Do I have right to terminate my one year apartment lease early (after 5 month) without being penalized (security deposit + early termination fee) for the reason of constant disturbance?

The problem is: the neighbor dog (across the street) is barking at night, as well as during day time. The dog’s owner is an old man, who yells in the middle of the night once in a while. I complained to the apartment manager, but he said that he is not aware of this problem, and this is not his problem (not his property). I also contacted the animal services two times, but they suggested writing a letter from several neighbors with several signatures. I didn’t want to initiate this letter and be a dog killer. I decided to move out, because I could not slip at night, and didn’t fill well at work.

The apartment manager is determined to get money from me. My lease says that in addition to early termination fee and security deposit I have to pay a landlord’s attorney fee if they decide to sue me.

Please, advice what I should do in this situation

If your lease contains an early termination fee and you choose to invoke it then they do not have the right to sue you. If your lease does not contain an early termination fee, but they give you something in writing that says they are charging you an early termination fee, then they do not have the right to sue you. That's because they only thing they could sue you for is the rent for the balance of the lease. But an early termination means that the lease has been terminated, so there isn't any rent due after the termination date.

If the apt. manager is merely telling you that he will charge you an early termination fee, ask him to show you where you agreed to this in writing. If he can't show you proof that you agreed to it then he can't charge you an early termination fee. However, in that case he can sue you for the rent for the balance of the lease term or until the apt. is re-rented, whichever comes first.

Tell the manager that if he tries to sue you, you will file a counterclaim for the return of all rent you previously paid, plus your moving expenses, legal fees and court costs, due to his failure to provide you with quiet enjoyment of the property during the term of your lease.

Very few leases would allow you out for that. YOu can be calling the police for disturbing the peace in the middle of the night

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Originally Posted by LisaB4657

Tell the manager that if he tries to sue you, you will file a counterclaim for the return of all rent you previously paid, plus your moving expenses, legal fees and court costs, due to his failure to provide you with quiet enjoyment of the property during the term of your lease.

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Can you really sue the landlord for failure to provide quiet enjoyment in this case? The dog's not on his property, so what more can he do about the situation that the tenant?

And this lucky poster is in Florida, where, from what I've read here, the landlord has no duty to mitigate the tenant's damages if the tenant leaves early.

So, it looks to me like the tenant is going to be paying whatever the lease says he has to if he wants to leave early.

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Originally Posted by amyxa813

Do I have right to terminate my one year apartment lease early (after 5 month) without being penalized (security deposit + early termination fee) for the reason of constant disturbance?

The problem is: the neighbor dog (across the street) is barking at night, as well as during day time. The dog's owner is an old man, who yells in the middle of the night once in a while. I complained to the apartment manager, but he said that he is not aware of this problem, and this is not his problem (not his property). I also contacted the animal services two times, but they suggested writing a letter from several neighbors with several signatures. I didn't want to initiate this letter and be a dog killer. I decided to move out, because I could not slip at night, and didn't fill well at work.

The apartment manager is determined to get money from me. My lease says that in addition to early termination fee and security deposit I have to pay a landlord's attorney fee if they decide to sue me.

Please, advice what I should do in this situation

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Get legal advice. A letter to the management company threatening a lawsuit to be let out of the lease for cause may convince them that you're serious and it wouldn't be worth the battle to them.

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Originally Posted by froggy7

Can you really sue the landlord for failure to provide quiet enjoyment in this case? The dog's not on his property, so what more can he do about the situation that the tenant?

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She can sue because she complained to the landlord's representative and they didn't even attempt to do anything about it. They could have called the police just as easily. Even sending a letter to the dog owner asking that he control his dog would have been better than refusing to do anything.

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And this lucky poster is in Florida, where, from what I've read here, the landlord has no duty to mitigate the tenant's damages if the tenant leaves early.

So, it looks to me like the tenant is going to be paying whatever the lease says he has to if he wants to leave early.

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Correct, except that the OP says the landlord is threatening to sue her in addition to payment of that early termination fee. The landlord can't do both. If they collect an early termination fee then the lease is terminated and they can't sue for more.

The landlord has no control over something that is not on their property. Therefore you had not grounds for an early termination of your lease. The management company might have offered to assist you getting the police to investigate a disruption of the peace but I don't think they can be sued for not doing so. Or rather that you can win a suit like that.

But neither can they sue you, if the lease has an early termination clause.

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Originally Posted by amyxa813

Do I have right to terminate my one year apartment lease early (after 5 month) without being penalized (security deposit + early termination fee) for the reason of constant disturbance?

The problem is: the neighbor dog (across the street) is barking at night, as well as during day time. The dog’s owner is an old man, who yells in the middle of the night once in a while. I complained to the apartment manager, but he said that he is not aware of this problem, and this is not his problem (not his property). I also contacted the animal services two times, but they suggested writing a letter from several neighbors with several signatures. I didn’t want to initiate this letter and be a dog killer. I decided to move out, because I could not slip at night, and didn’t fill well at work.

The apartment manager is determined to get money from me. My lease says that in addition to early termination fee and security deposit I have to pay a landlord’s attorney fee if they decide to sue me.

Please, advice what I should do in this situation

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Thank you for all your advices. I think my reason is - When I signed the lease, I agreed to pay for a quiet neighborhood. I was promised quiet neighborhood. It was an important part of the agreement. I think this is an obvious part of any rental agreement. Who wants to be disturbed? The landlord didn't follow his promise. I should not be charged for terminating my lease. I have a good reason for early termination without being charged for that.

I have written an objection letter to the landlord. Can somebody look at it and make all the necessary corrections, so the letter looks professional? I can send it as e-mail attachment to somebody's address. I will pay some reasonable fee.

Thank you!

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Originally Posted by amyxa813

Thank you for all your advices. I think my reason is - When I signed the lease, I agreed to pay for a quiet neighborhood. I was promised quiet neighborhood. It was an important part of the agreement. I think this is an obvious part of any rental agreement. Who wants to be disturbed? The landlord didn't follow his promise. I should not be charged for terminating my lease. I have a good reason for early termination without being charged for that.

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All I can say is, good luck. I live in a very nice neighborhood. Met many of the neighbors, and the neighborhood is generally characterized as "a quiet neighborhood". Yet, there are still the occasional parties that you can hear, and there are a couple of dogs in the neighborhood that will bark occasionally, especially if people walk past their house. Just pointing out that the next spot you move to may have exactly the same problem, so you might be better off trying to solve the problem at this spot.

Yes, don't expect to win on the quiet neighbor things, esp if it is not in writing.

If there were things in the complex, that they can control, but on other property, others move in and out, there is no control over possible construction, change in traffic patterns and more.

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Originally Posted by amyxa813

I think my reason is - When I signed the lease, I agreed to pay for a quiet neighborhood. I was promised quiet neighborhood. ... The landlord didn't follow his promise. ... I have a good reason for early termination without being charged for that.

I have written an objection letter to the landlord. Can somebody look at it and make all the necessary corrections, so the letter looks professional? I can send it as e-mail attachment to somebody's address. I will pay some reasonable fee.

Thank you!

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Sorry, but the landlord cannot be held to a promise he has no control over. IF you can prove that the neighbor's dog was a pre-existing problem that the landlord was aware of, you might have a case that the landlord misrepresented the area. Other than that you would have no case, if the landlord sues.

As for your letter, you can attach it to a post here and if anyone wants to help they can look at it.

Please, look at my letter to the landlord and correct if necessary. Thank you.



RE: STATEMENT OF DEPOSIT ACCOUNT

Dear landlord:

I object paying the amount of $1,370.81 to you for the following reasons:

1. $ 495.81 (apartment cleaning fee)
I moved out of the apartment on 11/20/2007. Before I left the apartment I cleaned it thoroughly, leaving it in the same condition as it was when I moved in. I have photographs of the apartment at time I moved out that clearly show that I left the apartment in excellent condition. During our living in the apartment we did not make any damages. In my telephone conversation with apartment manager, Charlie, I asked him not to charge me the cleaning fee, because I was going to clean the apartment myself. My impression was – he agreed with me. I followed my promise and cleaned the apartment perfectly. I was very surprised to find out that I still have to pay cleaning fee. You have no right to charge me for cleaning.

2. $ 850.00 (security/cleaning deposit)
I have lived in the apartment for almost 5 month (7/01/2007 – 11/20/2007) and paid monthly rent of $ 850 every month for 5 month including November. The November rent was paid with my $ 850 security deposit (last month payment).
I object paying additional $ 850 as early termination/cleaning fee, because the reason for early termination was a constant disturbance of quiet and peaceful environment, especially annoying at night. The neighbor’s dog across the street was constantly barking at night during time we lived in this apartment. I have a record of complains to the police and animal services department. The apartment manager ignored the problem, saying that it was not his property.
When I signed the lease, I was promised by the apartment manager a very quiet neighborhood. I agreed to pay $ 850 a month for a quiet and peaceful neighborhood, not for constant disturbance of my night’s sleep (I had to work in the morning). I think I was overcharged. It was too nice of me following my promise to pay monthly rent even the landlord representative was not honest or knowledgeable about the neighborhood in the beginning and misinformed me.
This is a reason why I object paying any charges in addition to what I have already paid.

If you try to sue me, I will file a counterclaim for the return of all rent I previously paid, plus my moving expenses, legal fees and court costs, due to your failure to provide me with quiet enjoyment of the property during the term of my lease and misinforming me by hiding the truth about disturbing neighbor.

You fail to understand that the landlord did provide you with quiet enjoyment of your property... the one you should be suiing is your neighbor with the loud dogs. As I see it, you have no case and using your security deposit for last months rent was a big no no and will hurt you in any court proceedings. Point is YOU broke the lease... not your landlord.

Lill is right here. While most state laws allow the landlord to apply the secuirty deposit, it's the landlord's decision. You can't just decide to not pay your final month (whether you are breaking the lease or not) because the landlord has a deposit. Your not paying the final month will now work against you in court.

Your letter is fine as far as it goes. The problem is that it doesn't have a lot of proof to back it up. You claim you cleaned the apartment and have photographic proof. Did you do a walk through with the apt mgr and get a sign off? Can the pictures be dated (like a current newspaper in the pic)? The landlord is going to get an affadavit or bill from the cleaning company for what they charged, can you counter that?

Do you have any proof that the owner or management of the building was aware of the noise problem from the neighbor? Without that proof, you have no case against them or justification for breaking the lease.

So your letter is making accusations you may not be able to prove. I sympathize with your plight, but I have to advise you of the way this will look in court. Without proof, a judge can't help you.