I have spent two months at a new apartment complex. I have a 12 month lease and the landlord pays for water, trash, and sewer. My problem is that ever since I have moved here the landlord has turned off our water a total of 8 times for the duration of 3-6 hours. Once we were without water for 2 days. Everyone in my building has complained and they have said that there were broken pipes to replace or a crack in a pipe that needed work as their excuses. However, half the time there is no sign of workers or anything being done to any pipes.

I'm tired of their excuses and not knowing whether I'll have water when I wake up. Is he breaking the lease by not providing water? Isn't there something that can be done?

How can I break my lease without penalties?

You can't move without the lease being terminated. What you need to do is contact your attorney general tenants rights dept. or state or county board for landlord/tenant disputes. It is likely that you will be required to finish out your lease under certain terms. These terms would require your landlord to responsibly fix what is not working and if not after a certain period you may be excused from your lease.

This is the type of issue that would definitely be open to interpretation by a judge. You'd definitely have reasons to attempt to get out of your lease, but if you break it and they decide to come after you (or if you need to go after them after you break it and they don't return your deposit, etc.) it would come down to who presents the strongest case in court.

I'd say carefully read the wording in your lease as well as your state's landlord/tenant property code. (There's a link for each state in a sticky at the top of this forum.) You just have to weigh out what's likely to happen if you stay and what's likely to happen if you leave and break your lease and try to make the best, informed decision.

Have you given them a written complaint about the issue? I'd definitely recommend a paper trail. If you can show that you've protested, in writing, and the problem persisted it at least gives your case a little more weight.

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Originally Posted by MsMewiththat

You can't move without the lease being terminated. What you need to do is contact your attorney general tenants rights dept. or state or county board for landlord/tenant disputes. It is likely that you will be required to finish out your lease under certain terms. These terms would require your landlord to responsibly fix what is not working and if not after a certain period of time you may be excused from your lease.

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I'm sorry but this is not accurate legal advice - if it is unhabitable, it is unhabitable. Landlord does not have to excuse the OP from the lease.

If OP takes the steps required by his/her State to put the landlord on notice he/she has every right to leave.

This was just addressed in another thread by Lisa.

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

I'm sorry but this is not accurate legal advice - if it is unhabitable, it is unhabitable. Landlord does not have to excuse the OP from the lease.

If OP takes the steps required by his/her State to put the landlord on notice he/she has every right to leave.

This was just addressed in another thread by Lisa.

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I'm sorry you disagree, however I never stated the excusing from the lease would have to come from the landlord. In addition regardless of unhabitable or not, there is a proper procedure for vacating the premise and my advice to her was the same as the one above that you 100% agreed with and that was to contact the landlord/tenant union and make complaint, follow the proper prcedure and go about it the legal way. Or she will find herself on the wrong end of the issue.

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Originally Posted by MsMewiththat

I'm sorry you disagree, however I never stated the excusing from the lease would have to come from the landlord. In addition regardless of unhabitable or not, their is a proper procedure for vacating the premise and my advice to her was the same as the one above that you 100% agreed with and that was to contact the landlord/tenant union and make complaint, follow the proper prcedure and go about it the legal way. Or she will find herself on the wrong end of the issue.

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If I misunderstood you I apologized. Who did you mean would excuse the OP from the lease if not the landlord?

The landlord/tenant union has nothing to do with this - Lisa (who is an Attorney) just answered pretty much this same question concerning an unhabitable dwelling. Certainly reporting the condition(s) to the local Health Department is an excellent idea but a third party cannot declare this lease void in advance of the tenant moving.

Bottom line - the OP has to notify the landlord, give him/her time to correct the condition and then either move or not move, documenting everything and getting prepared for a Court fight for unpaid rent (if it's a lease) and return of the security deposit.

The party that would excuse her from the lease would be the judge and most likely after giving the landlord time to correct te issue. The OP mentioned that the water is off again and on again. They are aware of the issue and perhaps attempting to correct it... following the law would prevent her from being in the wrong. Contacting the tenant landlord "union"( I use that term in place of proper name) would be the party that could steer her in the right direction for her jurisdiction and based on her circumstances.

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Originally Posted by MsMewiththat

The party that would excuse her from the lease would be the judge and most likely after giving the landlord time to correct te issue. The OP mentioned that the water is off again and on again. They are aware of the issue and perhaps attempting to correct it... following the law would prevent her from being in the wrong. Contacting the tenant landlord "union"( i use that term in place of proper name) would be the party that could steer her in the right direction for her jurisdiction and based on her circumstances.

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Well, we can argue this all night and never agree - you are incorrect. There is no Court that will handle this type of dispute. No Judge is going to rule on this BEFORE someone moves and is or isn't sued. A Judge cannot rule in anticipation of a breach.

If she would sue the landlord to force him to bring the residence up to an inhabitable level she would have to file, watch the case move up the calendar, go to a hearing, wait for the decision - and just what Court would this be in?

She IS following the law if she follows what I have posted.

What Court do you propose would hear this?

Just curious - what is your legal background or experience in real estate law?

If the tenant has trouble getting the landlord to make necessary repairs in the unit, the tenant may use one or more of the following remedies:

File a complaint with the local housing, health, energy or fire inspector - if there is one - and ask that the unit be inspected. If there is no city inspector for the community, write the landlord and request repairs within 14 days. If management fails to make such repairs, the tenant may file a rent escrow action.
Place the full rent in escrow with the court, and ask the court to order the landlord to make repairs.
Sue the landlord in district court under the Tenant's Remedies Act.
Sue in conciliation court or district court for rent abatement (this is the return of part of the rent, or, in extreme cases, all of the rent).
Use the landlord's failure to make necessary repairs as a defense to either the landlord's Eviction Action based on nonpayment of rent, or the landlord's lawsuit for unpaid rent.

I hope this answers your questions, I don't intend to disclose my occupation, education or anything else personal to you. However, thanks for asking.

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Originally Posted by MsMewiththat

If the tenant has trouble getting the landlord to make necessary repairs in the unit, the tenant may use one or more of the following remedies:

File a complaint with the local housing, health, energy or fire inspector - if there is one - and ask that the unit be inspected. If there is no city inspector for the community, write the landlord and request repairs within 14 days. If management fails to make such repairs, the tenant may file a rent escrow action.
Place the full rent in escrow with the court, and ask the court to order the landlord to make repairs.
Sue the landlord in district court under the Tenant’s Remedies Act.
Sue in conciliation court or district court for rent abatement (this is the return of part of the rent, or, in extreme cases, all of the rent).
Use the landlord’s failure to make necessary repairs as a defense to either the landlord’s Eviction Action based on nonpayment of rent, or the landlord’s lawsuit for unpaid rent.

I hope this answers your questions, I don't intend to disclose my occupation, education or anything else personal to you. However, thanks for asking.

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Her question was how to break the lease without penalities -

There may be a Tenant's Remedies Act where you live, but that's not universal. You have to understand that not all localities work the way yors might. Some areas do have housing courts where you can sue a landlord for not making repairs and get a judge to void the lease, Most don't.

The bottom line here is the OP can't just walk out on the lease. They have to prove that the landlord has created an unihabitable condition.

I'm not assuming that at all. However, that was why I suggested she contact her local tenant/landlord type agency and they could steer her correctly. Given the fact that it is working and then not working, although you may be frustrated you still have to handle it accordingly. That was my advise from the very beginning. Not to walk away. Find out what your jurisdiction dictates and get it right so she didn't end up holding the wrong end of the stick.

Hello Mrs:

Landlord tenant law is state specific. For example in my state, and indeed MOST of the west, there is no such thing as putting the rent into escrow. The rent MUST be paid NO MATTER the circumstance.

There ARE procedures for withholding the cost of repairs once a long notification process has taken place. But, if the rent isn't paid, it doesn't matter HOW BAD the landlord is, or what he did to precipitate the withholding of the rent, the tenant will be evicted.

excon