Horrible Apartment

[trigga1930]

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

I rented an apartment in May of 2013 and paid rent until July 2013. Since then i have withheld rent due to numerous issues with the apartment. From asbestos to water leaks to raccoons and ect list goes on. Now i find out landlord has no certificate of occupancy and has not had one since 2009. The house was vacant since then until 2012. Pipes were removed due to vandals. Well my question is can i break the lease and move out without penalty. Till today bathroom needs repair and rodent feces and ect need to be removed from dining room ceiling and a whole lot more. I was not aware of anything until after i was there a few months and Racoons broke thru my kitchen celing. We kept complaining and she kept saying it squirrel. Either way its a darn RODENT. Inspectors come to the house for the unit next door she doesnt informe me so they can inspect my unit. When I ask her when they are coming back she does not know then the neighbor tell me oh they were just here today. I am tired of the games and tap dancing from my landlord. What can i do??

Can I move out and break my lease??

 

[LdiJ]

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

I rented an apartment in May of 2013 and paid rent until July 2013. Since then i have withheld rent due to numerous issues with the apartment. From asbestos to water leaks to raccoons and ect list goes on. Now i find out landlord has no certificate of occupancy and has not had one since 2009. The house was vacant since then until 2012. Pipes were removed due to vandals. Well my question is can i break the lease and move out without penalty. Till today bathroom needs repair and rodent feces and ect need to be removed from dining room ceiling and a whole lot more.

Can I move out and break my lease??

Call the health department to come and do an inspection...once they declare the house uninhabitable you will be able to move out without a problem.

 

[Proserpina]

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

I rented an apartment in May of 2013 and paid rent until July 2013. Since then i have withheld rent due to numerous issues with the apartment. From asbestos to water leaks to raccoons and ect list goes on. Now i find out landlord has no certificate of occupancy and has not had one since 2009. The house was vacant since then until 2012. Pipes were removed due to vandals. Well my question is can i break the lease and move out without penalty. Till today bathroom needs repair and rodent feces and ect need to be removed from dining room ceiling and a whole lot more. I was not aware of anything until after i was there a few months and Racoons broke thru my kitchen celing. We kept complaining and she kept saying it squirrel. Either way its a darn RODENT. Inspectors come to the house for the unit next door she doesnt informe me so they can inspect my unit. When I ask her when they are coming back she does not know then the neighbor tell me oh they were just here today. I am tired of the games and tap dancing from my landlord. What can i do??

Can I move out and break my lease??

Two things.

1. Have you put the withheld rent in an Escrow account?

2. Did you do a walk through before occupying the apartment?

 

[trigga1930]

Two things.

1. Have you put the withheld rent in an Escrow account?

2. Did you do a walk through before occupying the apartment?

1. Yes its in an escrow account

2.Yes I did a walk thru before renting, i even painted the apartment. With that being said I did not notice any racoons until we moved in and settled i heard them at night and notified her immediatly. She didnt do anything till 2 months later when the racoon broke thru my ceiling. Thats when we found out it was a raccoon not a squirrel and a family of raccoons with babies. No carbon monoxide detector or smoke detector installed. She gave them to me still in packages and still waiting for installation. No hood above stove or ventillation. She said she would fix that also. Hole in kitchen floor she said it would get fixed there's enough vinyl there to stop from going thru for now.

 

[justalayman]

have you verified there is no certificate of occupancy? C of O's are generally granted upon initial completion of a building and only revoked if the premises are deemed uninhabitable.


If there is no C of O, you should not be there. The landlord cannot legally rent the unit. The health department can demand you move immediately.


so, the first thing you do is find out if there is a c of o.

 

[trigga1930]

have you verified there is no certificate of occupancy? C of O's are generally granted upon initial completion of a building and only revoked if the premises are deemed uninhabitable.


If there is no C of O, you should not be there. The landlord cannot legally rent the unit. The health department can demand you move immediately.


so, the first thing you do is find out if there is a c of o.

I did and she does not have one. Which is why inspectors are involved and the unit next door is having the same issues. I just want to know if I can move out without having to pay rent or being penalized for breaking lease.

 

[justalayman]

I understand NJ is very odd regarding landlord tenant law. I suspect you can walk with impunity as it is outright illegal to be in the reside in the building without a C of O but do not take my word on it. The building department should be able to give you an answer although they are not going to give you legal advice. Call the building department and outright ask:

I have verified there is no C of O for the building I am renting. Am I legally allowed to live in this building if there is no C of O?



just to be sure;


there is a certificate of occupancy which the building department issues. It is simply a document stating the building is habitable


there is an rental permit that many municipalities issue that allow a building to be used as a rental unit.


Just want to be sure you are speaking of the first and not the last.

 

[trigga1930]

I understand NJ is very odd regarding landlord tenant law. I suspect you can walk with impunity as it is outright illegal to be in the reside in the building without a C of O but do not take my word on it. The building department should be able to give you an answer although they are not going to give you legal advice. Call the building department and outright ask:

I have verified there is no C of O for the building I am renting. Am I legally allowed to live in this building if there is no C of O?



just to be sure;


there is a certificate of occupancy which the building department issues. It is simply a document stating the building is habitable


there is an rental permit that many municipalities issue that allow a building to be used as a rental unit.


Just want to be sure you are speaking of the first and not the last.

yes speaking of the first was not aware of the last. but thank you just another thing i need to check up on. I doubt she will have either being the house duplex was vandalized and unoccupied for 3yrs. Untill tenants moved next door in 2012 right before hurricane Sandy hit NJ. Untill I moved in there was a gaping hole in the bathroom that led stright to the next door apartment I didnt know this until I started conversating with the neighbors.