Is there any way I can break my 1 year lease only 2 days after it started if the apartment is uninhabitable?
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Is there any way I can break my 1 year lease only 2 days after it started if the apartment is uninhabitable?
The locks and dead bolts on the apartment doors a near impossible to get unlocked and the front door is hard to open. There is mold under the kitchen sink and on the inside and outside of some of the kitchen cabinets. There are signs of rot in the bathroom floor.There are also, flees, spiders, and other bugs all over the house, including the cabinets. The smell in the apartment is near unbearable.
Asked on August 2, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
Andrew Goldberg
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
Didn't you inspect the property before signing a lease? Wow! Initially, I advise you to take a boat load of photos showing the deplorable conditions. In case you end up in District Court, I'd take 50 photograghs. You can begin to put the montly rent money in an esrow account, not (!) comingled with any other money. Write the landlord a letter and send it regular mail and certified mail. By that letter explain and list the conditions that make the property uninhabitable. Specificall tell the lanlord your putting the monthly rent in an escrow account. Tell the landlord the name of the bank, the address of the bank, and the account number. Tell the landlord you will continue to pay the monthly rental into the escrow account until the conditions are cleaned up or otherwise remedied. Following that, maybe the ladlord will agree to an amicabe, mutual termination of the lease at this early time.
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