My girlfriend and I recently moved into an apartment on August 15th. We placed an application for an apartment that was occupied, and we were told they had given their notice to move out by July 1; we had planned to move in July 15th (they take two weeks to clean the apartment and get it ready for move-in). July 4th, we were called and told he would not be moving out until August 1st. At the time we set a move-in date for August 15th, and we were promised by the leasing agent the tenant of the apartment would be out by that time. About a week later, the same agent called and told us that apparently he could stay up until September 1st. Because of this, we consented to stay in a temporary apartment (we have been anxious to start living together). This apartment was only supposed to be for one month and we were told we could have the security deposit back if the other tenant stayed longer than that. We called at the beginning of September and found out that the tenant was planning to stay another month, and because of this, we wish to leave this apartment and search elsewhere. However, we did sign a lease for the current "temp" apartment, and when we questioned the leasing office about it, we were told that they would 'simply change it to reflect the other apartment' when the tenant moved out. After contacting the management office about moving out and getting our deposit back (as we were instructed to by the leasing office) the manager claimed he had no idea of this and does not believe we were told this. Is there any way for us to get out of our lease? They've violated what they told us, but it was only a verbal agreement.
Every time we talked to the leasing agent we were told something different. First the tenant was to be out by Aug. 1, and then it got pushed back to September 1. Immediately after we signed the lease, we were told again that the tenant was staying until October 1 because he could stay up to 90 days after his lease ended (we were never told this in the beginning). A week after this we were told that the tenant could stay as long as he wanted on a month-to-month basis; unfortunately, we had already signed the lease. We were told on numerous occasions by the leasing agent that we were NOT locked into our temp apartment, but after speaking to the property manager, he's told us we have to stay there until the tenant in the apartment we signed up for leaves.
We were hoping this point might help us leave: they recently updated light fixtures in our building, and when they notified us via letter, we called the management office and asked that we be present when they did this. They came in anyway when neither of us were home. We looked up a statute for NH and it stated they could only enter without consent if it was an "emergency repair" (leaking pipes, smashed windows, etc.). On move-in day, we had signed a paper stating that we did not consent to have anyone enter the apartment without us present. When my girlfriend called to confront the property manager about this, he said the damage was already done and basically brushed it off, even though he had been aware that we had called and requested that they not enter. Could that fact help our case at all? Any ideas on getting out? If so, with our deposit as well?
Every time we talked to the leasing agent we were told something different. First the tenant was to be out by Aug. 1, and then it got pushed back to September 1. Immediately after we signed the lease, we were told again that the tenant was staying until October 1 because he could stay up to 90 days after his lease ended (we were never told this in the beginning). A week after this we were told that the tenant could stay as long as he wanted on a month-to-month basis; unfortunately, we had already signed the lease. We were told on numerous occasions by the leasing agent that we were NOT locked into our temp apartment, but after speaking to the property manager, he's told us we have to stay there until the tenant in the apartment we signed up for leaves.
We were hoping this point might help us leave: they recently updated light fixtures in our building, and when they notified us via letter, we called the management office and asked that we be present when they did this. They came in anyway when neither of us were home. We looked up a statute for NH and it stated they could only enter without consent if it was an "emergency repair" (leaking pipes, smashed windows, etc.). On move-in day, we had signed a paper stating that we did not consent to have anyone enter the apartment without us present. When my girlfriend called to confront the property manager about this, he said the damage was already done and basically brushed it off, even though he had been aware that we had called and requested that they not enter. Could that fact help our case at all? Any ideas on getting out? If so, with our deposit as well?
