Cause for termination of lease by tennant

[bigler2002]

I have moved into a new place within the last week and have been finding it more and more unsanitary with each new step. My main focus is the health of my 15 mos. old son.

The agents gave us the walk around checklist and bailed. Was it their responsibility to walk with us before the lease was signed to address any need be maintenance?

The main issue is the carpeting. When we saw the place the first time and when signing the lease it was dark and there aren't many lights in the house. When we went to move in the carpets has many dark stains wax melted into areas, screws, bugs, debri... and has obviously not been replaced in at least 10-15 years. Come to find out the previous owners had to be contacted by the health department for letting a dog leave waste all over the back yard (and probably inside). The landlord refuses to clean/replace the carpet and is forcing us to pay for the cleaning which we don't believe will remedy the situation as it is extensive. Can we force him to replace/clean it?

Upon further inspection the house is very unsanitary with dirt/trash/dead bugs in the cabinets, used q-tips in the window tracking, etc.

Is it cause for termination of lease via the tenant for unsanitary living conditions/health of our child?

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

No. Your chance to back out of renting this unit was during the initial walk through and before you signed the lease.

You can, if you wish, contact your local city inspector in an attempt to determine if the unit is uninhabitable but it is unlikely that simply being dirty would fall into this category.

Gail

 

[bigler2002]

The agents gave us the walk around checklist and bailed. Was it their responsibility to walk with us before the lease was signed to address any need be maintenance?

Also our landlord says he told his agent that the place was as is and no repairs would be made. None of the agents told us this. What is their responsibility?

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

It is not managements responsibility to walk through with you when initially showing the unit and address issues of sanitation (which seems to be your concern). If you had concerns about the sanitary condition of the rental you should have addressed these prior to signing the lease. By signing, you agreed to the condition of the unit at the time of signing.

However, it is untrue that a landlord is not responsible for repairs. He must keep the unit up and respond to your request for repairs; things like problems with heat, plumbing and electricity, etc.. I did have a young army wife who came to see one of my SFH and was upset at what she and her family had been renting. Seems they moved to Georgia from Texas, renting a house sight unseen and when they got here found that it had (among other things), NO source of heat and electrical breakers that shot out fire when turned on. The landlord said he had no intention of fixing these things as the unit was rented "as is". The young woman contacted our city inspector who came out and had the house condemned and the landlord fined for failing to make these repairs.

But these issues were different and, of course, more serious than sanitary concerns.

Gail