How canIget out of my lease if my condo has flooded 4 times with sewage water?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
How canIget out of my lease if my condo has flooded 4 times with sewage water?
My landlord has hired plumbers to snake the drain. The Association of the complex is now taking care of a plumber coming in. I have had to wait up to a week for plumber to come. This is the 4th flood and it is so bad the carpet is saturated and sewage is seeping through the bathroom tiles. The village informed the landlord that he is in violation of not having a rental license. My landlord is now angry with me. Can I get out of my lease due to the unit being inhabitable? Or because my landlord does not have a rental lease? Or is there any other option?
Asked on September 12, 2011 under Real Estate Law, Illinois
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
You need to carefully read your written lease with your landlord for the rented property in that its terms and conditions control the obligations owed to you by the landlord and vice versa in the absence of conflicting state law. Read the agreement carefully for a basis allowing you to end the lease.
If you are on a month-to-month lease, serve upon your landlord a thirty (30) day termination notice. If you are not then consider having the local health department inspect your rental for habitability issues.
The laws of every state require the landlord to provide safe and habitable rentals to his or her tenants. The sewage back up is a major habitability issue. If the public health department cites the landlord for this, then you will have a much easier time ending your lease due to uninhabitable conditions.
Last option is for the landlord to sign an agreement with you ending the lease as of a certain date.
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.