Can you terminate yourlease due to safety concerns?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can you terminate yourlease due to safety concerns?
My husband and I are trying to terminate our lease because of the fact that we no longer feel safe in the complex where we are located. We signed the lease only 5 months ago and everything was peachy – perfect at first. After a of couple months we started having issues with the smell of marijuana. Not only outside of our apartment but also in our very own bathroom. Also, we no longer feel secure of ourselves but of our property just last week there were what seems 15 police officers in the apartment next door. Would we be able to terminate our lease because of those issues?
Asked on January 3, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Indiana
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Whether or not you are able to terminate your tenancy due to health concerns with respect to crime issues depends primarily upon the fact if the landlord knew that the unit was in a high crime area or not before you signed your lease and did not advise you of this material fact.
If so, then you very well could have a basis for rescinding your lease due to the fact that the landlord failed to disclose to you before you signed the lease of a material fact that could affect one's desire to rent the unit or not, namely high crime.
I suggest that you might consider consulting with a landlord tenant attorney further as to ways to possibly cancel your lease without recourse. One option would be to sub-lease your unit to another person if you want to get out of your lease sooner rather than later.
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.