Do I have the right to break my lease if I am unsafe?

[ddelorez]

I live in Atlanta, GA, and my fiancee and I and our 7-year old daughter are renting an apartment from a management company. We have had repeated problems with the management since our arrival. Firstly, the condition of the apartment upon move in was disdainful (but none of them look just like the model, do they?) in that the ceilings are all warped as if from enormus water damage (and we live on the bottom floor of a 2-story unit), we had to keep our belongings in the moving truck for an extra day, because on the move-in date that they gave us, they had not cleaned the apartment (carpets were stained and evil-smelling, dirt literally 1/2in. thick on the linoleum, paint was sprayed onto walls with no regard to overspray, and was not even finished, etc). At any rate, we were told that this would be resolved, and it was in time. However, on our second or third night in the apartment, we heard gunshots at about 1AM outside (about nine of them). It was close to the 4th of July, so that was the management's explanation for it, but I'm former military, I know the difference, you see. Further, some other tenants keep dumping their trash in our patio area, there have been 3 break-ins this week, and about 4 nights ago, another 5 gunshots happened (at about 3am). There is a courtesy officer, but all we get is his answering machine. My daughter woke up this last time to the noise of something "bumping on my window", and will not sit near the patio door because she "doesn't feel safe" sitting so near a sliding glass door with all of the gunshots. I have given my 60 day notice as called for in the lease, because I don't feel safe having my daughter here. I just want to know is it right for me to be penalized for early termination (you have to pay a month's rent and give up your deposit) when it is unsafe/unsanitary to continue to occupy this place? (P.S. Between all of this, raw sewage has backed up twice into our hallway and into my daughter's room, with little remedy but a carpet shampooing from management.)
I know this was long-winded, but there are a lot of straws here and I am only 1 camel with 1 back.

 

[LL]

I'm sorry, but you should be happy that there is an escape clause in your lease that allows you to leave without having to pay all of the rent for the remainder of the term.

You agreed that these terms were fair when you took the apartment and signed the lease.

The money goes to pay the landlord's expenses because of you leaving early.

See:
https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?threadid=37978
and
https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?threadid=42235

I don't think that 1 months rent plus deposit is so bad.
Why don't you go and talk with the landlord, and see if you can work out something that might trade some of the deposit for longer notice, or allow you to stay in the apartment until he finds a replacement tenant.