Medical break of lease

A

Austin Bartlett

New Member
Jurisdiction
New York
Hello, I am a tenant that just sumbitted my 30 day notice for breaking my lease. With my 30 day notice I provided a medical letter from my doctor that stated that I can not stay in the apartment due to a risk to my health. I had roughly 4 months left on my lease. My landlord "offered" me a lease buyout of my entire security deposit, which is one and a half months rent. Since I have medical standing to break the lease, does she have any legal standing to take my security deposit? Should I fight for my security deposit?
 
Austin Bartlett said:
Since I have medical standing to break the lease, does she have any legal standing to take my security deposit?
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Your security deposit is not germane to your desire to break the lease.

Your landlord doesn't have to allow you to terminate the lease.

However, your landlord is agreeable to allowing you to break the lease IF you agree to forfeit your security deposit.

Again, your landlord could have said, you are free to leave, but you still owe me four months rent.

Furthermore, this is not about anyone's legal standing.

It is about TWO parties who agreed to a contract, which in the matter at hand is a leasehold.

Your landlord could have asked you to vacate the unit four months early because she wanted to allow her mistress to live in the unit.

You have the absolute right to refuse, or to agree to leave the unit IF the landlord paid you $4,000 PLUS your security deposit in FULL.

You are parties to a contract, and only law involved is contract law, your lease.


Austin Bartlett said:
Should I fight for my security deposit?
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What you decide to QUARREL over is up to you.

If you wish to squabble over the return of your deposit in FULL, but voluntarily decide to vacate the unit because of YOUR medical issues is of no legal moment or import to your landlord.

Your landlord is rather gracious to even consider allowing you to break the lease.

If my health was at risk, I'd eagerly forfeit my security deposit to aid me in a full recovery.

What you choose to do is entirely up to you, mate.

I wish you improved health, good luck.
 
Austin Bartlett said:
Hello, I am a tenant that just sumbitted my 30 day notice for breaking my lease. With my 30 day notice I provided a medical letter from my doctor that stated that I can not stay in the apartment due to a risk to my health. I had roughly 4 months left on my lease. My landlord "offered" me a lease buyout of my entire security deposit, which is one and a half months rent. Since I have medical standing to break the lease, does she have any legal standing to take my security deposit? Should I fight for my security deposit?
Click to expand...
Is there some sort of negligence on the LL part that caused your medical issue?
 
Austin Bartlett said:
I provided a medical letter from my doctor that stated that I can not stay in the apartment due to a risk to my health
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What risk to your health? What is it about the apartment that is affecting your health? Your doctor's note means nothing unless there is a habitability issue that's affecting your health.
 
Austin Bartlett said:
Hello, I am a tenant that just sumbitted my 30 day notice for breaking my lease. With my 30 day notice I provided a medical letter from my doctor that stated that I can not stay in the apartment due to a risk to my health. I had roughly 4 months left on my lease. My landlord "offered" me a lease buyout of my entire security deposit, which is one and a half months rent. Since I have medical standing to break the lease, does she have any legal standing to take my security deposit? Should I fight for my security deposit?
Click to expand...

Edit: Since it is being asked, I will further explain the situation. I am 22 years old and I am currently in college working on my mechanical engineering degree. My fiance and I, who are the tenants, both suffer from severe anxiety and I also have severe depression. I moved out of my parents home at 18 and have provided for myself ever since, I have never had a problem with my apartments before now. Shortly after we renewed our lease a group of guys moved in below our unit. Immediately they were extremely loud. The situation at hand is this, my downstairs neighbors are consistently loud all day from 10am to 3am. They yell and shout to each other loud enough I can hear them through my floor and through the headphones I wear specifically to drown them out. The group of them slam doors all through the night, hard enough to make my entire apartment shake. I tried to talk to them back in Novemeber, but they were rude and dismissive. I called the police on them several times, and they would quiet down only for sometime if any at all. I talked with the landlord, and they said once a unit was available they would have them move. Once a unit finally became available in March they then refused to move either of us and essentially told us to just live with it. I believe I have done everything in my power to resolve the issue without leaving the situation entirely but things have only grown worse. My doctor saw a sharp increase in my anxiety, which has greatly effected my school work, work life, and he sees it as a severe exacerbation of my depression.
 
What is wrong in the apartment?

(Question was answered - never mind)
 
Austin Bartlett said:
Edit: Since it is being asked, I will further explain the situation. I am 22 years old and I am currently in college working on my mechanical engineering degree. My fiance and I, who are the tenants, both suffer from severe anxiety and I also have severe depression. I moved out of my parents home at 18 and have provided for myself ever since, I have never had a problem with my apartments before now. Shortly after we renewed our lease a group of guys moved in below our unit. Immediately they were extremely loud. The situation at hand is this, my downstairs neighbors are consistently loud all day from 10am to 3am. They yell and shout to each other loud enough I can hear them through my floor and through the headphones I wear specifically to drown them out. The group of them slam doors all through the night, hard enough to make my entire apartment shake. I tried to talk to them back in Novemeber, but they were rude and dismissive. I called the police on them several times, and they would quiet down only for sometime if any at all. I talked with the landlord, and they said once a unit was available they would have them move. Once a unit finally became available in March they then refused to move either of us and essentially told us to just live with it. I believe I have done everything in my power to resolve the issue without leaving the situation entirely but things have only grown worse. My doctor saw a sharp increase in my anxiety, which has greatly effected my school work, work life, and he sees it as a severe exacerbation of my depression.
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Your LL is being reasonable. The ^ is not grounds for breaking your lease without penalty. Have you offered to find someone to take over your lease so that LL doesn't lose any money/have any trouble finding a renter?

Also you should limit yourselves to month to month leases or you will likely find yourselves in this situation again. Noisy neighbors are usually a part of apartment dwelling. I know this from personal experience.
 
I've read your explanation. My opinion for the two cents that it's worth is no, you don't have a medical condition brought on by conditions of your apartment. What you have is an issue of "quiet enjoyment." It's a legal doctrine that says every lease has an implied covenant of "quiet enjoyment" which means that you have a basic right to peace and quiet in the occupancy of your apartment.

Your basic remedy is a private nuisance lawsuit against the downstairs neighbors and your landlord for violating that covenant.

I'm guessing you'd rather break the lease than litigate but breaking the lease has its consequences and you might end up in court anyway.

The LL has the right to enforce the lease for the remaining 4 months. She is not "taking" your deposit, she is offering you a compromise which will allow you to leave now in exchange for 1 1/2 months rent instead of 4 months rent. If you accept, it's an enforceable negotiated settlement and you're done.

The alternative is that you leave, she keeps the deposit and applies it to unpaid rent and maybe even sues you for the rest of the 4 months. Then the burden is on you to prove that she has wronged you by not ensuring your right to quiet enjoyment. You'll be on the defensive while she has your money.

Or you can sue her for the deposit. Either way you still end up in court.

If you think you have anxiety and depression now, a lawsuit will make it so much worse.

Or, you can just stick it out for the next 4 months until your lease expires, then move.
 

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