Q: I moved into an apartment in Ohio back in April 2007. I asked all the questions about safety, maintenance and security. I was told that the property had no problems in over two years. I was also told that the gates to the parking lot were down every night at midnight. The manager continued to state that the main doors to the buildings were designed as a safety measure and people would have to buzz in to gain access to the building.

Things seemed to be okay until July 2007. On July 1st my car was broken into in my carport in the parking lot. I can understand random acts, but when I went to the police to file a report I learned that many break-ins had been occurring in this area. The police officer even told me that a man was almost beaten to death last summer in that parking lot.

I went to the manager of the complex and she stated, You live in this town what did you expect. During this conversation I learned that she hadn’t lived on property for the past three years. She told me that it wasn’t her job to follow up on crime in the neighborhood. She told me that Block watch tried to come into the neighborhood but she was unsuccessful with it. So I went home to my apartment and called block watch. I spoke with Michael who stated that he’s been trying for years to get a watch over there but he can’t because the management won’t let him patrol the area, because its private property.

So I began noticing things such as the doors being propped open so anyone could walk through the building. Gates were always up. I called management several times with no success. Since I lived in this apartment, I had problems with my lock on my door. I had no plate on the lock so the door could easily have been pushed open. I asked several times for it to be fixed and I basically got the answer that I was nuts and the door was fine. During this time I called the owners of the apartment complex twice a day. I sent letters and had response. I couldn’t get past the secretary. So I mailed my keys certified mail to the owners, broke the lease, and I moved out the last day of September.

I have a friend who lives in the area and he told me that someone lives in this apartment already. My problem is that on Sept 6, 2007 I received a letter stating I owed $1400 due in 10 days. The letter was dated 8/28/07. They want me to pay for the termination (two months), $90 to clean the carpets, and another $275 for painting. They also want 440 for my month free rent in May.

My feeling is I had $3000 dollars worth of damage to my car, no safety was given to me and my signing of the lease was under false impressions seeing that I went on the word of the manager that it was a safe complex to live in. I’m a single white female and of course I take precautions in the city, but I can’t fight the facts of the building.

What do I do. Do I just suck it up and pay them, or do I have a warranted fight on my hands. Please let me know. I have no idea what to do. Thank you for your help.

A: It sounds like you have several issues which may help you break your lease. If someone else is now living in the premises then you have a good argument against rent damages for breaking your lease. The landlord can’t collect double rent for months the remained on your lease when the unit was rerented for those same months. If the landlord has installed security measures which are broken or intentionally turned off then you may have another good argument for breaking your lease. You rented the apartment with the understanding that these security measures would be in effect. If they are not, then the landlord has not upheld her end of the bargain and this may justify you breaking your lease.

You can read up on other ways to get out of your lease agreement read more here.

[tags]Break lease, breaking lease, Get out of lease, how to break lease, landlord, lease, renter, tenant[/tags]

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