Repairs, Maintenance question regarding landlord obligation to make home habitable...

[joshuap]

We leased a home with a regionally large real estate firm acting as a broker. Because of the age of the home (built in 1913), we wanted to lease in case any problems arose and we would know beforehand the kind of costs we would potentially be incurring. Obviously with the house being 100 years old, we knew there would be some issues, so why not let someone take care of them first before committing to a purchase?

To be completely forthcoming, we had every intention of making the owners an offer on the home at the end of our lease.

Fast forward to now, the beginning of Winter. The home has previously been retrofitted with central heating and air, but being devoid of any efficiency as it seems, we have since decided to move on. The house will not heat past 51 degrees as of this writing and my family is freezing. There is no supplemental heat source, i.e. wood, pellet or gas stove provided.

My question is this. I have severe asthma and two early teenage children... at what point does this become a health issue? We have decided to move on, that regardless of the beauty of the property (+/- 4 acres) we can't and won't continue to pay $400-500 power bills and still be freezing. To be clear, the cost of electricity would not be such an issue if the house would heat properly.

The home is just under 2500 square feet with upstairs and downstairs HVAC. One would think this would be sufficient to heat and cool this sort of space, but I have never been more miserable in my life.

Help me get out of this lease. I would rather have my security deposit back, but at this point, I'm not too worried about it. We have 6 months left on our agreement.

 

[disagreeable]

You need to address the heat problem with your lease contact. You cannot just decide to drop your lease without paying.

 

[army judge]

OP, you can speak with the landlord and attempt to "BUY" your way out of the remaining six months left on your lease.

Make an offer, and see what the LL says.

Normally, one might offer half of the final months left on the lease, PLUS the security deposit.

The LL might also say NO.

Your health issues notwithstanding, won't be enough to allow you to break the else without risk of a financial penalty.

So, you can forget that angle.

Besides, you're NOT being forced to remain in the home.

You're always free to lease another property or buy one.

You're still locked into paying the monthly lease payments.

That said, negotiation and compromise are the only tools available to you in this matter, as far as getting out of your obligation.

Whatever is agreed upon, be sure to get it in writing and signed by the landlord, or his/her authorized agent.

You could just abandon the property, but you'll probably get sued.

I'm sure you don't want that outcome.

 

[guestposter]

What a pelasrue to find someone who thinks through the issues

 

[guestposter]

Yes, they can disclose it. There are no pacvroy issues associated with landlord referrals as there are with job referrals. Many of the common questions that landlords ask are if rent was paid on time, if the tenants were asked vacate the premises, or if the tenants gave proper notice to vacate. I'd take the step of letting the new landlord know that the reason you are moving was that the place you were renting was too small for your needs. That way if the previous landlord states that you were asked to leave because of over-crowding the new landlord was already made aware that this was why you were moving.Good Luck!