How can I get out of a Lease Agreement Early?

I moved into my apartment about six months ago. Two weeks after we moved in we started seeing roaches- week after week, more and more showed up. At this point- I can honestly claim we are infested. We have told our landlord and he claims he hired someone to "bomb" the place. He would tell us to leave the apartment for 2-3 hours and we can come home. As a former Manger at Home depot, I immediately saw the paste in all the cabinets and the cheap bombs you can buy at Home Depot. Same day of the "bombing" there were roaches everywhere. He bombed the place once again about a month later, same scenario: roaches everywhere. My fiancé and I have a almost two year old daughter who has had asthma and we have noticed her coughing more and more at night. The doctor confirmed it was due to the roaches. We (my fiance and I ) also have had diarrhea because of the roaches touching the food.

On top of it all, our landlord and us- we never signed the lease. We gave a $1.000 dollar security deposit with first month's rent. Is there any chance we can get our deposit back, with the proof of illness and no lease?

My mother in law signed a lease and wasn't able to finish the terms of the lease due to financial constraints. The landlord took her to court and now they are garnishing her wages.

She has been paying for the lease ever since, but the landlord has rented out the place and is also collecting the money from her. Is this legal? Aren't the damages supposed to stop once they were able to get a new tenant, or not?

I am on my last step for the divorce I am going through. I just have to file the decree, which was mailed back to me since it did not match my petition. The petition I was requesting was that my name be removed from my lease with my ex. He wrote a letter stating that he would take over the lease and would have my name removed. It was a decision we both came to. I moved in this house after paying close to $5K just to move in, then turned around and pack it all back up three weeks later. I moved during my fourth week there.

He was to pay me back for all the money I put up front for the house, but it's eight months later I still have not seen a penny. I found out he is not paying rent, and I am getting calls saying utilities are going to be shut off and his truck is up for repossession.

A lawyer at the courthouse told me that i was wasting my time asking the judge to put in my Stipulated 69 Agreement "My name be removed from the lease." I do not want to be held responsible for a house I cannot afford, nor am I living in. His girlfriend lives there now, along with a new roommate. I tried questioning the landlord numerous times about the status before closing on my new house I just moved into. After waiting almost a month for a response from the landlord, I found out about the damages and rent not being paid on time.

How do I put this in my divorce decree? Is it possible I can get out of this situation? I am a single mother living paycheck to paycheck, and having to start all over with zero in my account. If he is to walk away from that $1850 a month rental, I do not know how I will be able to take over. Will the letter he wrote to the courts help me?

What should I put down in writing to the courts to help them understand my situation? Even if my name cannot be removed from the lease, I want to be no part of the responsibilities of all damage costs, repairs, and rent.

Can anyone help me answer these questions?

@Anon287263: I own a few cafes/restaurants in the DC metro area. The hood system problem should have come out with the build out cost, etc. with the landlord in the beginning. Not sure where you are from, but in DC, area, to have a fryer, grill, flame broiler, etc., there needs to be a hood, period!

I'm pretty sure that is everywhere in the U.S. This problem should be on the architect/contractor who built your restaurant since they are not up to codes and apparently neither are you.

I hope you got build out help from your landlord, but they should know what rules/laws go into having a restaurant. Not trying to be smart, but these kinds of issues are rookie issues and could be prevented. Also, if you are now on your own with this problem, it might cost too much to now build a ventilation system for a hood since the restaurant is in place.

I would suggest a ventless hood system. It's a more expensive hood, but it does not require a "vent" to go out of the bldg/restaurant to push the smoke out. This will help with construction costs. It's also easier to maintain, clean, etc., but the filters and hood system are more expensive. Good luck and please post again if you need help.

I rented a building one week ago to put in a little cafe, with the understanding that I did not have to have a vent hood for the small deep fryers and grills. The fire marshal came in to my cafe and shut me down before I even ever opened my doors for business. I paid $2,550 and signed a one year lease. How can I get my money back and get out of the lease?

A friend and her boyfriend moved in together, and now they have separated, but he will not take his name of the lease. What can she do?

I signed a 12 month lease eight months ago. I want to move out two months before my lease is up and the apartment complex we moved in is roach infested. I mean really bad where they have several different types of roaches. I want out! How can I break my lease?

Someone was shot and killed in my complex near the pool recently. I like to take my child swimming and in the common areas, but now I'm afraid for her safety. I have months on my lease. Is moving an option?

We moved in the first week of March. The next day, we found mold in the apartment and told the management office.

Two days later, nothing had been done to the apartment. A week later, the mold intensified and they filed a work order.

Three days later, the apartment was open and I found trash and someone's sock in the bedroom (I've yet to move anything in due to the mold).

Two days after that, I filed a complaint at the office about the mold issues and the apartment being entered.

I've tried the bleach and water for the mold, but that didn't work and I feel it is not my obligation to fix this problem. I would like to move to a different apartment. If that is not possible, do I have grounds to break my lease?

Not sure what to do. We were supposed to buy a house end of February, beginning of March because that's when our lease is up. Unfortunately, or fortunately, however you want to look at it, we need to do that by January 1, two months early. We are buying it from family that is moving out of state, and yes, we are going through a banker, real estate and all that fun stuff. What about our apartment? We've been good tenants paying everything on time, have had no complaints filed against us, nor do we really complain either. What should we do? We can't pay both.

We live in Minnesota and our year lease expires at the end of August. In mid-August, we gave notice to vacate.

In June we signed a renewal for a year, starting in September.

Since we're giving notice before the new lease is in effect, can they hold us to paying rent through the end of the new lease?

Or can they just make me pay two months rent since I should have given sixty days notice?

we signed a year lease for a two bedroom duplex. we have a five year old daughter and it was perfect for us. we are now four months pregnant and six months into our lease. the pregnancy was very unexpected but we need a three bedroom now, and we've found the perfect home with three bedrooms. could this be a valid reason to break?

I signed a year lease two weeks ago. After two weeks of moving in I find out my apartment is infested with fleas and there is animal air in the carpet.

Can I get out of my lease even though the apartment complex said they would spray? I think it is really unsanitary.

I am a landlord and on occasion, a tenant has asked to exit early from their lease. The best way to get cooperation is to first ask nicely. Let the landlord know that you are interested in moving early. Ask if they would consider advertising or looking for a new tenant to take over from the date you move out. If you offer to pay for some of the advertising costs, they'll likely be happy with that. Understand though, if the landlord is not able to secure new tenants, you are still responsible for your rent until the end of the lease.

Let the landlord know you understand and agree to this and you'll likely get full cooperation from the landlord. Keep in mind though, it is always more difficult to arrange to show a unit and secure new tenants when there are old tenants there. Make sure you clean your place and make it look like an attractive place to live, and the likelihood of it getting rented/exiting your lease early is much higher.

My husband and i signed closing paperwork on a house about 3-4 months ago when we moved to Alabama from Texas. We got the house from a rental company that rents and sells houses, apartments, etc.

Are there any state assistance programs that can help us to lower our monthly mortgage payment or help with the payments?

my husband and i are leasing an apartment; that we have been in for about 10 years, but now it's getting really bad over here. Someone has been murdered, buildings and cars have been spray painted. i have taken pictures of the vandalism.

We have three months left here, but we want to move now and the landlord will not let us out of the lease unless we find someone to move in, I don't know any of my friends who would want to move in. what can we do?

I am in a 1 year lease and was just informed that my photo studio I work for is closing and when they do, I can transfer, which means I have to move as well. Well I got told by my landlord that I have to pay two months rent before I leave. I make $425 bi weekly and rent is $425 a month. How do I get out of this?

me and my partner signed a year lease and the house is in my name. The house is $450 a week and her brothers agreed to move in to help pay rent. now though, they don't pay any rent and i want to kick them out, but need to find a cheaper house. what will happen with my lease? will i get a bad name? will i get my bond back? has this happened to anyone?

If you are in a lease with other people and want to get out, the apartment has an affidavit form. Every apartment has one! Do not let them lie to you. You will have to sign with a notary but so will your roommates.

My husband and i signed a year lease. We have been here three months now and we started finding narcotics in the house. Our lease agreement is that we are working on the house for rent instead of paying rent. Everything has been documented and police logged. We haven't told the landlord yet because she will try to get everything out of us.

She made us pay $87 dollars for being on her gas bill for three days when the gas company told us that wasn't how much we used. Her response was that either we were going to pay that much or she would make it strict on us. Can we get out of the lease agreement for finding the narcotics and her threatening us? this house is a danger to my infant.

My husband and I signed a 1 year rental lease agreement but after three months into the lease we had no choice but to re-locate. We did the right thing by notifying our landlord who informed us that we would have to pay the rent up and until they find a new tenant. However, they have had two months now to find a new tenant and still haven't the house was and still is up for sale when we signed the lease. I think this could be the reason why they can't find anyone to rent as is scaring potential renters away. I find that this is unfair as I know that they would have found new tenants by now if the house was not for sale.

Please help as we feel that they are taking advantage of our situation.

I was trying to help a co-worker out who wanted to break her apartment lease. She had only lived in the apartment for 2 months at the time. She informed me that they would not be able to take her name off the lease but will add me as a roommate and I would be responsible for rent, etc but she will continue to be the primary lease holder.

Now, 1 1/2 months later, I want to move out of the apartment and I realized that I never received a copy of the lease. So, I went to the office to obtain one. On my move in date, they only made me sign one paper because I was told I would not be a primary lease holder. Now they are saying that both my co-worker and I are lease holders and to get out of it i have to pay for the 60 day notice and then pay 1 month rent and she pays one month rent, that is our penalty for breaking the lease. The apartment has no official break lease policy, they change daily.

My question is since I only signed one page (front page) of the lease and not the middle or last pages, do I have a case? the front says both the 1st page *and* last page have to be signed in order for the lease to be valid as a legal document. My co-worker signed all the pages but I only signed one.

Please help me find the right answer. I share my apartment with two roommates. Only my name is on lease. One of my roommates said she moving out on the end of the month and she wants her deposit back. I tell her I need 30 days notice before she is going to move out, and she says we don't have a written agreement and she has right to get her deposit any time without 30 days notice about moving out. Who is right? What I should do?

am wanting to get out of a lease early. i have four months left. the landlord has the house on the market and has had since i moved in but he didn't tell me.

he told me i could stay there long term but his solicitor advised him to lease a year at a time. i told him if it was for a year i didn't want the property as i have a 9 year old son with adhd and i needed a settled environment for him. he assured me it was long term.

my 9 year old son is now about to start his medication and he also has been pulling his hair out due to the stress of us having to move again and he worries constantly. i approached the landlord and he said no, i couldn't get out of lease early. the only way i can do this is if he sells the property.

84, anon138594: Please file a claim with your small claims court. It won't cost you as much to do that.

And you need proof. So, please take pictures.

Also, get documents and if you can get documents try to get them all signed (by doctors and or inspectors used). And any good witnesses that would be willing to testify. (I'd do it but I don't know you or your family.)

A small claims court can only award you up to 5,000 dollars so, make sure that you get every penny that you can.

Also, a judge could rule that the apartment owner release you from your lease due to breach of contract that they broke and them breaking a violation of the department of health. There are laws to protect both apartment owners and apartment renters and leasers. In this case, they broke a lease and broke a law, making it your right to move anywhere you want free of charges.

@LineHi: I have a question. I just called the emergency line at my apartment complex and they told me I need to call the main line on monday, that the supervisor can do nothing about the mold growing in my and my two year old daughter's rooms.

I had fleas in the carpet when we first moved in. They took care of that fast. But then told me when I mentioned that the door frame needs fixed I can't just walk in an ask for it to be fixed; i need to call it in. which didn't make sense. So I've got a few other problems with the apartment as well: the toilet needs to be fixed (you have to holds the handle down for awhile to get it to flush) and around the tub on the floor there is no caulking, so mold could easily grow there.

My daughter and I have asthma, she has allergies, and is on claritin because she had an allergy problem where she would get chronic ear infections and antibiotics would not work anymore. She also has sensitive skin and we still do not know what else she's allergic to because of her age.

We cannot stay there until the mold is cleaned up because she has such bad coughing fits at home, and I believe the mold is doing this, before wee moved in the i had her asthma under control. I signed a year lease in september. It this considered enough to legally break my lease without consequences for me?

I have a ten month old son, he's had 3 sinus infections, my 11 year old daughter has had 2 sinus infections and bronchitis.

I moved into my current apt in June, 2010 and have found black mold in my home. We have been living at this apartment complex since August 2009. I told the manager about the problems I have in my apartment and this includes all the outlets needing replaced, the mold, the dripping sound I hear in the wall connecting our two bathrooms and the broken pantry door I have already complained about two times before.

At the time I told all these things to the manager, we (my husband and I) were having financial troubles and made an agreement with the manager about our rent. She told us that we could pay half the rent at that time and the other half was due at the end of the month and

if we needed to, we could do so again, for the month of January. If this didn't fix our situation we could sublet to someone whose application was approved.

This was Dec. 3 and the manger said that she would put in a work order for the maintenance. Two days later, one of the maintenance men showed up at our apartment. He replaced only half the outlets and did nothing about the mold, the door, or the dripping noise I'm hearing in the wall connecting our bathrooms. He said he would return in a couple of days, at most a week, and replace the remaining outlets and take care of the other stuff when he comes back.

It's been over two weeks and the maintenance man hasn't returned to complete the job. While all this is going on, my husband and I applied for other places to live so we can start the subletting process.

The place we applied called us back and told us we were denied due to the fact that the manager of our property said she never gave us the permission to sublet and our lease didn't end til May 31, meaning we owe the money for the remainder of our lease. I've called the tenants union and they told me to contact the housing inspector, which I did. He said that they have 30 days to clean up the mold after a written request is given to the landlord for the work order. After the 30 days, if this problem isn't fixed I can make a tenant's complaint. He then stated that after I make the complaint he will come in and inspect and if he sees no visual signs of the mold that means the mold is cleaned up. When I asked the inspector if there had been prior complaints of mold before, he asked me for my address, I gave it to him and he said yes, from previous tenants. So this means the mold problem hasn't ever been

eliminated at the source and it continues to come back.

The carpet in my living room is wet periodically and mold formed on the baseboard right above the wet carpet. Also, mold has formed on every window pane (wooden) in the apartment and the corner baseboards of our of our bedrooms. This is all connected to the exterior wall of the apartment. The office was closed during the holidays so I was unable to discuss with the manager why these

things have yet to be fixed, or why she told the apartments we applied to that "she didn't authorize us to be able to sublet. so we would have to live here for the remainder of our lease which doesn't end until May 31 and to make the payment for the remainder of this month's rent and half of next month's rent, like we agreed to.

So, I won't be able to put the written request in until Jan. 3, which is already 30 days after I made the original request in the office on Dec. 3. My family and I continue getting sick. And they still haven't

fixed the problems i spoke of with the manager on Dec. 3. After I put the written request in how long should i continue living with these mold conditions as is, before taking care of it myself? Or should I contact a lawyer and a mold inspector now? Should I clean the mold up myself? The manager has made it impossible to move in anywhere else so we could sublet our apartment (as she told us we

could do when we paid on Dec. 3). I'm not sure of what to do at this point.

If all they do is cover the mold problem by slapping on more paint, baseboards and cleaning the visible signs of mold but not eliminating the source of the problem, I don't feel it's in our family's best interest to continue living here. With all the difficulties my family already has with allergies, the mold has already posed health issues with us. Our pediatrician has recommended that we use a vaporizer along with prescribed medications just so our children can breathe better at home. Our lease

states we cannot use a humidifier of any kind in our apartment as a preventative of mold growth.

Through research I have also discovered that the symptoms my family and I are having, consisting of: headaches, sinus congestion/ infections (whole family), sleep apnea (husband and myself), skin rashes (whole family) body aches and pains, Irritability, mood swings, spleen pain, early menopause symptoms (myself), coated tongue (whole family), reoccurring colds (whole family), eye and vision problems, eye irritation

(watery, burning, or reddened eyes --husband and son), face flushing intermittently (son, daughter and myself), abdominal pain, diarrhea ( whole family), choking (son and myself), frequent nose bleeds (son and daughter), dirt like taste in the mouth (whole family), burning in mouth and throat (daughter, husband and myself), may likely be a result of black mold poisoning. So we all have appointments to be tested for this with our doctors.

I really don't want to continue living here and leasing this apartment under these conditions. But with our apartment manager being unreasonable and uncooperative, as I stated before, I'm not sure what to do about this. I need some advice on my next course of action on this matter but can't afford to pay for a consultation with an attorney. Please help?

I signed a lease for six months and then one week ago I moved in, only to find out that the room is infected with stink bugs. Is it too late to get out of this lease and can i get my deposit back?

Hello, I since moved out of my unit. my condo had mold in it, at which time I got very sick and was later diagnosed with copd by my doctor. I documented with pics and written letters to landlord, nothing was ever done.

last month before my lease was up my a/c broke down and the mold got worse, I later got sick from heat and passed out. I spent three weeks in the hospital and my family moved my things out while I was still in hospital. The property manager still refuse to acknowledge me wanting my last months rent back. I have a big hospital bill. Do I have a tort case for mold and negligence in non repair of my a/c.

Thank you so much! i am definitely going to try that out @amypollick.

@echorocks08: I don't know about breaking your lease. You might have to talk to a lawyer about that. However, I think I can give you a hint about getting rid of the ants. We had a problem, too, and here's what I did, based on the advice of a friend.

If you have cornmeal, start with that. If not, use cornstarch or regular flour. Mix up about three tablespoons of the flour with two teaspoons of sugar and a teaspoon of either baking powder or baking soda. Either is fine.

Sprinkle the mixture on your kitchen counters along their trails, and also in the floor, along the trails where you see them. They will carry the mixture back to the nest and will feed it to the queen. To put it mildly, baking soda/powder and ants don't mix. The queen will die and so will the nest.

It may take a couple of weeks for a severe case like yours, but it worked in my house, for sure. I haven't seen an ant in five months and we were getting overrun, too. It's not toxic, so you don't have to worry about your daughter getting into it. If she does, she'll have a nasty taste in her mouth and that's it.

I know it's hard to believe something so simple and inexpensive works so well, but it really does. Good luck.

I signed a year lease about eight months ago, and when i moved in there were ants. I told the office and they had an exterminator come out but it seems the more he sprays the worse they get.

I have a nine month old little girl and she is being bitten by the ants. so i went back to the office and told them and now they are saying it's my fault the ants are here, when it is on record that the ants were here before i moved in.

how do i get out without paying the rest of my lease? I only have three months to go, but my little girl is suffering and the ants are literally everywhere: in my baby's formula, in bagged food in my cupboard. I have to shop a day at a time for food or it all goes to waste because the ants get into it and i end up throwing it out.

I really need out of this place now. can i break the lease without have to pay and it going on my record, for my inconvenience and the harm done to my child?

i have been in my town house for four months now. When we moved in, we found mice droppings all over the place: under the fridge and stove, in the cupboards. in the kitchen cupboards. It was gross. They were everywhere. i have a nine month old son who is now crawling.

The landlord came in here and put down mouse poison. i removed it as i was scared my baby would pick it up and put it in his mouth.

Well, they crawl on us when we sleep. My daughter is terrified of mice so what i have been doing is losing sleep. Another thing is the bed bugs. The second day we moved in i found a bed bug crawling on the kitchen floor. The landlord told me that i do not have bed bugs repeatedly. So, i complained and complained and a so-called exterminator came in here and exterminated 3 times. Now turns out he isn't even a certified exterminator. He was, in fact, a carpet technician. funny, huh?

Well i have four children who have been waking up with bumps all over their bodies, scars and scabs. We find them on their school bags, jackets, toys, papers -- everything. We are now seeing them while we take baths. They're in the water with us. Can you believe that?

I've thrown out everything i own. Four months of bed bugs and nothing is being done about this. My kids' toys are all gone. The furniture, blankets, pillows -- everything is gone.

Someone please tell me what i can do. Can i get my first months rent back plus my damage deposit back or do i even have to pay rent? Also there's black mold in my basement. I have been having health issues since I've been here. I have been to emergency room twice and I'm thinking its stress. Could it be a result of the back mold? My landlord came into the unit and sprayed white spray paint over the mold.

I moved into this nice building in May, It is not the end of October. The people down stairs have bed bugs and the landlord isn't doing much about it. I am scared that I will get them as well and I have a two year old.

How do I get out of my lease? Can I get my first and last back? I don't have very much money and I don't know what to do.

I have been living in my apartment for about four months. My boyfriend stays with me a lot. He has his own apartment, just has a really psycho roommate. He is actually moving out and into another place this minute. Not moving in with me. The Landlord says that he needs to put his name on the lease or they will charge him 100.00 to be on the property. He is not living with me! Is this legal?

I signed a lease that has a no pet clause in it, but when i moved in about 15 or so people have dogs in the building. I have a doctors letter stating that i can't stay because of allergies. is this enough to brake a lease?

We signed a year lease in November, 2009 and it was supposed to end Nov., 2010. We told the landlord we were moving out prior to 60 days, however the lease stipulates that if we don't let him know by 90 days, then the lease renews automatically.

We told him he could keep the security deposit to make up for the less than 30 days that we did not notify him, but he's not going for it. On top of it all, there is a rotted hole in the window and they are very old historical ones that need to be renovated. You can see through it out to the street and in the winter it will be horrible.

We let him know in september that if it's not fixed by the end of october, then we are moving out anyway. We sent two notices and after the second he came to the apartment and began to get angry and threaten to take us to court if we leave, that he "has the money to go to court".

He hasn't done anything regarding the windows or other problems in the apartment (leaks near an electrical socket, rot from leak under sink). Do we have a case? Do you think we can leave by november?

I just moved into a house 3 days ago that I am renting. I tried to talk to the neighbors before moving in but they were never out when I drove by.

Well, now I am moved in and two neighbors approached me today when I got home from work to tell me they tried to warn me before I moved in. Apparently my landlord is a slumlord and while I was chatting with these women a guy walked by and heard us and he said you're the girl that moved there and I said yes, he said, oh i thought it was inappropriate when "bob" the landlord was talking to him and made a comment on maybe he will cut the grass for me if I am a good cook.

With some people I would take that as a joke but I don't like it in this situation. I had an eerie feeling when I met him but I went through a Realtor which I thought would be safe.

I now do not feel safe at all. The worst part is he was fixing the unfinished basement up to have an apartment down there and I don't feel that he should be able to work on that while I am renting. I pay utilities.

Any suggestions? I also found out the tenants before me got out after two months, somehow. I am going to try and locate them.

I moved into a room for rent situation with a landlord who is renting four separate rooms in their basement. I moved in a few days ago and paid rent for the remainder of the month, which the landlord already cashed the check.

I found out last week that a male who is a crazy marine will be moving in this week. When I found out, I started to get scared for my safety because I would be sharing living quarters with this potentially psychotic person. So last week, I told my landlord that it really scares me and I'm fearful of my safety.

Furthermore, that I might move out the day he moves in to protect myself. My landlord understood me wanting to vacate.

My problem is, today I definitely told her that I'm moving out tomorrow and asked for a partial refund of the rent I paid, which is only a little over $100. Funny thing is, I notified her early this afternoon and have not heard from her all day. She usually responds to me immediately whenever I contact her via email or cell. Now, it's almost 9 PM and I still haven't heard from her.

Am I entitled to get back a partial refund considering I will have only been here 14 days? I'm in California. Please help!

I signed a six month lease in Kansas and two days later I called the landlord and told her I was unable to move in and I would pay for the ad to rent the house. Four days later she rented the house and wants to keep half of my deposit. What can I do?

just signed a year lease an hour ago and was approached by a friend about the apt complex who ave it very, very bad reviews. I called to get out of the lease and was told i couldn't! I haven't even moved in yet! what can i do?

I signed a lease about one week ago and the landlord said the electric was included and it's not so now. I can't afford it. Can I break this lease?

I had a stroke last year and I have heart problems. the lady across the hall told her boyfriend she was going cut his throat. Plus it's drama after drama.

me and my spouse have lived in an apartment for two years now, and i just received the third lease in the mail, I've noticed every time i renew the lease there is always an increase in the rent and the security. i need to move but not until december and my lease expires in august. how can i get my landlord to give me a month to month lease? van

I have lost feeling in my legs. i am in a wheelchair and i live on the second floor. my landlord wants me to pay higher rent to move to a downstairs apartment and we cannot afford that. what do i do.

OK i signed a year contract. I've been living in my apartment for about seven months now with five more to go.

About two months ago, i noticed bites all over my body and then noticed i had bed bugs, so i went to complain that same day. They said they were going to send someone but they never did. I waited two weeks and i went back. they did send someone but i went the next week because i still had bed bugs and she told me, "it's too expensive to keep sending pest control" but i kept on complaining never got a visit from the pest control people.

And it's two months, almost three. can i get out of my lease and how do i go about doing this?

I am trying to escape my lease on behalf of the oil spill. It is headed my way and I wish not to be here if it comes to my area. I was told about 20,000 jobs will be lost and I am working in a real estate business. It is very hard to find business as it is, and because of the oil spill not too many people want homes where it is polluted.

I am not too happy about the oil spill and I would like to be in a much better place if the oil were to come to my area. I have a friend who is willing to help and that I can move in with she is moving six hours from where I live now. And is willing to let me stay with her. What should I do?

I signed a one-year lease and need to leave two months before it is over. I let the rental office know three months in advance and they are still giving me a hard time.

It's either i find someone to take over my lease for two months pr i terminate myself and get the renting office to rent my apartment for me, which i absolutely know they won't. In that case, i have to pay for the rent until my lease is up, and i can't afford two places at once.

What can I do or what steps can i take? I am running out of time! --ac

When we moved into our apartment, we signed a one year lease. t the end of that year, we did not receive a lease renewal but kept paying rent each month.

After 2 1/2 years, we moved out and gave a month and a half notice to our landlord. He then informed us that we needed to give two months' notice so he kept a big part of our security deposit.

Since we had only signed one lease a few years back, we did not remember the two-month rule. Do we have any rights here? Especially since we technically didn't even have a renewed lease?

I moved into my apartment about three months ago. There is a month to month lease. However I have been really sick and my doctor did some testing and she said I'm getting sick from mold!

I then went home and looked everywhere -- sure enough there is mold all in my closet witch is touching my clothes! I brought this up to my landlord and told him that it's not safe to live with mold. He just simply said, well, if you move out I'm keeping all of your damage deposit! And hung up! I have now found out that I am pregnant and can no longer live here with mold! What can I do? Do I have to give a month's notice?

i just signed a one year lease through a property management company. At first the landlord seemed reasonable and he tried helping us with our payments (deposits, rent, etc).

I came into his office with an issue, i was financially unstable at the time because my dog's C-section was $1300. He was on no terms to help me in the situation. Talking to his secretary, she claims he will do anything to get as much money from you as possible!

She had claimed that he would photoshop pictures of the home to make it look like the tenant had left damage. She also advised me that he will charge the tenant to pay for a professional to shampoo the carpets, even though she was the one doing it at the time and she was not a professional.

I am unsure about renting from him now and i was really like to get out of the lease to avoid further complications. On my part, i do have every single piece of paperwork and receipt. Please give advice as to what i should do! --Confused Wyoming

i signed a one-year lease with my partner last october 2009 and in February, he kicked me out and i need to know what to do about the lease so me and my daughter can get somewhere to live.

To everyone posting their problems:

Read the article. Carefully.

Try to talk to your landlord. Make sure you can get them to sympathize with your situation. Some can be understanding in this economy.

If you cannot, make sure you send your landlord written complaints that are photocopied and sent registered mail. Keep that receipt. In your letter, state the time that you will wait for his reply/action before you contact proper authorities.

Wait, and if you don't get a reply within that time period, contact authorities to help you.

Personal issues will not get you out of a lease. Sanitary or endangerment issues can be reasons to break a lease. If you were misled and have solid evidence, this should also be grounds to leave.

I got out of my lease because I went to the leasing office as soon as I found roaches. Because others were involved (Strangely, I was not allowed my landlord's contact info) it was clear I had a legit complaint in the past. I also sent a registered letter. Good luck.

I am a active duty member of the military and have a roommate who also is active duty. He has received orders to another station. Both of our names are on the lease and I know that he is legally able to get out without making any type of penalties but i am wondering can i do the same since both of our names are on the lease?

I signed a six month lease and i have two kids and i got a dog. And there is a big thing going on in my apartment.

i took my kids and my dog to the park yesterday and my kids saw a dog fight with pit and the pit came after my dog. i want to break my lease. And about two weeks ago the was a drive by and me and my kids were walking our dog.

What can i do? The office lied to me and there have been break-ins, also.

I'm scared to be at my apartment. I need someone's help on what i could do about this.

*scareformyfam*

i signed a 1 year lease, and have only been here for five months. We had mold issues badly, both kids were sick and we adults had bad headaches. Can we break our lease agreement? Even though they try to correct the problems, mold still shows up in other areas!

My fiance and i are trying to get out of our lease because the trailer we rent has so many issues.

First, when we go there, we found out that there is dried dog poop in most of our registers and when the heat is on we can smell it. Then we got some unfriendly neighbors and the back yard we can't even use.

We have two dogs and the only yard they get to use is the front which is small.

Everything inside seems to be falling apart. We pay $455 but i think its only worth $300 or maybe $200. I just know we need another place to live in. We're both not happy.

Plus the kids next door drive us crazy since the parents are too lazy to keep an eye on them. They keep throwing things at the side of the trailer. How rude. Help!

The attorney general's office in your state should have a pamphlet that is along the lines of "Landlord/Tenant Laws."

This will tell you everything you need to know about your rights.

If you are renting from a place, it should be habitable. If it smells bad or it's dangerous, it's not; that is, not in a livable condition.

If your landlord will not let you off the lease and reimburse you your rent, call your local Attorney General's office and ask if they can do a mediation for you.

If they say "yes," then either go through with the mediation, or tell them thank you you are going to talk to the landlord one last time. Then let him know that if he does not comply with your reasonable requests, you will get the Attorney's General office involved, and they've already agreed to do a mediation of the situation.

This should go a long way in fixing your problems.

P.S.: If there's ants or any kinds of bugs in your apartment, that is classified as "vermin" and it is the landlord's responsibility to completely take care of that problem, or else you probably have grounds to break the lease.

Prior to moving into my apartment I applied for subsidized housing. Not expecting to get it anytime soon, in addition to the fact that I had to move out of my last apartment I signed a 12 month lease. Fast forward to eight months later. I got laid off from my job. Therefore I can no longer afford the rent. How can I get out of my lease?

I just recently found out that before i moved in my apartment the previous tenants had problems with someone and they shot up the house.

Before i signed the lease to the apartment, the landlord did let me know about the situation that had happened there and now i don't feel it's safe for me or my children. And another thing -- my house is so cold I have to turn my heat all the way up to keep warm so my child doesn't get sick and it's making it hard for me to afford to pay my heating bill and I'm in a one-year lease. What should I do? I want out!

i really need help. i need to get out of my year lease. my neighbors go to the main office about us about three times a week. i don't feel safe when I'm home with my child and my boyfriend's at work. i hate coming home.

i signed a renewal year lease in june. my roommates are driving me crazy. they won't let my boyfriend in the house, they are just not nice people. i want to move in with him but i have four months left and i can't stand it any more. is there any way i can get out?

I found a apartment, to be moved in on the first of Jan. Well, on the 30th day of Dec. I was finally given my keys. Now mind you I had paid my deposit at the beginning of Dec.

Once I went inside to deep clean the day before my move in date I noticed the hot water did not come on nor did the furnace work. In fact, it had a red shut off notice on it.

I called the landlord and explained to her what I had found, and she claimed she would have it fixed. Three days after i still couldn't move in. I decided to terminate the lease because she was not resolving the problem at all, especially while it had been in the low teens outside. She kept insisting that I need to give her time to fix the problem, but my thing was what are me and my two babies supposed to do while she tried to find someone to come on out to fix it.

I went as far as going to the urban league (housing authority) who felt I had every right to terminate the lease because the apt. was not in a safe and move in ready order. Not to mention all the other problems I had discovered and took pictures of.

She received my subpoena to come to court for my deposit. Now she has obtained an attorney who is stating that I broke the lease, and my complaints did not warrant an termination of my lease. Legally does she have a leg to stand on, and if an apartment is unsafe and is not move in ready, is that grounds for termination of the lease.

I have a year lease, the apartment has squirrels in the vents and walls. They haven't fixed the problem, other apartments have had black mold and roaches, what can i do to get out of my lease?

I signed a one year lease and I want out because I can't afford it anymore. How badly would it affect my credit?

There was just a murder in my apartment complex. I just renewed my lease two weeks ago! I want to get out of here. The crime just keeps increasing and they're doing nothing about it! Help!

It is extremely cold in my apartment and the winter weather has yet to begin.

Although my landlord has given me an extra heater, the heater barely keeps one room warm and needless to say the other rooms in my apartment feel as if I'm standing in my refrigerator. My three year old lives with me and I'm concerned about her health. Is there any way i can get out of my lease early?

I am in a nine month lease, but i want out now. My neighbors are terribly loud and abusive to one another. My landlord does not seem to care one bit. I have called her after midnight while the abuse was taking place and she does not answer or call me back, simply says she forgot. I do not want to listen to it anymore and i want out ASAP. Please help.

I signed a year rent agreement. I have had trouble paying the rent on time but I am slowly getting by.

I just found out that I am going to have a baby and I would like to get out of my lease three months early. My landlord laughed at me. She won't let me and she's rude.

I need to move back home which is nine hours from here, so that I can raise money for the baby not $3,000 for rent when I won't be living here. Please help!

i got an apartment lease for one year. i haven't moved in yet and i already lost my job. how do i get out of lease?

In may of 2009 i signed a two-year lease with my landlord and i am closing the business because my rent is $2,650 and i make about $2,000 in sales a month. and i am having a baby. i need to get out. please help me -- what can i do? they want me to stay until they find someone else. :S:S

I've been living in a house with three other people. I work on the weekends in a different town, and every Monday when I come back my house is a disaster, my room has been broken in to and used by one of their drunk friends. Also, one of the first weekends I had been gone for work someone had slept in my bed and ruined my sheets and comforter as well as stole a couple things out of my room.

My roommates claim no one was in my room but obviously someone was. How can I get out of my one year lease?

I signed a year's lease in mid-October. I paid $1700 for first month and security deposit. From my understanding, the landlord had a company rent this for her. I received the keys a couple of days ago. At that time, I told the landlord I wanted to come back later to clean. No problem. There was a distinct odor when I was in there with her. When I came back, the odor was still there. I figured because no one had lived in it for six months. I scrubbed the kitchen and both bathrooms down with bleach, Tylex and anything else you can think of. The smell was still there. It was a little on the moldy side. I left and came back two hours later, and the smell was worse. The next morning I went over, and there it was again. I hadn't moved anything in there at all other than my bucket and cleaning items. I called the landlord and explained the problem. She was quite nice, but said she didn't have money to give me back because she was only working part time and had to give the other $850 to the rental company. They are letting me out of the lease, but no money is coming back. Shouldn't I at least get half of what I paid? What can I do?

My husband and I signed a 2 year lease for our apartment. we have 3 kids and he just lost his job and we can no longer afford the rent each month. what can we do because we don't want an eviction notice on our credit but we really need to move a.s.a.p.

I just signed an eighth-month lease on an apartment yesterday but am already having problems with my roommates. I called today and asked if there was anyway I could get out and the realtor said he spoke to the landlord and the landlord said no. We paid the security but nothing else yet and we haven't even gotten the keys. Is there any way that we can get out of this now without incurring any penalty or do we just have to suffer and live with each other for the next eight months?

My husband and I renewed our lease for two years, but I am filing for divorce. Neither one of us can afford the rent on our own. Is there any way to get out of a lease due to divorce?

i am living with someone who i don't get along with. i'm not allowed to use the fridge, or turn any lights on or take a shower. i did sign one year lease. i want to move. please help me with any suggestions. thanks

my housemate and I moved into a house after sharing a terrible unit together. it was the first time i've lived in a house. i was so excited. we signed a 12-month lease in june this year. in august this year my nine-month old kitten and I were attacked in my own front yard by two dogs unknown to me and it was absolutely horrific. since the attack i can no longer handle living in the house. i already suffer depression which is now 50 million times worse. i need out desperately. please help me.

We are in the third month of our lease. there was a leak in the roof, and the house had water in the walls. It took the landlord six weeks to fix, then mushrooms started growing out of the wall. My wife is 7 and a half months pregnant. We were concerned, we explained to the landlord, and he sent an e-mail, that we could get out of the lease and I have a copy. Now he is saying we can't -- it's been three to four weeks since the mushrooms were here, and an inspector came out. I called the landlord and he told me the report is fine. i asked him for a copy and he said if i pay him $500 dollars. This guy is a real piece of work. We're trapped because the deposit we put down, we would need to move, and we're expecting in december. if anyone can have some insight that would be great.

I signed a one year lease but does not go into effect yet, however we have been offered military housing. can we get out of the lease since it has not gone into effect yet?

please help me! I signed a one year lease with my roommate. We have gotten robbed twice and at gun point and the other they broke into the car. We are super scared and fear for our lives. However we have no idea how to get out of our lease without paying a penalty. Also maintenance is horrible. we have a serious pest infection, missing pieces of the refrigerator and a broken light bulb in the kitchen (ceiling is 22 feet high) since the day we moved inn. Please help us. Give us ideas on what to do. thanks!

we have a horrible sewer smell. i have 2 children, one is an infant, and my landlord just keeps telling me to pour water in the drains which doesn't work! the smell is so bad in my daughter's room she won't even sleep in there! it is embarrassing and can in no way be safe to be breathing the smell in. what can i do to get out of my lease?

Help me! My son re-signed a lease in July for 15 months, he recently lost his full time schedule and possibly his job any time now. he has no savings and cannot find another job in time to save his apartment. How can he get out of his lease without costly penalties? I am divorced with no money and don't know what to do, but i can share my small home with him till he finds a job again.

My son and his friends rented a house that is set up as a duplex. My son and his girlfriend are having a baby and asked about getting out of the lease early and were told no. As of today, we just found out there are some complications with the pregnancy. Do they have any options to break their lease without penalties?

I signed a one-year lease in February. I have a four-year-old and a baby on the way. My boyfriend and I are very upset because before we signed the lease I asked the landlord did they have any pest problems with rats, mice, roaches, etc. She said oh no we don't have that. I'm like O.K. A month after we moved in that's when the roaches started appearing. I can't live like this. I didn't grow up like this and I refuse to have my children deal with this. We have both talked to the landlord and she's giving us traps, powders, plugins, gel. For a building that doesn't have pests, she sure is prepared to give us things to get rid of them. None of this works either. I can't take it. I'm so unhappy is there a way to break the lease? I can't have my family living here. I don't even have company because I'm so embarrassed. Everyone else in the building deals with it but I can't. A neighbor even suggested we get a cat. I'm highly allergic to cats!

I signed a 6 month lease that started in May. Three weeks ago, the power went out and our sump pump never came back on when the power did and the basement flooded. We got the property management company to get the sump pump replaced but they said that as far as the damage goes, the owner of the house needs to get in touch with his insurance company and get it repaired. Since then, the property management company said they have tried to call the owner 10 ten times and sent a letter to let him know but he doesn't answer or call them back. The basement now smells musty and moldy all the time that we have to keep the door closed. My 7 year old son is allergic to mold and dust and this is not good for his health. We have a couple months left on our lease but can we get out of it without having to pay out the rent on the rest of the lease? Only my husband works and we couldn't afford to pay rent on two places. The house we are in now is not good for my son's health. What can we do to get out of here?

Our 1 year lease is up soon. We asked to go month to month for the same rate we pay now. They said yes, we will write it up but we never got anything from them. We cannot afford to move because we are getting married in October. Sunday they served us with termination effective Sept 30. They know our situation. I have also taken a pay cut due to the budget crises. I use to be the assistant manager. They let me go in June, then they fired the old manger and made her move out in three days. I have a feeling that is why they want me out. I do have a little bit of dirt on them. We cannot afford to stay there for another month. I know that in the past they have let six other tenants out of their leases. How can we get out of this without them suing us?

How do you legally get out of your lease if you don't physically feel safe in your own home because of a threatening roommate?

i signed a one-year lease. i've been here onr month. there's nothing wrong with the apartment, but i don't like it and i sure don't want to be here. how do i get out of the lease? Please help.

I have been in my apartment for over a year, and signed on another year at the end of April. I am finding it difficult to make ends meet, and my ex husband has offered to have me move back in with him. I even went to a credit counselor, and they could not take me as a client. I do not want to file bankruptcy, I would rather work on my finances the best I can. I need to break the lease, to work on this, what can I do? I gave 60 days notice, and don't know if they will find someone in that time. I am really sick about this, but I am financially strapped. The assistant manager seems nice enough, but now I really feel in a jam.

i signed a 2 year lease, its already been 1 year and i have one more to go. my problem is that me and my partner split up and he left. i can't afford rent on my own and i can't find a roommate. how do i get out of the lease without getting evicted first.

I moved in to my apartment 2-1/2 months ago. I signed a 9 month lease. There have been 2 times that somebody had to enter my apartment (once to fix the balcony door lock, which took over a week to finally get fixed and once to spray for bugs in the entire building). Both times I came home to my front door being unlocked. Will these 2 instances get me out of my lease, and if so, how do I go about it? I don't feel safe here and do not feel that my belongings are safe. I complained the first time and this second time just happened last night and I have not called the manager yet, but am going to here in a bit. But, of course, there is a new apartment manager than the first time this happened to me. I have documented everything that has happened since I moved in here such as water being shut off for hours at a time (more than 1 occasion) without any notice whatsoever, the times my front door was left unlocked, people leaving bags of dog feces by the front door of the building, birds living in the vents, bugs falling from the vents. Can I get out of my lease without paying up the you know what?

I moved in to an upstairs unit in a fourplex in March of 2008 doing a month to month rent.. One of the bottom units became available and my son is 1 and loves to be outside so I moved downstairs so we could have a yard, but he made us sign a 6 month lease. The first couple nights we looked out our patio and there were cockroaches.. I called the landlord and he swears he sprayed.. but now I have found them inside and so has my neighboor. It is horrible. I have never seen so many cockroaches.. Is there anyway I can get out of my lease?

sooo.. the rule about 'roommate release forms'.. is that legal in canada too?

We signed a rental agreement about 6months ago and not until we moved everything in and a month later we were told that there had been a case of bedbugs before we moved in, but apparently they got rid of them. About four months into us living here we were getting bit but found no sign of a bug. They brought someone in to check and they claimed that there was nothing and it must have been us that brought them in. Today I found one of the floor of our bedroom (which we cannot sleep in anymore because of the bites). Is there any way to get out of the agreement early?

I signed a lease. Well we didn't know about the furnace until we finally started using it a week later. I've notified the landlord I don't know how many times about the problems. I'm trying to find out about getting out of the lease. There's things going wrong all the time and nothing's being done.

I have two children and I'm worried about the furnace catching fire or something. I had an inspection done and the landlord was supposed to have it done within 60 days which is the 27th of this month. Nothing's been done. She's been trying to get me to buy this house. I finally told her no not with how much needs to be done and with the price she's asking. Well she won't call me back or anything. I just put money down for another house and sent this landlord a letter letting her know I'm moving. Can she go after me once I'm outta here or can I get all my money back since she's not done one thing here.

i had signed a lease 3 months ago and no move in date was written on it. they are still living in the home and in the process of moving out. however i have no place to go and had to get an apartment and sign a lease with them. when i signed the other lease there was no move in date written on it, the landlord was all verbal with it. now they want to move it back to august! i need to get out of the lease legally. he has to let me get out of it right? since there was no set move in date on the lease agreement that i signed?

I signed a 1 year lease in Sept 2008. I have had nothing, but problems since I moved in. My neighbors are loud. I went 10 days without hot water and a couple of those days with no water at all. I've had outrageous electric bills for the past 3 months and have talked with the electric company and they told me to have maintenance do a breaker check and check the heating element in my hot water tank. I've been reporting this for almost 3 months now and *nothing* has been done. About 2 weeks ago a new company took over the property and I've reported my problems to them several times already. Can I get out of my lease early with having all these problems?

I signed a one year lease agreement in August of 2008. It is know the start of March 1st 2009. I haven't been living in the house since January but have been paying rent. My roommates have started using drugs and they party all night all the time and that is why i moved out. I'm tired of paying rent and I would like to get out of my lease agreement with as little a penalty as i can. I read something about a roommate release thing but don't know much about it. Can anyone give me advice?

Hey, my friend and I just signed a lease for 5 months in a sharehouse and want out. It looked good at first but after staying a night in the apartment we discovered it was moldy and that the place hadn't been cleaned, if feels like we are breathing cotton and we want out, what do we do?

My Husband my 2month old son and my 3 year old daughter signed a one year lease. He has told us several times he was going to fix underneath our house. I know it wouldn't pass inspection and our house stays freezing cold. Now he says he's not going to fix it. How do I get out of my lease?

i signed a year lease about 3 months ago since then my roommate beat me up so i don't feel safe here, there is a mental kid that lives below us and he screams all night so i can't get peaceful night sleep, and when we moved in there was some damages the manager said she had to order the parts but i worked in construction and i know it does not take two months to order a mirror.

how do i get out of the lease hopefully without any fees.

I signed a year lease. Between the time I signed the lease in March and took possession when it started in August the leasing company bought it and put on the market the day we moved in. They having been showing the house ever since (5 months) and now they are showing it to new potential lessees as well. We have no privacy and have strangers coming into our house often. Do we have any rights? I don't want anymore people coming in. I want to break lease instead of having to deal with this anymore.

My landlord said that I was signing a semester by semester lease. Yet now that I have tried to move out early, I find out that I signed for a year. What do I do if I feel I've been lied to?

I am in a year lease that ends in the middle of March with my boyfriend, however I need to get a restraining order against him. How do I get out of the lease without ruining my credit?

i moved into my house 3 months ago and now my roommates are leaving, and i can't find others. my rent is way too much for me to pay alone and i want to get out. and i have a mold problem in the house and my landlord will not come and check it out, how do i get out of my lease? and can i get my deposit back?

Hi, I signed a 1 year lease about 3-4 months ago, everything was great until about 2 weeks ago the apartment is full of ants, i rang the landlord and i was told it was my problem!!!! What can i do i want to leave?????