I know a couple who wants to break their lease because they feel unsafe. Can they break their lease?

Question

They feel unsafe because their upstairs neighbor works in the oldest profession and literally has random men coming into the apartment complex all the time. Do they have any legal reason to break their lease? They have already contacted their landlord, who is doing nothing about this.

They feel unsafe because their upstairs neighbor works in the oldest profession and literally has random men coming into the apartment complex all the time. Do they have any legal reason to break their lease?

Aside from having a large number of men coming in and out of a gated complex, the neighbor lives upstairs and their is a significant amount of noise.

They have already contacted their landlord, who is doing nothing about this.

Answer 1

Unless the upper causes a problem, there is nothing a LL can do. She can have anybody she wants to visit her, just as you can. Just because your friends dont like the looks of her friends is not an excuse to break a lease. The LL has no grounds to do anything about the upper. No laws have been broken and what the upper does in her own apt is her business. There are laws that the LL has to go by too.

Answer 2

Since we haven't seen the lease, that would be hard to answer.

I would suggest that they put their complaint in writing and keep copies safe. That is neccessary should the landlord attempt to sue over their breaking the lease.

The landlord is usually required to keep the residence in clean a safe condition, though people coming and going would be hard to prove as unsafe.

Usually the lease has a nuisance clause. This would give the landlord power to evict the prostitute, if they wanted to.

If the noise, and with numerous people coming and going there is bound to be noise, is bothersome, file a complaint with the police. This will also give the tenants a record of the nuisance.

If the city has a code enforcement officer, then you could file a complaint for someone conducting a business from a residence. LOL That would go back on the landlord.

Good Luck.

Answer 3

They need to send certified mail to the landlord - complaint letters sent so that the landlord has to sign for them. They should outline in detail the problems with the neighbor, as well as why they feel unsafe. They should send a letter every single time there in an incident. If this is daily, so be it. They should say very clearly that if the problem is not addressed by February 1, 2007, for example, they will be moving out.

They will also need to call the police and file police reports every time something happens.

Then they'll have the proof they need to break their lease - assuming the landlord sues them for breaking it.