Ive become disabled mid-lease and falling into some problems.

[dperry80]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Jersey

Hi.

My/our situation:

We signed a lease agreement with an apartment complex for 1 year
Our unit is on the 3rd floor.
I became disabled due to a vehicle accident during the time of the lease.
They became aware of the disability shortly after due to me not being able to climb the 3 flights of stairs without having major back and neck pain after each climb.
We(my girlfriend and I) have been trying to get the leasing office including the complex manager accomodate my disability.
They agreed to relocate us to the first floor w/ proof of disability.
The manager told us that we:
1. Sign a new lease agreement(1 paper). Which we did because we were told the monthy rent amount would not change, and a new deposit(the original deposit would be forfeited depending on condition of the unit at the time of transfer or be refunded). We were told THE DEPOSIT WOULD BE THE SAME AS WHEN WE INITIALLY MOVED IN ($550-not exact #)*nothing was mentioned about the cond. of the unit having to due with the outcome of the new deposit.
*granted - nothing on on paper we signed stated deposit wouldn't increase due to conditions of unit.(advise from girlfriends mother-lawyer)
2. Need to complete a new application which included a fee($100). Which we did. Outcome-approved of course.
3. Show proper I.D., pay stubs etc. Done.
Paperwork, to my knowledge, is complete.
Okay so here is when it gets a little complicated.
Excuse me while I digress.
As we all know apartment carpet isnt the best and the people who install it couldn't care less about quality of their job in this case and as some of you know when you vacuum over certain spots, especially at the edges, they fray, you lose the actual carpet, and you're left with long thread strands. Well that is what happened to us(2 small spots - about 4 in. x 14in). So I asked the head of maintenance if he could score me a sliver of carpet. He did(most-likely from the same half-assing thief that installed my carpet). I patched it and very nicely might I add. WELL.... the inspection came and we were found to be at fault for the carpet situation and might I also add that the inspector told the head of leasing the apartment was perfect other than that including cleanliness.We were later told this by the head of leasing.
So what has come out of that is them classifying us as being "high risk" and hiking up our deposit for the 1st floor unit to market rate(1 months security deposit set at $1150 - not exact #) and I'm assuming, in this whole complicated ordeal, taking our initial move-in deposit.
Now that we have come to the conclusion that we are SCREWED none-the-less and responsible for coming up with 1. Nov. rent($975) and 2.an $1100 deposit INSTEAD of the $550 we were told, We cant afford the additional $550 within the next month or so. We dont have it and can't get it. Payment arrangement for the extra $550 was attempted but declined. Our tranfer date is set for November 1,2009.
Now my concerns and questions:
1. Aren't they creating/risking a liability upon themselves (i.e. me falling down the stairs etc.) due to their lack of making a reasonable and easy transfer/accomodation?
2. Should we be responsible for the carpet, and even more-so responsible for an extra $550 security deposit when we were told the deposit would be $550 before we went along and signed important papers that locked us in to another year-long lease?
3. Is there a definite way to get out of this(most importantly) and the new lease agreement all together?*remember I cant walk up and down these stairs without my neck and back killing me and remember we have the notes from the doctors.
Or worse case, can we make them move us w/o the additional $550?
They won't let up what-so-ever.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

[BL]

You need to take the lease agreement to a Real estate or landlord tenant lawyer ,or legal aid and have it reviewed .

Lease agreements should spell out the rent and security deposit .

I find it odd that nothing was included in the lease about the SD .

I do not think they should be allowed to charge a higher SD , if in fact your conversation was verbal about it .