Terminating a lease

ScottGem · Jan 10, 2007, 06:41 AM

The first thing you need to do is document the mold condition and get an estimate of whether it presents a health hazard. You can then take the landlord to court to fix it. If he doesn't, I would think you had grounds to terminate the lease based on unsafe living conditions.

Short of that, if the lease contains an early termination clause, you have to abide by it. The clause doesn't seem absurd to me. The landlord is entitled to protection against someone abandoning the unit.

You can find a link to Oregon law in the sticky at the top of this forum. Unless the ealry termination clause is in violation of Oregon law, then its valid. And since you signed the lease, you agreed to it.

Fr_Chuck · Jan 10, 2007, 06:54 AM

First if you believe the 1025 is absurd why did you ever sign the legal agreement. If you did not agree, before you sign is when you need to make a deal or find another rental.
And as a person who owns rentals, I have a lot of costs when someone leaves, and I am counting on their rent month to pay various bills.

As for the mold, Scott Gem has it on the head,

Burt S · Jan 10, 2007, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ehrly1313

I am trying to terminate my year-long lease. I have many, many complaints about the apartment, but two of my most major ones are: the company has not cleaned up a mold problem I informed them about over a week ago and they are continually harassing us about owning a dog - threatening eviction - when we do not own a dog. The lease does not give a specific time period in which the landlord has to fix problems, it only says "within a reasonable period of time"

The lease states that upon termination of the contract, we must pay rent plus an extra $1025 to cover advertising and re-rental costs. To me, this seems absurd and I am ready to simply give my 30 days notice and walk away.

Do I have any legal rights in this situation. I do not want to end up in an even worse situation by not paying, but also cannot afford that amount. I am in Oregon.

I am an attorney in New York, so I do not know specific Oregon provisions. If the mold in your apartment is severe enough to be a health hazard, it may be grounds to break the lease on the basis of "constructive eviction". Residential leases are usually deemed to include a "warranty of habitability" meaning that the premises must be safe and fit for occupancy. In order to utilize the defense of constructive eviction, you must notify the landlord in writing of the mold condition, give an opportunity to the landlord to cure the condition and vacate the premises if the condition is not remedied. If you stay in possession, you cannot break the lease. If the mold condition, is not serious enough to render the apartment uninhabitable, you may be able to offset a portion of the rent if you can convince the judge in landlord/tenant court that the condition made a certain percentage of the space unusable. You are also entitled to "quiet enjoyment" of the premises. This means that as long as you are not in breach of the lease, the Landlord cannot harass you or interfere with your use and occupancy. Making false accusations against you of harboring a pet in violation of the lease, would be a breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment. If you need further info, just holler.

Terminating a lease

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