Can landlord release you from lease obligations via text?(SD, CA)

[Therussian]

Signed a year and half lease in sd ca. 6 months in came into work/life situation where I needed to move plus i had stopped sleeping there regularly due to flea infestation. I asked landlord for copy of my lease and if we could negotiate early lease termination on september 26th. They immediately started saying they would not give me a copy of the lease that they would evict me and sue me if i didnt pay october rent and I would be forced to leave. I let them know that I did not mind giving 30 day notice and paying for rent on 9/27/19 a Friday or leaving by october 1st and letting them keep my deposit if they released me from my lease.

My message by text was:
"Yes I have indoor cats that never go outside. And they got fleas. There are openings all around the unit that were never properly sealed and more than likely that is how they got in. I am extremely dissapointed with how much i have had to spend to ensure my cats are healthy and safe based on an overlook that your "contractor" made. Please just send me a copy of the lease and again I would ideally like to work something reasonable out with you. I can pay october rent and give 30 day notice or be out as soon as october first. Whichever you prefer. Just need written statement saying you will release me from remainder of my lease."

They responded by saying
"If the place has an infestation it can not be occupied. That's the law. I should have been informed immediately to take proper actions. I hereby by release you from a one year tenancy for a complete move out by september 30 th , 8 pm.
Please plan accordingly. Single occupancy must be observed for rhe remaining days of your rental."

Via text at around 130pm. I sent them follow up texts but got no reply.

Since it was a friday and last day to move was that Monday by 8pm I decided to make arrangements for somewhere to live and to rent a uhaul which were both done before 5pm while I was at work.

At 515 pm landlords husband who is not on lease emails me stating they are not asking me to leave and that they would sue if I did not pay rent. By then I had already made arrangements to rent a room out from another landlord and had a Uhaul rented so I could move. I now do not have money to pay the 30 days because they told me they want me gone by 30th and I had to scramble to make sure I was not homeless.

Am I going to be financially responsible for the remainder of lease?

Thank you!!

 

[adjusterjack]

There's no way to predict whether the text will hold up in court.

You'll just have to take your chances.

By the way, there is nothing wrong or illegal about the husband acting as the wife's agent.

 

[Therussian]

So should i figure out how to pay both places then?

I am having serious anxiety and i dont want to be stuck or make a bad situation for anyone.

I feel like i tried to be reasonable and they flipped out.

Does flea infestation make place uninhabitable?

What about refusal to provide copy of lease? I know by ca law they have 15 days.

Would sending certified letter demanding lease help?

Would sending certified mail confirming the context of the text be helpful?

Something like:
"This is a formal confirmation that based on your, the landlord's, text to me at 1:24pm on 9/27 which stated
"I hereby by release you from a one year tenancy for a complete move out by september 30 th , 8 pm.
Please plan accordingly. Single occupancy must be observed for rhe remaining days of your rental." I, the tenant, will be vacating premises before September 30th at 8pm and will have no financial responsibility for the remainder of the lease which you released me from."

Thank you for helping!

 

[adjusterjack]

Let me make something clear here. A lease is a contract. You are breaching the contract by leaving early. That's subjects you to the possibility of a lawsuit and a judgment, and those are not good things.

That being said, you now have a dispute over whether the landlord relieved you of your lease obligations or not. You say he did, he says he didn't. That's for a court to decide if the landlord decides to sue you.

Can you get him to back off by confirming his text in writing? Beats me. Worth a try, though.

 

[bcr229]

IANA lawyer but I would schedule a final walkthrough for the apartment and bring with me a document stating something like "<Name of Landlord> hereby releases <Name of OP> from the lease for the premises located at <address> as of September 30, 2019 and no further rent is due." Then have the landlord sign and date it. You could probably find better verbiage with a Google search.

 

[Therussian]

Labdlord sent me email with a notice on my door for 24 hr entry anf it states that the owner entered 9/28/19 at 1230am which means they gave me less than 5 hours notice.

I will now be taking them to court as I have no way to prove if they entered or not but based on legal notice document there was not a 24 hour notice given.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

So what, exactly, go you believe you can get even if the landlord entered the residence with less than 24 hour notice?

Gail

 

[Therussian]

So what, exactly, go you believe you can get even if the landlord entered the residence with less than 24 hour notice?

Gail

Isn't that a breach of the lease? And just in general strengthens my claims?

 

[LdiJ]

Just as an FYI, your cats didn't get fleas due to "openings". Your cats got fleas because the previous tenant had pets with fleas and the house was never properly divested of the fleas when you moved in. Believe me, I am a serious expert on fleas.

However, you also don't/didn't need to break the lease because your cats got fleas. There are products out there that you can give to your cats on a monthly basis that will not only get rid of the fleas on your cats, but will also divest the house of fleas within a few months. Why? Because every flea that ends up on your cats will die, and eventually there won't be any more fleas because they all will be dead.

On top of that, if you move into a new place without fully divesting your cats of fleas first, you will simply infect the next place you live with fleas.

 

[Therussian]

We lived there 6 months with no fleas so i would have to respectfully disagree. They just got in there in the last two weeks.

I treated them with advantage but that did not help.

Have an appointment for monday to the vet to see what else can be done.

I did not break the lease at all yet.

I messaged owners to see if we can discuss ending lease early.

If you read my post the second sentance states i had a work/life situation to where i cant afford rent regularly anymore and that is the main reason. Flea infestation just happened to be around the same time.

But i appreciate your feedback anyways.

 

[Just Blue]

Just as an FYI, your cats didn't get fleas due to "openings". Your cats got fleas because the previous tenant had pets with fleas and the house was never properly divested of the fleas when you moved in. Believe me, I am a serious expert on fleas.

However, you also don't/didn't need to break the lease because your cats got fleas. There are products out there that you can give to your cats on a monthly basis that will not only get rid of the fleas on your cats, but will also divest the house of fleas within a few months. Why? Because every flea that ends up on your cats will die, and eventually there won't be any more fleas because they all will be dead.

On top of that, if you move into a new place without fully divesting your cats of fleas first, you will simply infect the next place you live with fleas.

Or OP's cats go flea because the fleas came in on OPs (or another household/guest) pant legs.

 

[Just Blue]

We lived there 6 months with no fleas so i would have to respectfully disagree. They just got in there in the last two weeks.

I treated them with advantage but that did not help.

Have an appointment for monday to the vet to see what else can be done.

I did not break the lease at all yet.

I messaged owners to see if we can discuss ending lease early.

If you read my post the second sentance states i had a work/life situation to where i cant afford rent regularly anymore and that is the main reason. Flea infestation just happened to be around the same time.

But i appreciate your feedback anyways.

Treat the cats with Frontline and exterminate your home. Fleas will be gone within a week. The cost will be under 250.00 dollars. Well worth it.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

I think we're missing the point here.

The OP has an 18 month lease and because of "work/life situation" wants to leave after six months. In other words, they are attempting to find some way to break the lease legally without a financial penalty (it appears) and was hoping the flea issue (or the 24 hour notice issue) might be ways to go.

Gail

 

[Therussian]

I think we're missing the point here.

The OP has an 18 month lease and because of "work/life situation" wants to leave after six months. In other words, they are attempting to find some way to break the lease legally without a financial penalty (it appears) and was hoping the flea issue (or the 24 hour notice issue) might be ways to go.

Gail

You are correct.

That is the only concern.

I offered to pay october rent and give 30 day notice or to leave by 1st of the month since they threatened to evict me. And I asked which they preferred. Landlord stated they released me from the remainder of the lease and asked that i vacate by september 30th 8pm. Even though they changed their mind 5 hours later by that time i had already made arrangements to rent a room elsewhere and rented a u haul.

So the real question is what protection do i have.

Also ca does have mitigate laws so labdlords will have to make best effort to rent out asap to mitigate their losses. Also they are not financially well off so i know they will not just leave it unrented to get me for the full amount.

 

[FarmerJ]

In the future stop relying on text messages with situations like this, use written on real paper notices or agreement letters so that you have a real paper trail , in your situation had your LL signed a printed real on paper agreement it would be over with as far as you would be concerned since the letter signed would be a good paper trail for a court .