Am I legally bound by this lease?

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mrathell

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I just moved into an apartment on June 19th and these are the problems:
-I have never had hot water, even after multiple phone calls and a letter.
-The toilet leaks waste water through the side of the toilet each time you flush.
- The front door lock is on an angle because it was attached to a hole too big for it and the hole is damaged from what appears to be a prior break in.
- The 4'x3' front window is falling out. I had to nail a ply board over it so I wouldn't have to worry about waking up in the middle of the night with a stranger standing over me after he climbed through the window.

There are a host of other problems that I have documented, took pictures of, contacted the landlord about and mailed the list to his mailing address.

He only sends me into voicemail now and doesn't return my calls.

I had the building inspector out here today.

My question is: Am I legal bound by this lease even though he hasn't provided me with hot water, a secured front door, a secured front first floor window an failed to tell me about the 50+ building code violations he has on this building?
 
What did the building inspector say about all of these violations? Depending on the state that you're in the landlord may be given a certain amount of time to address all these issues...or the unit may be condemned as unliveable in which case you'll need to move anyway.

Gail
 
Hello Gail;

Thank you for responding to my thread.

The building inspector informed me that this landlord is the worse offender in Milwaukee's history. The inspector informed me that the landlord used to have over 100 properties but after the city building inspectors hit him with the biggest one day total of fines, he is now down to 15 buildings.

I was also told by the inspector that this building has been on their manatory monthly inspection schedule due to over 100 reports and equal number of violations.

He said that he would right up violations for the front door, window, no hot water and some other issues.

I went down into the basement yesterday to see if I could get the water heater working but it does absolutely nothing. I just found out yesterday from my neighbor in the same unit that his hot water hasn't worked for days as well.
 
Hello Gail:


First I would like to say, I have been in this apartment for 11 days since signing the lease and I have never had hot water, the front window is still on the edge of falling out (literally) and the front door is also a security issue from a apparent prior break-in.

Thank you for the link and information, unfortunately it is vague on what options I have. Under the section "Untenantable", it informs that:

In these cases, the tenant may move out without paying rent for the remainder of the
rental term unless the landlord promptly repairs the premises or corrects the violation.

Does this mean I can just move out or does it really mean I must go to court and get a judges permission. How can I do it without the fear of the landlord coming after me for the remainder of the lease. I just don't want to move out only to find out later that I am liable for the remainder of the lease because i didn't do something specific.

Also I gave all the money I have to move into this place, so I can't just leave unless I get my money back. I don't have the option to just move. My rent is paid until the end of August. If I am forced to stay here until the end of August when I can finacially afford to move, would that make me even more legally bound to honor the remainder of the lease?

I have pictures, videos, copies of letters sent to the landlord, times and dates of unreturned calls to the landlord, the date and name of the building inspector that I called to come out here, the date I filed with the consumer protection agency and witnesses. But for some reason, I feel that wouldn't be enough in a court room.

BTW: the city building inpsector informed me that he is a notorious slumlord who they have a very thick file on and has fined over $100,000 in a single day, making him the official state record holder for one day fines.

Isn't it stated somewhere that one party of a two party contract may break the contract when the other party fails to comply with the terms of the contract? I've been in the apartment for 11 days and he has completely broken his side of the contract.
 
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If a unit is "untenantable" (i.e., unliveable) you do not need to go to court to be able to leave. It would be a good idea to notify the landlord in writing that if the issues are not fixed by a certain date (and with the issue of no hot water, July 1 would be an excellent date if you can get the letter to the landlord ASAP) you will be leaving and will sue the landlord for all the rent you have already paid.

If you are forced to stay until the end of August due to financial concerns...and your landlord sues you for breaking the lease...you explain to the judge your reasons for not being able to move. You certainly seem to have enough evidence as to the living condition of the rental.

When is the final report from the City Inspector supposed to be ready?

Gail
 
Gail in Georgia said:
When is the final report from the City Inspector supposed to be ready?

Gail
Click to expand...

I will need to call him and ask him about a 'final' report but their reports are posted online. The inspection report is dated 6/24/2009 and it list several of my issues with a date of 8/24 to repair them by.

Is it true that he has 2 months to give me hot water, to fix the security issues of the falling out front first floor window and the broken front door? :eek:

Wow!!!!
 
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