How to legally break your Apartment Lease
Last year I was in an apartment complex that could just not get their act together, so I researched and prepared the following letter. I had mold in my apartment and that's how I got out of it, but remember to carefully read your lease agreement if they violate any of the terms all you have to do is use this letter and replace mold with whatever they violated.
This letter was written in Texas, if you’re in a different state research your States laws on Renting. You can use this letter as an example of course your situation may be different than what mine was but, thank God the Apartment Management Released me from my lease without any penalties! Best of Luck and I hope it works for you too!
September 28th 2006
Apartment Company Management
Address
Resident
Address
Re: Failure to comply with statutory requirements of the Texas State Occupants Code & Texas State Property Code.
This is a Goodwill attempt by the residents to terminate their lease contract within five (5) days, as there is sufficient and viable evidence (both documented and photographic) to fulfill the prescribed criteria under the Texas Property Code § 91.001 (d) & § 92.056 and owners lease agreement paragraph 26.
Background:
On September 22nd 2006 a contractual agreement was signed for a lease on apartment #607 of _______Apartments. The contract was between______, herein referred to as the resident, and ______Apartments herein referred to as the owner. The lease calls for a fourteen month lease expected to be fulfilled on the 30th day of November 2007. The contract states obligations and responsibilities of both the resident and ______Apartments which are also governed by Texas Statutes. During the move-in date of September 23rd 2006 Mold, flooded dining area, inoperable window security latch, & a water leak were identified.
Definitions:
"Mold" means any living or dead fungi or related products or parts, including spores, hyphae, and mycotoxins."Mold assessment" means: an inspection, investigation, or survey of a dwelling or other structure to provide the owner or occupant with information regarding the presence, identification, or evaluation of mold.
Issues:
On September 23rd 2006 mold, flooded dining room, inoperable window security latch & a water leak were documented & reported by the resident to the calling service of the owner. The calling service is a 24 hour answering service provided by the owner to its residents to report emergencies. On September 24th ____ (maintenance) an employ/agent of the owner responded to an emergency call made by the resident to again address the water flood in the dining room and the mold underneath the dishwasher, sink, & surrounding cabinets. _____ stated that there was nothing she could do at the time and recommended the resident to put-in a formal request to management. She also indicated that she would notify the carpet professionals to dry the flooded area. Per _____recommendation on September 25th 2006 _____ (resident) meet with _____(owner’s property manager) an oral and written request was formally submitted indicating the resident’s severe allergic reaction to Mold. _____ reassured the residents that the issue would be resolved promptly and in their presence contacted the maintenance manager ______. She indicated the concerns and asked the maintenance team to respond promptly. On September 25th two members of the maintenance team ______ made a Mold Assessment and viewed the flooded area as well as a leak identified in the utility room. After maintenance left no written documentation was left on what work was done or what work needed to be done afterward. Initial observations show that cabinets were scraped and sprayed with a chemical (but no wood was replaced or inspected underneath the contaminated area) and the flooded area was vacuumed and an industrial blower was left overnight to dry the area. However no work was done on the leak, inoperable window security latch or the rest of the mold underneath the cabinets & under the dishwasher. Maintenance did indicate that the work would be finished on September 26th. On September 27th maintenance returned to continue work. Maintenance indicated that no work could be done without shutting off the water utility to the entire building and wanted to wait until the residents were at work. Nothing was done about the remaining mold, or inoperable window security latch. Maintenance was suppose to have completed the work during the normal working hours on September 28th, but never arrived to apartment 607.On September 28th a call was placed to the emergency calling service around 8:00pm after the residents noticed that the leak in the utility room had gotten worse and the flood in the dining area persisted. _____ arrived at apartment 607 and completed the leak issue; however the mold & inoperable security latch were still on hold. The resident feel that the owner should have conducted a thorough inspection of the apartment in order to provide a health-risk free living environment for the residents before entering into a formal contractual agreement. Upon applicable statutory requirements sufficient time has elapse for the owner to have remedied the living conditions of apartment 607. The residents have severe allergic reactions to mold and as recommend by a licensed physician to live in a Mold free environment to avoid unnecessary health risks. The mold has been present for 5 days and the maintained team shows no indications of replacing the contaminated articles, instead the mold was scraped & sealed which have proven in many cases to be ineffective to the killing and the preventing of mold. The window latch has not been replaced or repaired a current review of _______Police Department Crime Area Table indicates that there are an average of two burglaries and one car/apartment break-ins per month. Given the statistics and the un-gated community the window latch is a huge safety concern to the residents.
Statutory noncompliance:
Violation of the Texas Property Code § 92.052
Violation of the Texas Occupations Code § 1958
Resolution:
The residents made a goodwill attempt with management before proceeding with any Civil Motions to without penalty terminate the current contract. As stated per owners lease paragraph 26 titled Requests, Repairs, And Malfunctions, the residents at this time feel that performance of needed repairs poses a danger to the residents, and would like to formally submit this grievance with the intention of terminating the lease within five (5) days of the receipt of this grievance. Texas State Law authorizes the residents to be entitled to terminate the lease with no penalties or restitution under Texas Property Code § 91.001 (d) & § 92.056. The residents at this time would like to exercise their legal right to do so. If willful noncompliance is shown the attached complaint will be submitted to the State of Texas Health Department, a complaint will also be filed with the Better business Bureau, Texas Apartment Association & the Texas State Attorney General, along with a civil motion filed with legal representation by the residents at the _____County Court House. The residents have photographic documented evidence of the continuous delay in the repair of mold and will be used, if necessary, in a Court of Law.
Signed this day,
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