Can I brake my lease or not?

Question

My apartment got flooded by the lady upstairs plumbing leaking into my apartment. My carpet got damage and my clothes got soaked. My renters insurance only provided coverage if my thinks get destroyed by a storm so I got no compensation. I contacted the housing inspector and she gave the apartment manager to dec 6 to get the repairs done and they have every excuse in the book such as we dont have the supplies yet to fix the drywall and change the carpet. Now my master bedroom has mold on the walls , ceiling and closet and my lease doesnt end until May of next year. Should I brake the least and ruin my rental history or try to wait for the repairs or housing inspector to take action? What would you do ? Any legal advise, sugesstions or experinece

Answer 1

Don't break your lease right away, see if you can get your landlord to come down on the price of rent. If not, you would be possibly justified in breaking your lease, and if they tried to fight you on it, take them to small claims court its usually only like a $35 fee to file a claim.

Answer 2

So are you saying that the management company didn't send someone in immediately to extract the water from your carpets and install fans to dry the place out in the mean time? That's the first thing the management company should have done, within the first 24 hours they should have either had their own maintenance crew in using a water extractor or called an emergency response team to do the work, it's covered under their insurance for instances such as this.

Mold, especially black mold, is toxic and can cause serious health problems such as asthma, sinus infections, breathing problems even death. If it goes untreated for an extended period of time the mold can and will spread quickly. they needed to rip out the drywall and install fans to dry it out to prevent and inhibit the growth of black mold. Then they need to send in a company to do tests for the mold to make sure it's either A) eradicated or B) they need to replace most of the drywall inorder to eradicate it.

Call the Heath Department and as to speak to an inspector, have them do a site visit and find out from them if the apartment is uninhabitable, if they deem that it is then they should cite the management company to have it repaired. In the meantime management should either compensate you or pay to relocate you until they have completely cleaned up and repaired everything. If they do not eradicate the mold problem entirely they are setting themselves up for a major lawsuit in the future, the mold will continue to grow will continue to cause health problems on whoever lives there and will damage and destroy any furniture and clothes.

You need to document everything with photos, photograph the damaged ceiling, the mold, the wet soggy carpet use an entire roll and then some. Continue to pay your rent on time, do not give the LL any reason to evict you. Call the health inspector and building code office and have an inspection done.

Find out from the upstairs neighbor if they carry renters insurance and see if you can claim on their insurance. You wont' be able to claim on the LL's insurance that's why you should carry renters insurance but it sucks that your's does not cover water damage, you might want to look into changing your policy to cover this in the future and also covers temporary relocation to another location until the damage is repaired.

Make sure you document everything in writing to the Branch Mgmt office, most management companies have a branch or corporate office you can write and complain to and send copies of the photographs and ask that the items be taken care of within 7 days of receipt of the letter. Send Certified Mail RRR so you have proof they received it. Go over the resident managers head, they only have so much power, you need to go to the Regional Vice President or the Asset Manager or Regional Property Manager.

If after 7 days nothing has been done, your only option is to consult an attorney and have them get you out of your lease. They can and will even look to get you compensated for the damaged items that insurance didn't cover and can get you moving expenses.

Trust me they should move on this issue immediately. I ran an Executive Suites in Florida, after the second hurricane we had flood damage from the upstairs. A team was sent in immediately to extract all the damaged carpet and to tear out all the dry wall three feet up from the floor. Any areas that were "deemed" to have mold were sectioned off with plastic. Two weeks later they came back in and did a mold test to make sure that it wasn't toxic mold. Once confirmed it was ok teams came back in and replaced all the drywall and repainted. It took some time for this to happen, I'd say about a Month and 1/2, but they had to make sure everything was totally dry before drywalling everything back up again.

Good luck

Answer 3

phone the inspector..and tell them of the mould (get the same one as the first time)
you can also sue for your personal property in small claims..

you sue the ..person that did the damage not the building..but name the building as a witness (the building..meaning the property manager or whoever was delegated as the property representive).. so..the owner of the building, and the managements..and the renter..are all named as..respondent
and you are the claimant..

so sue..them..for your personal damages..
the insurance company should have contacted you..on their behalf..


the building/apartment manager..will give you the name of the person renting for the court...
obviously the causee of the damage does not have insurance..otherwise the insurance agent would have contacted you.. so start asking and tell them why..and if they avoid answering you tell them..you will write it down of the refusal..so when you file the claim..you can state they are hostile..and the service of the court can..be simply you ..posting the hearing on the door..or some such thing because they are not co-operating.

now..sub issue..in naming the building in the court action..it is simply the building's (owners/managers etc) resonsibility to itself and other tenants..to be sure they are adequately insured..
you have to name everyone..someone is responsible..and those not responsible know how to get out of the "action".
p.s. take lots of pictures..of the damage..mould etc..
also ask this inspector when he is there if he minds being called in to court as a witness..and he will write some notes of his personal file to this...(you will not see this but they get paid for court time..and they are wonderful witnesses and also can state the health issues with mould)..

Answer 4

Your options depend on the laws in your country/state. Here, there is a process called "constructive eviction" where a tenant may vacate a rental unit that is not fit to live in.

You should first seek the advive of a laywer, however, before taking any action.

Answer 5

If your apartment is uninhabitable through no fault of your own, your lease has been violated and you have the right to move. The bargain of your contract was a place to live. If the landlord cannot provide you that, whether through negligence or not, you have the right to move. In this case, it does sound like your landlord may be negligent and have some liablity for your damages also.

Speak to a local attorney.

Answer 6

Your tenants do no longer ought to go away. they have a signed contract. you are able to have them flow on the proper of the employ, yet no longer previously. With that stated, you are able to grant something like $six hundred for shifting expenditures, plus grant to enable them stay the basically top month there on their protection deposit (or only for loose for one month) to grant them time to maintain funds and locate an section. no count what you grant, you are able to't rigidity them out till they don't pay lease or are doing significant harm to the resources, or violating the employ in besides.