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Answered in 2 minutes by:
10/27/2016
barristerinky, Attorney
Category: Landlord-Tenant
Satisfied Customers: 66,684
Experience: Attorney over 21 years, landlord 29 years
VerifiedHello and welcome! My name is ***** ***** I am a licensed attorney who will try my very best to help with your situation or get you to someone who can. There may be a slight delay in my responses as I research statutes or ordinances and type out an answer or reply,but rest assured, I am working on your question.
Have you notified the landlord about the mold?
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Where it is and how big of an area is it?
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Have you notified the landlord in writing about the other habitability issues like the smoke alarm and requested repairs?
.
.
thanks
Barrister
Ok, here is the thing... the problems would have to make the property uninhabitable to allow you to break the lease.. If the place was dirty, that doesn't make it uninhabitable. A lot of black mold would make it uninhabitable. But lots of little irritating things wouldn't. If the plumbing didn't work, or if there was a lot of black mold, or an insect infestation, or electrical problems, or no heat, or the sewer backed up...those things make a property uninhabitable.
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The smoke detector would be a property code violation, but if it is there, just not up on the wall, that is something you could call the local Code Enforcement office about and request an inspection over. They could then cite the owner for any violations and force them to make repairs.
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But based on your comments, I don't think that the problems you described would rise to the level of making the property uninhabitable so as to justify you breaking the lease without repercussions.
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As for the manager entry, common law requires that they give you at least 24 hours notice in advance of any entry. So you can notify them that you are requiring at least 24 hours notice before any entry and if they enter again without proper notice, you will consider it a breach of your rights to "exclusive use and possession" and "quiet enjoyment" that are inherent in every lease and will take legal action for the violations.
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If they then enter again without notice, you would have justification to terminate the lease and vacate and then sue them for breach of contract.
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With that said, if you wanted to just break the lease, you can do so and then the landlord has a legal obligation to mitigate his losses by trying to re-rent the property as soon as possible. Once he does, he could only hold you liable for his actual lost rent. So if it took him a month, he can only charge you for a month's rent.
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But if your only income is disability, that is exempt under federal law. So if you didn't pay and he sued you, he wouldn't be able to garnish your income..
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As an aside, in addition to being an attorney, I have also been a landlord for over 26 years...
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thanks
Barrister
barristerinky, Attorney
Category: Landlord-Tenant
Satisfied Customers: 66,684
Experience: Attorney over 21 years, landlord 29 years
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The responses above are from individual Experts, not JustAnswer. The site and services are provided “as is”. To view the verified credential of an Expert, click on the “Verified” symbol in the Expert’s profile. This site is not for emergency questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals. Please carefully read the Terms of Service.
