corporate office and let them know about the customer service you are experiencing, outlets not working is not sufficient enough to break your lease. The only thing warrenting you to break your lease would be if your apartment was inhabitable or unsafe and even that has to be documented for 30 days. Do not listen to the above person who claims to work in a leasing office because you will just find yourself with a mark on your credit that will follow you for the rest of your life. It is only 1 additional month. Take it as a learning experience for the future.
September 14th, 2006 at 10:51 pm
NEED HELP!!! I was attacked and assaulted in the parking lot of my apartment. Since then, I’m scared to go out. Can I request the management to break the lease?
September 15th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
i’m not sure if you got all of this figured out yet, but i am also looking for a home and was told by my lender that the landlord has to let you out of the lease because you are bettering your situation. I live in Michigan so I’m not sure if it is different from state to state.
September 15th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
check with local laws. things like broken doors - which provide safety - are as serious as hot water and heat. you may be able to hold rent in escrow until the repairs are done (don’t just not pay!)again, review this with local nonprofit legal help
September 15th, 2006 at 2:12 pm
document your efforts to communicate the problem and time it has taken. Do they offer forms or something to communicate those problems? Send certified mail to confirm delivery. If you can document that basic services were not provided then the landlord is failing in his responsibilities.
September 15th, 2006 at 2:13 pm
contact your landlord or property mgmt company and demand pest control. if they do not respond, threaten to hold rent in escrow until they remediate the situation with a professional pest removal business.
September 15th, 2006 at 2:15 pm
check your contract re: subletting. you may find yourself in a situation with 4 people, but with 3 bedrooms that’s not so bad (i.e. a couple would share a room). check if there are limits to the number of occupants in an apartment.
September 15th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
“sewage people refuse to go into the basement because it is so desgusting” that is NO excuse. Hold your landlord to make those repairs, not only is it disgusting but it’s also a health hazard - these people don’t want to go in b/c it’s gross? YOU LIVE THERE. Your landlord is responsible, end of story.
September 15th, 2006 at 2:41 pm
you may have some grounding given that the roommate didn’t pay those bills - basically, were was your money going?! he failed to provide those services over and over again, so there is a pattern of neglect.
He is however right about the ROOM being rented out. When did your bf agree to 2 years? I wonder if that is even enforceable - in commercial real estate yes, but probably not residential. Nor for an oral agreement.
…Chances are your bf said 1, but the owner heard it wrong.
Bear in mind, in an owner occupied property such as this - obligations are different than otherwise. Do a little research on laws regarding oral agreements - sounds like you should be able to move out due to the way he has handled your utilities bills (again, this isn’t rent! so look that up as well)
September 15th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
My roof has been leaking for over a year!!I have been living in the same aprtment complex for the past two years. Over a year ago, our roof started to leak and I have continually asked the property manager to have it repaired. Now, since they have ingnored the problem for so long, the water has been coming down behind the walls and making the carpeting all wet by the wall, also warping the bottom of our furniture. I called the county today and they said they would send a “code officer” out. What else can I do. Im not sure I even want to live here anymore, as I am highly allergic to mold and fear that w/ the roof leaking for over a year, mold is already developed throught the apartment. I feel like I can never get anywhere! Help!
September 16th, 2006 at 8:32 am
what can they do?
September 17th, 2006 at 10:36 am
My boyfriend’s truck window was smashed and his radio, cell phone and satellite radio were stolen. We just signed a 6 month lease in August. What can we do to get out of here before any more of our personal property becomes vandelized??
September 17th, 2006 at 9:59 pm
HELP MY SON JUST MOVED INTO A MOBILE HOME AND NOW ITS THE PARK FROM HELL…RATS, THE PARK MGR NOT OWNERS IS CONSENTLY COMPLAINING ABOUT PEOPLE SPEEDING *THE LIMIT IS 5MPH…HE IS NOT ALLOWED A GRILL OUT, NO PICNIC TABLE, NOTHING OUTSIDE AT ALL. OK NON OF THIS IS IN THE LEASE…AND NEITHER (THE OWNER OR THE PARK MGR SIGNED THE LEASE)….WHAT CAN WE DO?
September 18th, 2006 at 12:52 am
I just moved in to this terrible apartment. I cannot stand bugs and I have to kill at least one spider everyday…tonight, I killed three. Moreover, almost every window does not have a screen on it, therefore to keep any ADDITIONAL bugs out, I simply do not open the windows, which in turn causes me to use my air conditioner more. Yet, there are still spiders in here every single day! Also, the THREE windows in the second bedroom refuse to close and I am forced to put boards on top of them, yet that does not shut them completely. There are wood cockroaches outside of my apartment and I also have mud in my front yard while everyone else has grass! There are several other problems as well. I cannot take this much longer. I have called them several times and that last time the receptionist told me I just have to constantly call to get things done, but I think that is crap! Plus, I have called over and over again and nothing is being done. Is there anything I can do to get out of my lease and more importantly, away from the bugs!?
September 18th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
HI I am having the same problem where I reside so if you get any lead let me know!
September 18th, 2006 at 3:43 pm
Help! My landlord did exactly what was mentioned in this article. She ignored a discrepancy on the water bill and my building with three other tenants had to go without water for 4 days!! That was a few months ago but I had to the housing authority in my state. So can I break the lease on those grounds? Plus, I don’t trust her and have even had to change me locks! what can I do about breaking my lease?
Also, will breaking my lease reflect poorly on my credit with a new apartment?
I have several months left on the lease but I just can’t stand it anymore!
September 19th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
i just signed a 6 month lease with a roomate from hell, i am constantly disrespected by her and she is in an out of our room yes we only have a room, in a house and she brings several dudes in and out a night, having sex in my presence, i am a full time college student and cant have this disturbance and disrespect, what can i do, i also have moved across the street into a dorm room and now am stuck in a lease, my lanlord has been harasing us to move out since day one because this girl my roomate is such a disturbance to the other tenenants i have spoke with my lanlord and she is willing to let only both of us out of the lease what should i do and how can i get out, i havent even lived there more than two weeks
September 20th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
If the original copy of my lease is signed by me but not signed by anyone else..(the two sections on the lease where an agent should have signed are blank) am i still legally bound to the lease agreement?
September 21st, 2006 at 1:58 pm
Help I just moved in to an apartment wth my boyfriend and two roomates from hell we got in a huge fight and I sgned a 6 month lease.The landlord says that I have to pay the full 6 months rent and I am not even living there I am paying rent somewhere else becasue I felt threatened there what can I do to get out?
September 23rd, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Call legal aid or a law school in your area. Most states have laws that allow crime victims to get out of lease. Sometimes it just applied to domestic violence, assualt or rape but check immediately. It’s the easiest way out of a bad apartment with the minimal problems if you can do it right.
September 23rd, 2006 at 6:51 pm
I will tell you right, get in touch with your local health department right away.I know from expierence. I lived in Wisconsin a few years ago and had the same problem with the sewer in my basement. You say you and your fiance fell sick just thinking about it, but you may get sick for real. Raw sewage like that causes Methane Gas poisoning. It can in fact, build up and become combustable just like a natural gas leak. I have been through it. My children and I were e