Breaking Lease?

Question

We were just broken into and had all our electronics stolen. T.V.s Xbox 360, all our games, laptop, etc. We no longer feel safe in this home. There is nothing preventing the robbers from coming back if we buy new stuff. On top of that our bathroom wall is rotting, the lights in the living room and one bedroom no longer work, and there is a hole in the back roof of the house. We have informed the Landlord of this since September. He has been claiming to send his handyman over. The handyman came once and said he had to order some stuff. Never returned. Called again and again. Finally went back to landlord and told him. He called the handyman and he said he would come on the next sunday. He came. Said he forgot and he needed to pick up stuff from the hardware store and he'd be right back. He never returned. We were just robbed and it feels like the last straw. Can we legally break the lease without getting sued or having to pay him the rest of the rent?

Answer 1

Landlord law differ from state to state so you will have to look up the law in your state, but I think you have a pretty good reason to move. The rotting in the bathroom may have mold so if your family has been getting sick you may want to have a mold test completed.

Answer 2

If there's a basis for breaking your lease, it's not the burglary which you experienced. That's not the landlord's fault. I trust you carried renter's insurance to cover your loss.

You are entitled to working lights and a healthy bathroom wall. However, if you intend to attempt to break your lease over non-repair, be prepared to have written documents showing that you contacted the landlord on several occasions and that he has failed to respond. Sounds to me like this is all verbal so far, so I'd recommend sending the landlord a certified return receipt letter stating the issues which need attention, and then giving appropriate time for the repairs. If he STILL fails to respond, THEN you may have a case for invalidating your lease, but not until then.

Answer 3

These things are usually decided on a case per case basis in court

Will a judge find that either the condition of the place makes it inhabitable, thus landlord is in default of the requirement of habitability, those this is fact sensitive, remember to take allot of pictures, keep a log when you called, when the landlord responds etc
or
the break in makes the place a danger, i would see if the place had been broken into before, what steps are the landlord taking to make the place safe

all this should be in writing to the landlord

Answer 4

I'm going to assume you've put all this in writing to your Landlord right? If you haven't then how on earth do you ever plan on covering your behind if everything was done verbally? In court it becomes your word against your Landlords. First take photographs of all the problems and make copies. Secondly send a letter to your Landlord sent either FedEx or Certified Mail with Return Receipt Requested and list all the problems in writing, document the times the handyman has come out to repair and has left to pick up supplies and never come back to finish the work. Explain that you have just been robbed and you need him to come in and install additional locks and or security into the house as you no longer feel secure, (a LL is obligated to secure your residence) unfortunatley it is your responsibility to carry renters insurance or insurance to protect your belongings so if you plan on replacing the items then you need to get renters insurance so you are covered in case of theft, flood and fire. Give your LL a time frame in which to respond to your request i.e. 14 days from the time he receives the letter. Explain that if everything is not fixed on or before that date then you will be with holding your rent and escrowing it with the courts until all items are repaired. You cannot just with hold rent that will give the landlord all he needs to evict you under the terms of the lease, you will need to speak to the clerk of courts on how to escrow your rent with them until your LL does his part.

In addition, call in the health inspector if you feel that the rotting wall is due to mildew and mold infestation this is a serious health issue.

You are still obligated under the terms of your lease to stay thru the end of it, even if the landlord is a scum bucket and yes you are obligated thru the end of your lease to pay him rent if that's what the termination clause states.

Stop calling your Landlord and start writing your landlord, document all your coversations and if he agrees to ANYTHING including letting you out of your lease GET IT IN WRITING FROM HIM. Tell him you prefer to correspond with him in writing only. If this goes to court you want to show you did everything in your power to get this resolved before you took him to court.

Answer 5

Under the "act" (if you live in Ontario) the landlord is obligated to make all repairs in a timely fashion. If this has been going on for some time, you can approach him/her and state that you wish to break the lease. If this fails, you my apply to the tribunal for a hearing to have the lease dissolved. It's a breach of contract on the landlords behalf.

Answer 6

that's commonly "breach of settlement" damages. meaning the owner might sue you for the expenses they are surely out for this reason of your breach of lease. on the flipside, the regulations of maximum states require the owner to make a sturdy faith attempt to miinimize losses led to by making use of a breach of lease. meaning the owner might desire to take it sluggish to locate a sparkling tenant if a tenant breaks a lease. So, on the severe area, you need to doubtlessly be answerable for the entire lease for something of the lease. on the low area, you need to conceivably be to blame for 0, if the owner can come across a sparkling lease-paying tenant in the present day and for this reason does not lose any lease.

Answer 7

Sorry to hear about the robbery.

The robbery is not a legal reason to break your lease.

The repair issues are seperate from the robbery issue.

You must handle the repair issues per your state's landlord tenant laws.

Answer 8

http://www.landlord.com/legalmain.htm

Check out this web site for landlord laws for the state that you are living in. Sounds like things are a bit fishy with your Landlord.

Answer 9

also call your local building inspector office and see who to report the condition of house to, they will have house inspected and noone can move back into that house till all repairs done