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Is our lease null and void?

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nitramshere

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Michigan

We are a group of tenants (in separate apartments) whom have been experiencing major problems with our landlord. After reading a pamphlet regarding landlord tenant rights, we noticed that the landlord did not include any of the following in any of our lease's or checklists:

From 554.634 Rental agreement; mandatory statements.

Sec. 4.

(2) A rental agreement shall state in a prominent place in type not smaller than the size of 12-point type, or in legible print with letters not smaller than 1/8 inch, a notice in substantially the following form:

“NOTICE: Michigan law establishes rights and obligations for parties to rental agreements. This agreement is required to comply with the Truth in Renting Act. If you have a question about the interpretation or legality of a provision of this agreement, you may want to seek assistance from a lawyer or other qualified person.”

From 554.608 Inventory checklists.

Sec. 8.

(4) The checklist shall contain the following notice in 12 point boldface type at the top of the first page: “You should complete this checklist, noting the condition of the rental property, and return it to the landlord within 7 days after obtaining possession of the rental unit. You are also entitled to request and receive a copy of the last termination inventory checklist which shows what claims were chargeable to the last prior tenants.”.

One lease does have one paragraph that the rest of us doesn't. It states:

Michigan Governing Laws: This lease shall be construed in accourdance with the laws of the State of Michigan.

There's 11 of us that have been meeting this past week due to the landlords lack of making neccessary repairs in common area's; electrical problems; and a problematic 12th tenant, whom also happens to be a relative of the landlord. He is not returning our phone calls, but he is quick on cashing our rent checks, as well as, submitting a late notice letter to one tenant whom purposely paid late just to get his attention. However, he did not respond to her letter of request she enclosed with the rent check.

What are our options here? We are wanting to break our lease and move because we have had it with the landlord. Does his lack of wording on our lease's making it null and void giving us the legal right to break our lease?

We thank you in advance for your answser.

ps, sorry this is so long
 


MIRAKALES

Senior Member
A mistake or omission in a lease agreement does not automatically make the contract null and void. The process to achieve necessary repairs is to notify LL in writing and allow a set period of time to perform. If repairs are not complete then request inspection from a governmental authority to confirm the violations. That government agency will notify LL of the violations and time limits to complete repairs. If repairs remain incomplete then tenant may be able to terminate the lease legally with a court order. Otherwise, without court order, LL can demand that lease agreement is enforced.
 

nitramshere

Junior Member
One more question, if I may please?

After we mail our letters (by certified mail) how long do we wait for a response from him? The one tenant that did send him a letter (again by certified mail), had sent it on August 15th of this year.

Again, thank you for your time.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
30 days is usually considered reasonable for non-emergent repair requests. What kind of repairs are they? Do they make the unit legally uninhabitable? If so, call the code inspector. If not, read your state laws on repair and deduct and if that is allowed, follow the law TO THE LETTER.
 

nitramshere

Junior Member
Thank you for your response.

The major problem we're having is, all the lights are burnt out in the common area's. When we come in from outside in the evening, we have had to walk along the walls and feel our way to our doors because it's so dark inside the hallways. It's been like this for four months now.

Most of the tenants are low income and they are afraid if they say something they will get evicted. They have no money to move. Those of us that are not low income have been trying to convince them that as long as we stick together, they'll be safe. They all want to do something, just somewhat apprenhensive.

There are a couple other maintenance problems, but they are nothing compared to the common area's.
 

Some Random Guy

Senior Member
all the lights are burnt out in the common area's. When we come in from outside in the evening, we have had to walk along the walls and feel our way to our doors because it's so dark inside the hallways. It's been like this for four months now.
call the city code inspectors, They love to write violations for this kind of thing.
 

nitramshere

Junior Member
call the city code inspectors, They love to write violations for this kind of thing.
Thank you for your response. We made a video last night of what it's like in the common area's. Tomorrow we're going to present the video ourselves to the city building inspectors office.

Thanks again.
 

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