Ask Me Help Desk - Breaking a lease, with 9 months to go.

I just moved to Florida, due to my husband's job, transferring him. We barely had anytime to move so I had to search for apts online! I finally found one in a "gated community" and we are currently living here.... Our lease is up in July '09 and i must say, i hate it here!!!! the GATE never works! it's always held open, by some kind of caution flagging, we are also paying EXTRA for a garage that is connected to our apt, well, when we leave our garage will be closed, and when we get home, it will be wide OPEN. i feel that we are paying extra for ammenities that don't even work half of the time! the air conditioner doesn't blow in our bedroom and on our first day here, we called to tell them that it must be broken, and we were rudely interrupted by someone saying, "no it's not going to work! you have a ceiling fan in the master bedroom". oh my gosh! PEOPLE!! ceiling fans don't produce cold air, they circulate hot air! People are always jumping the fence (when the gate actually works) and breaking into apts. one woman actually had a gun held to her face. It costs 1 months rent here at this complex to break your lease which is $1114 i honestly don't feel i should have to pay when they are not providing a safe environment for my family when that is what they promised in the first place. I have a 2 yr old daughter and she and i are home most of the time alone, and i just don't feel safe. what should i do?

Quote:

Originally Posted by lashley1986

I just moved to Florida, due to my husband's job, transferring him. We barely had anytime to move so I had to search for apts online! I finally found one in a "gated community" and we are currently living here.... Our lease is up in July '09 and i must say, i hate it here!!!! the GATE never works! it's always held open, by some kind of caution flagging, we are also paying EXTRA for a garage that is connected to our apt, well, when we leave our garage will be closed, and when we get home, it will be wide OPEN. i feel that we are paying extra for ammenities that don't even work half of the time! the air conditioner doesn't blow in our bedroom and on our first day here, we called to tell them that it must be broken, and we were rudely interrupted by someone saying, "no it's not going to work! you have a ceiling fan in the master bedroom". oh my gosh! PEOPLE!! ceiling fans don't produce cold air, they circulate hot air! People are always jumping the fence (when the gate actually works) and breaking into apts. one woman actually had a gun held to her face. It costs 1 months rent here at this complex to break your lease which is $1114 i honestly don't feel i should have to pay when they are not providing a safe environment for my family when that is what they promised in the first place. I have a 2 yr old daughter and she and i are home most of the time alone, and i just don't feel safe. what should i do?

Florida is tough on tenants.

Have you been writing the landlord or management company, keeping them current with the problems you've been experiencing and your concerns - ?

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

Florida is tough on tenants.

Have you been writing the landlord or management company, keeping them current with the problems you've been experiencing and your concerns - ?

Yes, there is an official process for doing this. It might even say in your lease what that process is. If it's not detailed in your lease, there's a "sticky" at the top of this forum with a link to each state's LL / tenant laws. It will tell you exactly what the process is, and what your remedies are if the LL doesn't comply.

Typically, it's something like: all requests for repairs must be made in writing. The landlord will have a certain period to make repairs. Then if they don't you must make a 2nd written request, after which the landlord will have XX amount of time to correct the issue. THEN there will be remedies available to you. If your ultimate goal is to move, then I think the more you follow your state's "process", the more the property management is to realize that you know your rights and not come after you.

In Florida if you break your lease the LL can sue you for the entire duration of your lease and doesn't even have to make an attempt to re-rent the apartment in order to mitigate your losses (like is required in other states). So the more you do "right" the greater chance you have of prevailing in a court case and not having to pay the termination fee or worse.

I would imagine your chances of getting your security deposit back without suing them is slim to none.

Make sure if you get them to agree to anything that you get it in writing.

Actually in Florida, getting out of a lease for just one month rent is very cheap, they have very tough laws for tennants.

In Fla is is common not to even let them out and if you break it, they charge you for the full amount of lease.

So document, sent all requests for service in actual mail, keep copies as evidence

There is one point that I disagree on. Since the lease contains a termination clause (consider yourself very lucky it does), then the most the landlord could get in a suit would be that fee plus court fees.

So you do what the others recommended and make your complaints and requests for repairs. Id they don't comply then send them a notice that you will be vacating on x date (at least 30 days notice) due to their faliure to provide a safe and habitable environment.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

There is one point that I disagree on. Since the lease contains a termination clause (consider yourself very lucky it does), then the most the landlord could get in a suit would be that fee plus court fees.
.

I agree with this, as long as everything is done "properly". If you decide at some point to take this termination "offer", make sure you read the lease carefully and get everything in writing. If you don't pay the termination fee it may be seen as breaking the lease and may make the termination clause null & void.