Can you break you lease without paying extra or losing your deposit if there is a safety issue?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can you break you lease without paying extra or losing your deposit if there is a safety issue?
I recently had 2 issues (within a month) at my residence where the police were called and I filed a police report. The first time we had something stolen off the porch and wires cut from under my vehicle, which we obviously had to take into the shop to be fixed. Then 2 weeks after that, we had someone hiding out and shooting at us with a BB gun. The cops came out and retrieved the gun, but the person got away. We no longer feel safe living there and want to break our lease to move to a safer area. There are other properties offered by this company but they will not work either.
Asked on September 6, 2011 under Real Estate Law, Louisiana
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Have you had an opportunity to discuss the safety issue with your landlord or the property manager for the unit you are renting? If not, you need to discuss such with him or her and follow up with a written letter in response seeking a written agreement cancelling your lease as a result of the safety concerns and see what results.
If the landlord or the property manager knew that the rented unit was not in a safe area before you rented it and failed to disclose this to you, then you have a possible basis for cancelling the lease in that had you known the true facts as to lack of safety, you never would have entered into the lease.
The facts that you have written about do not show a clear basis for an opinion as to whether you would be able to terminate your lease due to safety concerns and not have to worry about the landlord suing you for the balance owed on your lease if it is more than a month-to-month tenancy.
If you have a "legal aid" program in your county, I suggest that you consult with them for further assistance.
Good luck.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.