was this to much, land lord related.

As I can never get intouch with the land lord we figured we'd send out to the people we found the place through and he is currently showing the 2nd Fl through them.

Hi Shannon,
amy & John here. you rented out the 3rd fl apt to us on ayrault during the summer. your currently showing the second floor. I was wondering if there is any chance you could show the 3rd fl as well. We can never get in touch with the land lord, and have had many things not right with this place which would hopefully be fixed for the tenant after us. We found a new apt and will be moved out by may 1st. We currently don't have heat right now, not to do with the bill but this place sucks to put it nicely. the land lord called asking about rent yesturday and I called back leaving a message early in the morning and sure enough he didn't answer, I told him we had planned on waiting till he called cuz we can never get in touch with him and we wouldn't pay rent untill the heat was fixed, long behold he didn't call back once. We haven't been able to tell him about moving on top of it. there are a number of things, as the shower has been broken since practically week one and continues to get worse, the windows suck all the heat out as they don't line up and lock properly not to mention the gas leak in december that after 2 weeks of calling him we (2nd fl) called the gas company to get it fixed. I know we could just move out & not say anything but I figured your nice enough and contrary to all with the place the land lord is nice enough so wondering if we could get the ball rolling and maybe hopefully he will call today so we can tell him we are gonna be out of here. thanks.

I think the letter should kick him into action

i'd say those are good enough reasons for breaking a lease am i right? Once can only hope that it would get things moving but fact of it is the heating thing to be fixed is probly just as much as rent so he may be saying y bother. (the last time the heat thing happen, the guy who fixed it told the land lod it was one of 2 things and if this didn't work it was the more exspensive thing. ) Some peopele I tell ya

aw come on
what are peoples experiences with breaking a lease, I've never had to so I don't really know how this will pan out

Do you have phone records of all the times you have tried to call and he has not responded? If so then I think you are in the right, and even if he tried to pursue legal action because you broke your lease you'd have adequate proof that he just wasn't doing his job.

not specifically however all they'd have to do is come into the place and we could show them.we do at least have it on our phone the last call where we left the message and he still hasn't responded. though the fact that I haven't met the guy in the 9 months (my boyfriend only met him once)we've been here leaves me to believe there isn't much he would do but I could always be wrong.

If you can believe it, in Ontario Canada tenants are not permitted to withhold rent for such issues. So, you really need to check your local laws that govern tenant/landlord issues. I hope not, but you may find yourself in a position where you may owe the landlord 1 or 2 months rent, depending on when you needed to provide written notice to your landlord that you're moving. Also, in Ontario if a tenant moves out without proper notice, the landlord can (and usually does) sue in small claims court. So, you need to do a bit of homework to find out what your obligations are in this case. Good luck, and just remember that not all landlords are bad ones!

You need to read your lease very carefully and find out the terms of breaking it. It's possible you need to send the landlord certified letters with your complaints. I would be keeping records of everything.

Can you obtain a copy of the landlord tenant laws in your state. I know in Wisconsin the housing has to be able to be kept at a certain minimum temperature. Sometimes contacting your local housing authority about potential violations can get a better response from the landlord.

oh boy this gonna be fun as we all ready have a place.

ok so I just called the landlord which was needed and was honest (told him we'd give him may's rent) the heat will be going on, yay! he said he was fine about us ending the lease early (whew)

There are several things you need to be doing.

#1, if you withhold rent, you need to open a savings account entitled YOUR NAME, Rent escrow. Then you need to show a deposit on the first of each month you withhold for the entire amount of the rent.

#2, you need to send the landlord a certified letter stating each problem with the apartment and give him a time table to correct it. You have to warn him in the letter that you will be withholding rent if he does not correct the problems by that time. If he misses the time table, only then can you withhold rent.

#3, you have to give him warning in writing that you will be moving out and breaking the lease due to action not being taken on the above letter. You must give him the notice specified in your lease.

Using the phone to leave messages does absolutely nothing if you go to court unless you have a copy of the message. You should have started these proceedings a few month ago.

Originally Posted by ladycat

ok so I just called the landlord which was needed and was honest (told him we'd give him may's rent) the heat will be going on, yay! he said he was fine about us ending the lease early (whew)

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You really should get that in writing from him.

Get his OK in writing ESPECIALLY if he says that he won't hold you to anymore rent.

You should also type a letter of your plan to leave early and send it via certified mail (or some form of confirmation i.e. UPS with signature). Make sure the person who signed the lease's signature is on there.

I don't know what the laws are like there, but I know here the MOST that he can hold you for (without documentation otherwise) is 2 months rent and any back rent he is missing. The post 2 above mine has really good tips about the ESCROW account, etc.

Originally Posted by Sadie's Mom

If you can believe it, in Ontario Canada tenants are not permitted to withhold rent for such issues. So, you really need to check your local laws that govern tenant/landlord issues. I hope not, but you may find yourself in a position where you may owe the landlord 1 or 2 months rent, depending on when you needed to provide written notice to your landlord that you're moving. Also, in Ontario if a tenant moves out without proper notice, the landlord can (and usually does) sue in small claims court. So, you need to do a bit of homework to find out what your obligations are in this case. Good luck, and just remember that not all landlords are bad ones!

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It's the same in the U.S., too. You have to know and understand tenant/landlord laws (not just the lease because that may have illegal parts in it). We had to do this when we lived in Cambridge, we even had to take the landlady to court. (Her lawyer settled the night before the court date.) I obtained official copies of the state law, because you can't assume the judge knows all the laws, and you can't just print them out from the internet.

If anybody has questions about tenant/landlord laws in Massachusetts, just ask me because I'm an expert!

Like everyone's said, get everything in writing! Good luck!

Regarding the escrow account - just make sure you are allowed to do this in your state. Bottom line, you have a bit of research to do to ensure you know what laws apply to your situation (particularly since landlord gave you verbal approval that he's agreed to early termination of lease. Make sure you cover your butt!