Thread: Early lease termination

I am a tenant at an apartment that is a total mess. I have put in numerous service request that haven't been resolved. Is there anything I can do to get out of my lease??

Anyone can break a lease at anytime, no matter where you live, To protect yourself if you do break the lease, give the landlord as much notice as possible that you are moving. Your landlord has a duty to try to re-rent the apartment.

Well, without a state or county it's hard to given you regional specific information. Each state and county has different laws regarding breach of lease or termination of lease. Why not provide me with the county and state your apartment is located in.

You have to find out the specific way to break your lease based on where you live.

Try googling the state's Fair Housing Authority of the like - whatever the name of the local governmental website is. It will list all of your rights as a tenant and what you will need to do in order to break your lease.

However, the first thing I would do (if you haven't already) is begin taking as detailed as possible notes as far as when and how you have tried to contact your landlord. Written notes will always trump memory in court. I would keep a phone log, email trace, etc. on every piece of communication you can.

Lastly, if you send all of your requests once more in the form of a certified letter proving they received your correspondence and STILL didn't respond, it would work incredibly well in your favor if it ever went to court.

Additionally, it will definitely perk up the ears of your landlord when he sees it has been certified... you may be able to get some traction that way.

I am a Michigan landlord lawyer; your state laws may vary from mine. I would cover yourself this way. Before you up and leave, send a certified and regular mail letter that you will be withholding rent until a,b,c etc ... are taken care of. Give the landlord a reasonable deadline that you will be vacating if the repairs are not remediated (usually this is a month if the habiability issues are not gross safety risks). Then move if your deadline is not met. Documenting yourself with paper is key. Getting a signature acknowledging receipt of your damand letter is golden. Hope this helps. Justin L. Smith.

You can the break your lease anytime.