apartment repairs and breach of lease

[svaadam]

Virginia - I live in an old college duplex apartment that is in poor condition. I was clearly aware of its condition when I signed the lease a year and a half ago; however, before I renewed the lease for this year, a new management group took over the property, inspected it, and made all sorts of vague promises about ''getting this place fixed up'' and so on. 7 months later, and no repairs or concern from them AT ALL. Recently things have been falling apart--the tiles are falling off the bathroom walls, the foundation is cracked (we live in the basement) and there is a serious risk of a severe structural failure, and the ceiling tiles are about to collapse. There is mold b/c the dry wall is rotting from the inside out. Realize that I'm neglecting to mention many other aesthetic concerns. The management group is promising to fix the main problems, but it will clearly take weeks. We'd like to sublease it in order to get out of here next semester, but we can't sublease it is this condition. We've asked the rental group to make reasonable accommodations in the mean time, but they act like that's ludicrous. At what point are they in breach of lease, and what accommodations are they required to make in such circumstances?

 

[FarmerJ]

Call your local building inspections desk before you give up possession of the unit , ask them if they have someone who can come out to document serious problems with the unit. IF inspections comes out and decides that the repairs warrant a condemn notice where no one can live in the unit then make sure to get a copy of the condemn notice , Of course you will have to move out BUT with the condemn order your unit cannot be lived in until it passes inspection , meaning they will have no choice but to repair it and you will be off the hook for any remaining time on the lease only if they order it as not fit / safe for human habitation.