Hello,
Myself and my roommates lease an apartment from our landlord. The building we live in is brand new and we are the first tenets to live in the apartment. There are two apartments in the second story. The landlord also has an office/bar/living area in the front of the building, also on the second floor, right next to our apartment. Landlord also has a garage right beneath our apartment, which he uses to house his trucks and various ATVs, motorcycles, four-wheelers etc. Myself and my roomates, along with the other apartment are all college students. It has become a problem because the landlord causes disturbances that make it difficult to study/sleep. He plays music during all hours of the night, has parties that last till the early morning hours, the garage door literally shakes the entire building when he raises and lowers it in the early morning hours, rides ATVs through the adjacent lot, ties a dog outside that barks all day, drives his work trucks through the garage which is very noisy. We have confronted our landlord about the noise and disturbances and have even told him we wanted to move out early. He denies that we can break the lease early. Is there anyway we can break this lease early? It seems like there are grounds for the lease to be broken. Where do I go from here, what steps should be taken to break this lease? The disturbances are interfering with our daily life. Should legal action be taken, and does this violate the covenant of quiet enjoyment? Any help would be greatly appreciated!! PLEASEEEE!!


Also it says in the lease "...loud or disturbing noises or conduct will be permitted in said unit or on the premises.."

I hope this helps! Thanks so much

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by acdst2pa-s

Should legal action be taken, and does this violate the covenant of quiet enjoyment?

---

Hello a:

I think you SHOULD, and I think it DOES.

You might begin by putting your demands down in a letter sent certified, return receipt requested, citing the particular covenant you mentioned. Tell him further, that if the noise continues, you will vacate the premises due to his breach having "constructively" evicted you.

excon

Are you in a municipality? There may be local codes to review. There could be provisions in your state's law to consult. What state? Are you documenting the disturbances? Are you recording your efforts to resolve the problems? Does your lease provide for the 'peaceful enjoyment' of the premises? I believe you need to anticipate a law suit from the landlord, and you must be able to prove the landlord failed to provide 'peaceful enjoyment'. I would call the police about the dog, and any other potential zoning violations (noise, etc.) provided you are in an area where there are police.

Here's my problem with your situation. Before you signed the lease, you inspected the premises. You should have noted that you would be living over a bar and a garage. These should have been warning signs that the place would be noisy.

Because of that, I tend to doubt if a judge will deem this enough to break the lease.

If the landlord will not let you out of the lease, you may need to sublet or find replacement tenants.

What I would recommend is that you send him a letter stating that his activities are creating interference with your lives. And that if he doesn't respect your right to some quiet, you will give notice of termination of the lease. The next time he creates a disturbance, send another letter giving 30 days notice that you are termninating the lease for cause.

You then move out within that time. He will then decide to sue you or not. He will almost certainly keep your deposit. If he sues, you can tell the judge why you moved. Whether the judge allows that or not, I don't know. Its very iffy for the reasons I mentioned earlier.

Thanks everyone for your help.. the fact is we really didn't know what we were getting into when we moved in, and at that time we had no where else to go. Thanks everyone for your suggestions, it is just hard being a full time student and having to deal with worrying about finding a place to live. Thanks again

Ps. The bar was installed in the landlords living room after we moved in, he assured us that the thick insulation would keep it quiet and warm... lets just say the walls are paper thin and we hear every conversation haha

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by acdst2pa-s

..the fact is we really didnt know what we were getting into when we moved in, and at that time we had no where else to go. Thanks everyone for your suggestions, it is just hard being a full time student and having to deal with worrying about finding a place to live....

---

I had the same experience as a college student when moving into an apartment. We found the library useful.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by acdst2pa-s

ps. the bar was installed in the landlords living room after we moved in, he assured us that the thick insulation would keep it quiet and warm...lets just say the walls are paper thin and we hear every conversation haha

---

Are you saying this is a home bar or a public bar? A public bar needs licensing etc. The State Liquor authority will come down hard on him if he's operating an unlicensed bar, so you can use that as leverage.

If you have proof that the bar was added afterwards and that he claimed sound insutlation would be sufficient, that could give you grounds for breaking the lease.