Is material misrepresntation grounds to break a lease?
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Is material misrepresntation grounds to break a lease?
I was living in DC and needed to rent an apartment in Cambridge, MA. I was unable to travel up to Boston to see apartments, so I relied on pictures and information from the building management companies. I signed a lease for an apartment, but when I arrived I found out the building management materially lied about aspects of the apartment
1. I asked via email the size of the apartment. The agent replied it was ‘approximately 700 square feet.’ In reality the apartment is 578 square feet – 20 less than she said. This is in email writing.
2. I was sent pictures of ‘the apartment,’ which had tan drywall walls in email. When I got there, it turns out all of my walls are cinder block The pictures she sent were of a different, unrepresentative apartment. Now I am worried about cold Boston winters and cannot hang any of my pictures I brought with me.
What kind of recourse do I have in this situation in the state of MA? Can I break my lease or get a rent concession?
Asked on July 6, 2016 under Real Estate Law, Massachusetts
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Fraud--or lying about a material (important) fact or facts, to get you to enter into the transaction, and on which representation(s) you reasonably relied--is grounds to void a lease; that is, to get out of the lease. The conditions you describe appear to be fraud, so you would appear to have reasonable grounds to void this lease and get out of it. The matter could be settled between you and the landlord by some rent compensation or other compensation, if the two of you agreed to that.
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