CO - breaking lease for incomplete renovations

[jage]

What is the name of your state? Colorado

We signed a 6 month lease in December starting in January 08 for a property in Northglenn. The management company promised several things would be done and since the property had not been lived in by tenants or owned by the owner issues were expected.

The agreed work was not finished and the management company has started lying to us (based on things we've heard from the vendors) and are starting to be wishy washy about the repairs.

The two main issues are currently that the second bathroom shower has no door or curtain, and we were told it would be "finished" by the time we moved in. The bathroom remodel is in exactly the same state as it was when I told it would be "finished", ergo nothing has been done.

The same bathroom also has no hot water. The house suffers from low pressure all over (due to iron pipes) but the one faucet in the second bathroom has only a drip.

Based on these two things the second bathroom is essentially a functional toilet and nothing more.

The second major thing is the window coverings for the basement were ordered and then cancelled. The window coverings that were used on 50% of the basement windows were pulled out of the trash (as evidenced by the other 50% still being in the trash but buried or soiled beyond use) and dthe other 50% of the windows left without coverings.

There are about a dozen other things, some of which are theoretically in process some of which haven't even been discussed.

My question is this- can we break our lease? Legally what do we have to do to break it properly, get our security deposit back, not damage our credit etc.?

It will be a full month next week and I'd like to know what action I can take before paying the next months rent.

Thanks!
Jeremiah

 

[Wyldrush]

Best thing to do is goto a local attorney and probably cost you around $125-$250bucks and have them write a 7 day to terminate letter based on your complaints or to have everything fixed .

A local attorney is your best bet if you want to safely get out of your lease this way if they try to sue and take you to court you have the attorney who helped you out in the beginning.

 

[LindaP777]

Best thing to do is goto a local attorney and probably cost you around $125-$250bucks and have them write a 7 day to terminate letter based on your complaints or to have everything fixed .

Bad advice. You can not terminate your lease simply because a lawyer writes a letter! And you can write a letter yourself. Document every legitimate repair needed. Send it to the LL certified, return receipt requested.

 

[COlandlord]

Nothing in the post suggests that a constructive eviction is warranted.

1. You were aware at move in that there was issues yet you still signed a lease.
2. From what I can gather from the post, there is two bathrooms. One is fully functional, the other one is not due to no hot water.
3. Lack of shower door or curtain: Did your lease provide for a curtain on the shower. Every place I have ever lived/managed the tenant provides the shower curtains.
4. Window Coverings. Were you promised new? Used window coverings are not a reason to break a lease. Missing window coverings: You state this is in a basement: By code, window coverings may not be required if they aren't needed for privacy.

I would suggest writting a certified letter requesting items to be fixed or a time line on when you can expect to have these issues corrected. If they aren't corrected, give the proper notice at the end of your lease and be thankful you only signed a 6 month lease.

Always Remember: Promises are only as good as the paper it is written on!

 

[jage]

Bad advice. You can not terminate your lease simply because a lawyer writes a letter! And you can write a letter yourself. Document every legitimate repair needed. Send it to the LL certified, return receipt requested.

Right, but then what? I've already got documented responses for 90% of the issues.

They pay a vendor in full then assume the work is/will be done, and don't know otherwise (so they claim) until we call again saying it wasn't. They've paid up to 3 vendors to complete one task and it's still not done. I can't change their bad management style, so I'm unclear what a letter will do for me, apart from having something to bring to court to defend my decision to break the lease and leave.

So, again, a certified letter then what?

Thanks!

 

[Who's Liable?]

Than you write ANOTHER letter, send it CRR to the management company. In the letter you state WHEN you are leaving, WHY you are leaving, and HOW they can get ahold of you for return of your deposits. Be sure to cite ALL dates repairs were supposedly made, and how it failed.

 

[COlandlord]

Quit giving bad advise...which of the posters issues would constitue a Constructive Eviction? None!

You could request anything you want...if it doesn't get done, it does not give you the legal right to end your lease. Your only hope is that the owner will want to keep a good resident and make the repairs requested.

You are not living in hazardous or unsafe conditions, you can not claim Constructive Eviction and leave, regardless of the "promises" that were made. Do Not take the advice of these posters..contact a local Tenant Landlord Agency for the truth...especially since it's your credit that is going to be damaged.

 

[jage]

So as a landlord if I lease property I can make promises to the renovation and upgrading of items, the completion of items, the number of intended bathrooms and then if a tenant signs a lease I can just shrug and say, "Tough s***, it's your credit."? Remind me not to rent from you.

The basement bathroom is crappy. I've got no complaints about that, or I should say I realize I have no right to complain about the crappyness of the bathroom. But it is also not complete. The sink doesn't work and the shower isn't finished. It isn't usable as a 2nd bathroom, unless you're the sort to not wash up after visiting the toilet. Actually you can take a shower too if you don't mind a standing inch of water on the bathroom floor afterwards.

The management company has stopped communicating with us. They've turned defensive and are now lying about past events. It looks like I've got two choices, leave and try to defend my decision/right to get out in court or give up and live with the problems until the lease is up.

It just seems so lose-lose that way. We only have a 6-month lease and were originally planning to re-up for at least a year (mostly the intent was to get off of the Dec-Dec lease) but now it looks like an out in 5 months and then they get to deal with someone new, and still have all the issues. It costs them more and costs us more (moving expenses) to have it go this way, but if they won't talk to us I'm not sure what else I can do. Any advice beyond the two options?

 

[FarmerJ]

does your city/ county have a building inspections desk? if so use it , ask questions, the water not working properly is a big one to ask. MOST places I know of wont care if theres one or 2 bathrooms, they would send some one out and write repair orders. Many local govts often enact very specific ords addressing things that a state might not. Keep all communications with the LL in writting sent via delivery confirmation , NO phone calling for anything, you want to have a paper trail for any issue you have to bring up , ALSO take pics of things now that are in poor shape so you have proof of the conditions at the time you sent the complaints out. BTW if a inspector comes out and cites your LL with work orders dont expect your LL to be very happy. Plan for moving out at the end of the lease giving what ever notice the lease calls for. UNLESS the LL refuses to make repairs and ends up being so stubborn that the inspections desk ends up condemning the unit. IF that happens you want a copy of the order for your own records.

 

[HomeGuru]

Quit giving bad advise...which of the posters issues would constitue a Constructive Eviction? None!

You could request anything you want...if it doesn't get done, it does not give you the legal right to end your lease. Your only hope is that the owner will want to keep a good resident and make the repairs requested.

You are not living in hazardous or unsafe conditions, you can not claim Constructive Eviction and leave, regardless of the "promises" that were made. Do Not take the advice of these posters..contact a local Tenant Landlord Agency for the truth...especially since it's your credit that is going to be damaged.

***A: who are you addressing your post to?

 

[COlandlord]

Than you write ANOTHER letter, send it CRR to the management company. In the letter you state WHEN you are leaving, WHY you are leaving, and HOW they can get ahold of you for return of your deposits. Be sure to cite ALL dates repairs were supposedly made, and how it failed.
Yesterday 03:36 PM


Sorry...I was replying to the above statement.

Jage...Most landlords will come thru on promises made...my point is that verbal promises won't hold up in a court of law so you always need to get things in writting prior to signing the lease.

 

[Who's Liable?]

Quit giving bad advise...which of the posters issues would constitue a Constructive Eviction? None!

You could request anything you want...if it doesn't get done, it does not give you the legal right to end your lease. Your only hope is that the owner will want to keep a good resident and make the repairs requested.

You are not living in hazardous or unsafe conditions, you can not claim Constructive Eviction and leave, regardless of the "promises" that were made. Do Not take the advice of these posters..contact a local Tenant Landlord Agency for the truth...especially since it's your credit that is going to be damaged.

Are you an idiot? OF COURSE a tenant can leave(if they followed the LL/T laws of their state to the letter) IF the rental unit is NOT as promised in their lease! A LL CANNOT promise certain items than decide not to include those once a lease is signed. Why you ask, BECAUSE THE LL IS FAILING TO UPHOLD THE TERMS OF HIS OWN LEASE! Therefore the LL is in violation of his OWN LEASE!
Failure to provide hot water IS a legal reason to terminate a lease. All a house inspector has to do is deem the house in violation of local building codes(which CAN include failure to provide adequate hot water) which would therefore release the tenant from their current lease. They would need to pay for the time they were living in the unit, but would NOT be financially responsible for the remainder of their lease.

Most landlords will come thru on promises made.

You MUST be a LL... this is the biggest load of crap i've read all day. If MOST LLs came through on their promises, than this LL/T forum would NOT be here, and I wouldn't be wasting my time responding to your idiotic post.

especially since it's your credit that is going to be damaged.

Getting "evicted" does NOT go on your credit report.

 

[Hot Topic]

Good grief! I used to ride my horse through the fields of what eventually became Northglenn. My late mother regretted selling our house there for years.

Sorry, but the fact that the shower has no door or curtain is a no issue issue. If you buy a curtain made of the right material and position it properly, your bathroom floor shouldn't be a pond after each shower.

 

[COlandlord]

Before calling names, Whos Liable, please re read the post.
1. The promises were not in writting...all verbal...she would have to prove against the word of the landlord that these promises were made.
2. The post does not suggest that there is no hot water in the house....only in a basement bathroom....in Colorado this DOES NOt constitute a constructive eviction

3. Telling a Tenant to write a letter and let the landlord know they are leaving and when..is not following the Tenant Landlord Laws of this state.

4. If the tenant feels they need to leave they should contact a lawyer who will walk them thru the LEGAL process....it is not clear cut or as easy as you make it out to be.


Hot Topic....I use to ride my horse thru those same fields....we may have shared the same watering hole!