I Have been living in an apartment complex since August of 2004 and had recently signed a new lease for 12 months. Unfortuanaate for me some tenents have moved in and are smokers and due to my history of a quadruple bypass surgery I don't want to be around the second hand smoke.. Since my medical history puts me at a higher risks for complications from secondhand smoke I feel that there is a breech of the common law of peaceful enjoyment due to second hand smoke and the issue of smoking has violated my right to live in a smoke free environment.

I have spoken to the corporate office that owns the apartment complex and was told that I could give a 60 day notice which I have, but they say I must continue to pay the amount of the lease until some one moves in or the lease expires. No other alternative was offered to me.
What are my rights to end this lease agreement?

Sincerely,

Carolyn Ware

Well, unfortunately, unless your lease has some provision that restricts smoking on the property, in the common areas, etc, what they're telling you is probably correct.

It will boil down to what your lease says and what your state landlord / tenant law states. There's a "sticky" at the top of this forum with a link to each state's laws.