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Can I walk away from my lease if..

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ccindi1

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

I have a lease that specifies I am renting a 3 bedroom 2 bath house. However, the 2nd bathroom is non-existent. Prior to moving in, the landlord assured me he would have the bathroom completed. There is a hole where the toilet should be (right now the toilet is in the shower) and the hole is covered by duct tape. I gave him a month notice of my move in date. When I moved in, I inquired about the bathroom and he came and did some measurements, but no work.

Three days after moving in, my central air unit quit working. After 2 weeks of calls, he finally showed up to do some repairs only to discover he needed to get some parts, which took an additional 8 days. Again I asked about the bathroom, and again he did some measurements, but no work.

The repair he did to the A/C unit lasted 10 days, then it wouldn't work again, so I placed another call. When he came out and repaired it again, I asked him specifically if had the furnace serviced. I told him I didn't want to hit the dead of winter and discover I had no heat. He assured me the furnace had been serviced and there were no issues. I told him I didn't see a service tag, and he repeated that he had it serviced and it was in working order.

It took him 4 weeks to bring in the washer and dryer that were supposed to be furnished, and the appliances are used, which isn't a huge issue, except he has one leg of the washer propped up with pieces of boards and it looks like crap. I'm not used to living like this. Again I asked about the bathroom, and he said he'd be back to work on it.

A few weeks later, the water heater quit working. It took him 4 days to respond to my voicemail messages, and then only after I threatened to bring in a plumber to fix it if I didn't hear from him. My kids and I were forced to go to my mother's to take showers.

The fix he did to the water heater didn't last, and within 6 weeks I was experiencing hot water issues again. He came out, did some repairs, and left before I could ask about the 2nd bathroom again.

Then, yesterday, 25 hours ago to be exact, my furnace quit working. I placed a call to the landlord and after a 2nd one threatening to call a heating company myself, he called and said he would be over after he got off work and deposited my rent check.

So, he showed up last night, went into the basement and worked on the furnace, then came up and told me "I have good news and bad news. Well, first, you're right, the furnace isn't working. The good news is that I spoke with my heating guy and he said it is a switch that costs only $12. The bad news, the place that carries them isn't open until tomorrow. And I won't be able to be back until after 4 pm. I have brought space heaters for you for tonight."

It's Indiana. We just got hit with a pretty severe cold snap. Space heaters aren't going to cut it. I am sitting here, space heaters running full blast (and running my electic bill up!) and the temperature is 44 degrees in the house. I sent my kids to some family members for the night because I don't think running space heaters all night is the safest thing in the world, and it's only going to keep the room you are sitting in semi warm.

Needless to say, I have had it. Can I just walk away from this lease since the 2nd bathroom is still non-existent? I don't trust that the repair he is planning on doing is going to fix the problem, and personally, if it does so temporarily, how safe is the repair?

What are my options?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
 


sandyclaus

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

I have a lease that specifies I am renting a 3 bedroom 2 bath house. However, the 2nd bathroom is non-existent. Prior to moving in, the landlord assured me he would have the bathroom completed. There is a hole where the toilet should be (right now the toilet is in the shower) and the hole is covered by duct tape. I gave him a month notice of my move in date. When I moved in, I inquired about the bathroom and he came and did some measurements, but no work.

Three days after moving in, my central air unit quit working. After 2 weeks of calls, he finally showed up to do some repairs only to discover he needed to get some parts, which took an additional 8 days. Again I asked about the bathroom, and again he did some measurements, but no work.

The repair he did to the A/C unit lasted 10 days, then it wouldn't work again, so I placed another call. When he came out and repaired it again, I asked him specifically if had the furnace serviced. I told him I didn't want to hit the dead of winter and discover I had no heat. He assured me the furnace had been serviced and there were no issues. I told him I didn't see a service tag, and he repeated that he had it serviced and it was in working order.

It took him 4 weeks to bring in the washer and dryer that were supposed to be furnished, and the appliances are used, which isn't a huge issue, except he has one leg of the washer propped up with pieces of boards and it looks like crap. I'm not used to living like this. Again I asked about the bathroom, and he said he'd be back to work on it.

A few weeks later, the water heater quit working. It took him 4 days to respond to my voicemail messages, and then only after I threatened to bring in a plumber to fix it if I didn't hear from him. My kids and I were forced to go to my mother's to take showers.

The fix he did to the water heater didn't last, and within 6 weeks I was experiencing hot water issues again. He came out, did some repairs, and left before I could ask about the 2nd bathroom again.

Then, yesterday, 25 hours ago to be exact, my furnace quit working. I placed a call to the landlord and after a 2nd one threatening to call a heating company myself, he called and said he would be over after he got off work and deposited my rent check.

So, he showed up last night, went into the basement and worked on the furnace, then came up and told me "I have good news and bad news. Well, first, you're right, the furnace isn't working. The good news is that I spoke with my heating guy and he said it is a switch that costs only $12. The bad news, the place that carries them isn't open until tomorrow. And I won't be able to be back until after 4 pm. I have brought space heaters for you for tonight."

It's Indiana. We just got hit with a pretty severe cold snap. Space heaters aren't going to cut it. I am sitting here, space heaters running full blast (and running my electic bill up!) and the temperature is 44 degrees in the house. I sent my kids to some family members for the night because I don't think running space heaters all night is the safest thing in the world, and it's only going to keep the room you are sitting in semi warm.

Needless to say, I have had it. Can I just walk away from this lease since the 2nd bathroom is still non-existent? I don't trust that the repair he is planning on doing is going to fix the problem, and personally, if it does so temporarily, how safe is the repair?

What are my options?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
The LL has complied with your repair requests, so that alone is not sufficient to end your lease (since you have to give him the opportunity to fix - albeit temporary fixes, but...).

I would definitely challenge him on the 2nd bathroom. You rented a unit that was supposed to have 2 working bathrooms and you still have only one because he has failed to complete repairs/renovations to make the 2nd one usable. At the very least, there is a possibility that you should get a break in rent for the missing bathroom. At worst, because that bathroom is still unusable, it could be considered a hazard.

Time to call in the building inspectors to see what they think. Perhaps they can motivate the LL to complete those repairs and get things working they way they should.
 

ccindi1

Junior Member
Update...

Landlord showed up and lo and behold... the wrong part, "sorry, it won't be able to be fixed until tomorrow"

When I challenged him on what I was supposed to do, because I was not going to spend another night here in the cold, he offered up more space heaters. This is an old house (100+ years old) the space heaters I have been using are blowing circuits. I told him that, and asked if I could get a hotel and deduct it from the rent, his response "absolutely not". So I told him that he would need to get the heat fixed tonight then. He offered to cut $50 off the rent, and I told him I would be spending at least that much more on my electricity for the amount of space heaters trying to warm this place.

Now he is saying the his furnace friend is going to go back to his shop to see if he can't find a part of fix the furnace, though he wasn't sure he would be able to.

Now what?
 
Start putting everything in writing-repair requests, 2nd bathroom requests. Get a paper trail going. Contact your building inspector everytime a key appliance fails(not Washer and dryer) but furnace, hot water heater, electricity, A/C
 

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