Tenants rights during breaking lease early...

[rymbaby]

In March there was a drug deal gone bad that resulted in a murder in front of the office at the apartment complex where we (myself and two roommates) lived. Our apartment was next door to the office, so obviously we were closely touched by the incident. Long story short, the dealer fired four shots at the victim's car, hitting the car all four times, and the victim as well, who ended up ramming his car into a tree out front of the office. Neither the dealer nor the victim lived in our complex (a gaited community by the way, but the gates were never closed for at least a year straight). I had previously expressed my concerns about the gates not being closed (we had previously received letters from the management about crime in nearby communities, but never told us what exactly had happened), and so after this incident, I asked once again why the gates were never closed, and how I felt unsafe given the circumstances. I was told that their only obligations were to put locks on my doors, and that the gates were extra and not legally required to be closed. I didn't like this answer, because I felt that my landlord should be more concerned for my safety. So we decided to move.

In April we moved out. Our lease was not due to expire until September, and we fully expected to pay a break-lease fee and/or not receive our security deposit back (the two were similar in price). After moving all of our things out, my roommates took the keys to the office (I was unavailable that day) and asked what they needed to do or sign to state that we were moving out. The person on duty said we didn't need to do anything, and took the keys and that was that.

Now I received a notice stating that I owe them $4900, for the break-lease fee, and for the accelerated rent from April through September. I want to know legally where I stand. If the landlord is not living up to a certain level of safety, don't I have the right to break the lease? And what is that certain level of safety? Any feedback would be wonderful, thank you.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

You broke your lease early; you owe for the remaining months of rent on the lease or until the unit is rerented.

You have an unrealistic expectation of your landlord "not living up to a certain level of safety".

Gail

 

[sandyclaus]

In March there was a drug deal gone bad that resulted in a murder in front of the office at the apartment complex where we (myself and two roommates) lived. Our apartment was next door to the office, so obviously we were closely touched by the incident. Long story short, the dealer fired four shots at the victim's car, hitting the car all four times, and the victim as well, who ended up ramming his car into a tree out front of the office. Neither the dealer nor the victim lived in our complex (a gaited community by the way, but the gates were never closed for at least a year straight). I had previously expressed my concerns about the gates not being closed (we had previously received letters from the management about crime in nearby communities, but never told us what exactly had happened), and so after this incident, I asked once again why the gates were never closed, and how I felt unsafe given the circumstances. I was told that their only obligations were to put locks on my doors, and that the gates were extra and not legally required to be closed. I didn't like this answer, because I felt that my landlord should be more concerned for my safety. So we decided to move.

In April we moved out. Our lease was not due to expire until September, and we fully expected to pay a break-lease fee and/or not receive our security deposit back (the two were similar in price). After moving all of our things out, my roommates took the keys to the office (I was unavailable that day) and asked what they needed to do or sign to state that we were moving out. The person on duty said we didn't need to do anything, and took the keys and that was that.

Now I received a notice stating that I owe them $4900, for the break-lease fee, and for the accelerated rent from April through September. I want to know legally where I stand. If the landlord is not living up to a certain level of safety, don't I have the right to break the lease? And what is that certain level of safety? Any feedback would be wonderful, thank you.

You have the right (and responsibility) to honor the terms of your lease. LL didn't guarantee a specific level of safety, and unless this was a totally locked-down community and LL advertised a specific safety level guarantee, one would be unenforceable here.

It was your responsibility to thoroughly check out the crime level in the neighborhood, especially since you were so concerned about living in a high-crime area as to terminate your lease for that reason. It would be unreasonable for LL to promise a crime-free area since he would not be able to control the actions of the neighborhood residents. So why would you now try to punish them for NOT doing just that??

You have the right to pay what you owe for breaking the lease for your failure to obtain LL's express written permission to do so without any penalty. LL has the right to hold you to your contractual obligation.

Pay up.

 

[xylene]

The fact that the murder occurred IN THE APARTMENT OFFICE...

 

[JETX]

US law only.....

Since you failed in following the forum rules (US LAW ONLY!!!), any 'advice' you get may not be correct. The landlord-tenant laws of Bangalore are very likely very different from any in the US.