Good day. I live in a lovely 3 story townhouse in Loudoun County, Virginia. The top floor is rented by me, my boyfriend, and our 4 children (3 of whom are only in the home 4 days a month). The bottom floor is rented by my roommate (Alice - not her real name) and her two children (her children are in the home 3 days per week). The middle floor is common area, holding the kitchen, living room, dining room, deck, and study.

The roommate's family and my family are on separate leases directly to the owner of the townhouse. Alice and I were happy roommates for the duration of one 1-year lease, and we signed a second 1-year lease in May of 2006. Our leases begin and end on the same day, as we moved in at the same time. We were strangers before we shared the same house.

I was aware Alice had a past drinking issue, as she was resolving a DUI from before she moved in, but she explained it was just a phase due to it being difficult for her when she was going through her divorce, and although she still drank, it was nothing too scary.

Shortly after the new lease was signed, Alice's drinking went from heavy to terrible. She started literally falling down stairs drunk and not remembering it; cooking late at night, leaving the gas burners on for hours until I found it; having sex on the back deck at 8pm while my son (a young teen) was home and awake; knocking on my door in the middle of the night to invite me to join her and the man du jour (which I had to emphatically decline several times); disturbing my family's sleep; driving to the store after drinking God knows how much, to buy more; and all around making me feel unsafe in my home.

After trying several times to talk to her, she admitted she was an alcoholic. Of course, I was a moron for thinking that admission meant she was going to do anything about it. The final straw came when she, drunk, left the stove on again (3 burners, one under a pan of oil) and I confronted her. We got into a physical fight, because I would not allow her to go upstairs to my bedroom and wake my boyfriend, since it was 1am on a work day. The next day, she called her mother to come and help her sober up, quit her job and went into detox, with plans to go into a 30-day rehab immediately after.

Well, detox happened, rehab didn't, and after 30 days, she is drinking again, as of Friday. I think, as she woke me and my boyfriend up at 5am because "she didn't know if we were home and she got worried" (she had just gotten home). This morning, she woke us at 3:45am, bleeding from several cuts to her face. Apparently, she was cooking (yes at that time of night) and knocked a glass off the counter. While bending over to clean up the mess, she slipped and cut her face on the glass and floor. I, being the nice roomie, and not realizing that she was drinking again, took her to the ER. Once I was there and she had calmed down, I realized she was drinking - drunk.

So.. after this long dissertation, here's the question. How do I either A) get the owner to terminate her lease; or B) get the owner to allow me out of my lease without penalty so my family doesn't have to live with an active alcoholic.

I can't even tell you what it's like to wonder if I'm safe when I sleep, or if I'm going to come home and find her dead.

I have told the landlord of her behavior once she entered detox, and he said that since she was seeking treatment it would all be OK. And that we can't keep her from drinking in her own house. I e-mailed him this morning with pictures of her cut up face and an abbreviated version of the story, and his response was simply that he's glad I took care of her, and then mentioned a vacation he just returned from.

Help. I'm scared, I'm sad, I'm frustrated, and I need to know how I can get out without it costing me an arm and a leg.

Boy, I would worry for the safety of my family as well.
I'm not sure about legal issues, but perhaps your lease agreement mentions the terms of eviction and it is quite possible that your roommate (being so disruptive) will fall into that category.
I would personally speak to your landlord and express your concerns about the stove, your son being present while she's having sex in an area of the home you all share, and the extent of her disruptive behaviors (being loud all house of the night, knocking on your door all hours, asking you to join her in sexual activities, just let it all spill out... Request that if she's not evicted, you would like out of your lease with out sustaining any penalties because by not evicting the drunk, he is not providing you and your family a safe place to live.
You can also check into the tenant/landlord code in your county to gain more information.
Let us know how it goes.
Kae

Hello o:

Yeah, your landlord wants to pretend it's not happening. Uhh, but he can't. It really is his problem. However, if he doesn't take care of it, it's YOUR problem, isn't it?

I suggest your situation falls under a "habitability" issue. No matter what state you're in, your landlord is bound by a "warrantee of habitability". That means, he must supply you with habitable premises. It sounds like yours no longer is, and the landlord is in breach of the lease.

Send him a letter, certified, return receipt requested (better than email). Repeat your allegations, and give him a reasonable time to cure the breach of your lease, (what? 30/60 days?). The letter is to change the conversation from, how was your vacation to, I'M SERIOUS HERE. It also documents the events for posterity.

I think your letter must emphasize the danger your family being put in.

Then if he hasn't fixed it, write him another letter giving him notice due to his breach. Tell him that you'll hold him financially liable for your moving expenses (you can't, but maybe he doesn't know that). You certainly can't be held liable for the balance of your lease. Ok, stranger things have happened. You SHOULDN'T be held liable.

excon

PS> Given your situation, if it gets dangerous, you can move immediately and NOT be held to the lease.

Update. "Alice" is back to her old tricks - people coming and going at all hours, most recently this past Saturday night/Sunday morning, she had a dinner party which began at 3:30AM, and when I went down at 5am to finally ask her to please keep it down as there were 8 people sleeping in the house (6 of them children - my nieces were over), she got loud with me and stated that I was embarrassing her in front of her friends.

I called my landlord today first thing and told him that I was moving, and that I wasn't going to pay the penalty because he failed to provide a safe and quiet home for us, even after being informed.

Of course, in character for him, he said he was at work and he would call me tonight to "talk".

This whole situation is making me physically ill, and is affecting my work, my relationship, and my children. I'll let you know if the landlord tries to make me pay the lease-breaking penalty.

UPDATE:

We moved... and the landlord din't charge us a penalty! Thank you for all your support and suggestions.

While everything is fresh in your mind, write it down. At this point your landlord isn't filing against you. That doesn't mean he won't do it in the future. If Alice stops paying rent, damages the property etc. he may still come back at you. Keep accurate records of warnings you have made to the landlord, date of the hospital visit and anything else you might have. Hopefully this will blow over, but you never know.