[mmatchett]

I rented a house, signed a year lease. The house was being renovated and the landlord told use all of these wonderful things that would be done to the home. For this we agreed to a rent payment of 800 a month. However, the landlord worked for a few weeks and then just stopped coming. For the past three months we have lived in an unfinished home. The water heater has to be relit 3 to 4 times a day.(before baths, washing the dishes, etc.) He told us the first we that he would fix this issue. It took almost a month for him to finish our flooring. The garage is filled with his tools and siding for the house. The new front door is also in the garage. When is it possible to break a lease for breach of contract? The inside of the home was supposed to be finished months ago. And he is still expecting the 800 a month rent.

[JudyKayTee]

You can try to break the lease BUT you cannot amend a written contract by oral agreement. Only what is WRITTEN in your lease is binding on your landlord. Promises do not legally count.

If you do not have use of all of the property which you are leasing (for example, you do not have use of the garage) or the property is unsafe (no front door), then you have grounds to break the lease.

What does the lease say IN WRITING about improvements?

[ballengerb1]

I agree with Judy. Unless your lease directly talks about these repairs and improvements you will not win in court. That is if the LL takes you to court. Ypou might be able to make a case for the home to be not habitable but the ice is thin.

[ScottGem]

Unless the home is not habitable, you probably can't break the lease. What you need to do is document everything. Then send the landlord a letter giving him a reasonable time frame to finish everything. In that letter you state that if the work is not finished, that you will consider him in breach of contract and the lease terminated.