• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

I need to break my lease for medical reasons.

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

blood_run_grim

Junior Member
Massachusetts

Our apartment smells like smoke. It wasn't this bad when we moved in, I actually didn't notice it. Since the summer started to get hotter, people closed their windows and turned on their A.C.'s and I believe that is why the smoke is bothering us so much now. I have really bad asthma which I thought I had under control until I moved here. I have been having at least two bad attacks a week and have been constantly wheezing. The inside of the heat registers have sticky tar on them and are covered in chunks of dust that smell like smoke. Not to mention that the carpets can't even be called carpeting anymore because they are so worn down, though ever time that I vacuum, the smell gets worse. I don't know what to do, I am going to end up in the hospital and the landlord doesn't seem to care at all and is not willing to do anything. I need to break my lease. I called the board of help and they are going to do an inspection but I don't think that will help. I also made a doctors appointment so I can get a note. I already have a new smoke free place to move into, but we obviously can't afford both. Could someone please help me.
 


juber0

Member
You could argue that the home was unlivable, assuming you gave proper notice to your landlord. However, not sure how well it would go in court.
 

Alaska landlord

Senior Member
Your LL is not responsible for tenants that decide to live in smoking units. You should have researched the apartment building and regulations prior to moving in. If the units are non smoking units and other tenants are smoking inside the units, then the LL needs to enforce his rules and insist that they smoke outside.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I just re-read the OP.
Why would she move in to such a dump, with sticky tar on the a/c (heat) registers and carpet that "...can't even be called carpeting anymore because they are so worn down"?
 

blood_run_grim

Junior Member
First Place

My boyfriend moved in first, I was still in another state finishing school. He does not have asthma, so he didn't notice a problem. It's our first apartment, so we didn't really know what to expect/look for. That is on top of the fact that the apartment didn't have any electricity in it when they showed the place so there were no lights other than the small bit of sun we could see through the windows. I had to use the light from my cell phone to see the bathroom. You could not tell that the carpets were completely shot, and they told us that they just needed to be shampooed and that they would do that before we moved in (which I do not believe they did.) It did not smell like smoke when we moved in, like I said, I believe that it got worse after the summer heat caused people to close their windows. Where I moved from, there was no smoking allowed in buildings and I did not even know that it was legal to smoke inside this building until a couple of weeks after I had been living here. Please do not harshly criticize me because of my inexperience. If someone could please tell me what they would do in my situation I would appreciate it. I have gotten good info so far, but only info that makes me panic a little bit more. Oh and the sticky tar is on the inside of the heat registers (the ones that span the whole wall with a small vent that you can move), I didn't find the source of much of the problem until I accidentally hit the register with the vacuum and the cover came off. You could not have been able to figure it out from looking at it.
 
Last edited:

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top