I live in Florida.I moved into a 2007 town home in April I paid three months in advance.We found this unit has termites,the washers transmission was dead,so landlord replaced it with a 12 year old washer, dryer takes 140 minutes to dry a load of clothes nobody can figure out why but after moving in we discovered a pair of pantyhose on the back of the dryer vent, which shows me there was a problem prior to us renting this place.We notified the landlord immediately upon discovering these issues. 30 days Before the fourth months rent was due I sent an email stating repairs most be done or I would with hold the funds till repairs are complete.Ten days before rent due I sent a certified return receipt letter enclosed with a copy of the rent check and said repairs must be done before I will pay.What are my rights?

You aren't entitled to brand new appliances... just ones that function.

Termites are an issue he deals with... but you never see them and its not usually that obvious they are there as they don't infest the living area. They will destroy the property if left alone long enough. Are you sure its not some other sort of infestation like ants or cockroaches?

You have to allow a reasonable time for repairs before you start playing hardball or you might be found to be the one in violation of the lease... and be held responsible.

You need to check the rules for your county. You can't just withhold rent. You need to follow specific rules about doing so.

smoothy thank you for your response.I have seen the termites and two inspectors have said they are dry wood termites.No I do not have any other infestations just termites, they are in the attic. I understand I'm not entitled to brand new appliances,but 12 years old is kind of sad when I am renting a place that is newer.It is sad for a family to rent and pay a good amount of money for a place then have things go wrong and have a landlord bring in something so old into there property.As a renter you expect a place this new to not have the PROBLEMS this place has. There are several other issues I am not mentioning.Just very sad I have never had a landlord like this one.I should be able to break the lease without penalty because it is month 4 and only till I am holding rent our they trying to do something.If a landlord doesn't care about their investment why should his tenants?

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Originally Posted by sadflrenter

smoothy thank you for your response.I have seen the termites and two inspectors have said they are dry wood termites.No I do not have any other infestations just termites, they are in the attic. I understand I'm not entitled to brand new appliances,but 12 years old is kinda sad when I am renting a place that is newer.It is sad for a family to rent and pay a good amount of money for a place then have things go wrong and have a landlord bring in something so old into there property.As a renter you expect a place this new to not have the PROBLEMS this place has. There are several other issues I am not mentioning.Just very sad I have never had a landlord like this one.I should be able to break the lease without penalty due to the fact that it is month 4 and only till I am holding rent our they trying to do something.If a landlord doesn't care about their investment why should his tenants?

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Well, as you see... what you might expect is not always what you might be entitled to. I understand what you are saying, and how you feel... but the law is what the law is.

How obvious is the termite infestation? Inside the living quarters area?

I don't see the termites to be a renter issue, unless they are making the stairs unsafe or some other issue, perhaps door falling off. You told him, if he does not want to fix it to save the home, it really is not an issue you can or should do anything about.

As for as the washer and dryer, first are the promised in the rental. And if they work, although not to your satisfaction there may be little you can do, expect buy your own if you wish to have better.

Items do at times get in the exhaust, and can also take more time if not wired properly or if a element is out.

As has been said... breaking a lease isn't easy, and can only be done in certain specific circumstances... or the penalties can be high. And withholding rent on a minor issue can be viewed as a breach of lease. You could end up evicted and still liable for the entire amount for the remainder of the lease if he can't find a new tenant.

If you have to crawl in the attic to even find the termites... no court in the country will side with you on a breach. Now cockroaches running all over the kitchen when the lights are on is different. Or Mice... etc... and even then only if they aren't making a reasonable attempt to control them.

Thank you all for your information .smoothy The termites have their infestation/ colony in the attic. I have had the termites inside the home itself.I have to protect my furniture. I own my stuff and not want to take any pest with me when we move.The landlord has had a appliance repair man come out on several occasions with no luck in repairing the problem ,the last tenants had pantyhose on the back of the dryer so they had to know there is a problem & they shouldn't be able to rent this place with a dryer that is unable to work properly this is wearing out our clothes prematurely also costing more in our electric again NOT FAIR.
Smoothy I have tried every thing I could to get the repairs done .I am a good tenant I did not want it to come to this but I can't live in a place with wood damaging pest.I pay good money to live here and should not be breaching the lease in my opinion they are by not having the appliances in good working condition and the home free of bugs.I am not paying this amount of money for a dumpy place where you would expect to have some problems.You get what you pay for but looks can be deceiving I feel like it's like a bait and switch was played on my family.My rent is ready to be paid and is in a bank account set up as an escrow type account so there is no disputing I have the funds and am more then willing to pay I gave ample time for then to take action I felt this was our only option .
Fr_chuck thank you for your information We were told by the repairman if we replace the dryer it would still do the same thing we had vent company come out and said there is very little lint in the outside exhaust so the repairman came out again and says the dryer is working fine must be the exhaust line so he took a leaf blower and blew through the vent from inside the house and nothing there is hardly any lint on the dryer lint vent I have done laundry for many years and have always had lint on 99% of the loads I've dried but with this dryer we can wash ten loads and still have just a tiny bit of lint on the lint vent on the machine itself so that is not working properly not just to my satisfaction .I appreciate all your help thank you again.

The problem here is that a landlord needs to provide a habitable residence. A termite colony in the attic (are you sure? Colonies are generally in the ground and evidence is of them exists on ground levels) and a poorly working dryer do not present an uninhabitable condition.

On the other hand, you rented a place assuming a working dryer. So I would check with the local housing court on what you need to do to prove a breach of lease. Florida is the worst state to try and get out of a lease.

As Scott mentioned... I was trying to establish clearly the extent of open of obvious infestation... key is habitable. If you had to go looking for them to find them is far different than having a parade of say army ants through the center of your living room and kitchen 24 hours a day.

I understand its disconcerting... but since they are not swarming in the living areas (they don't swarm, it's a figure of speech) its really not an legitimate excuse to withhold rent or break a lease.

But the law is what it is... you can't break a lease given what you have described.