Breaking a lease when renting.

[Lil Jenna]

This is going to be long but… I really need advice.
I have been living in my apartment building for 6 months... I have a 1-year lease.
Living in this apartment building has been hell. I have a crazy lady who lives above me talking into her floor till 4am... people who party every night of the week across from me. No access to the laundry room, our storage lockers are broken and get broken into monthly. My deck is so unsafe I don't step foot on it fearing that it will collapse or the railing will give out.
Since I have moved in I have not seen our landlord once, we do not have a manager living in our building who I can contact. We do however have a phone number to contact the landlord… although he never answers or returns calls.
When we moved in our apartment was unfinished with ripped up 20-year-old carpet lying around. Only our hall way was completed with new hard wood flooring. The whole apartment was completed 4 days later. The contractor who installed our floors told our landlord in front of us that the balcony was very unsafe and should be replaced immediately.

This was the first time I moved into an apartment and did not document everything that happened with pics ect… Such a stupid move.

I do however have witnesses. Is there any advice any of you could give me or have been in the same situation??

I have been a great tenant, but the people who I have rented from don’t give a fuck except collecting their money.

I have since found a place 5 min away from my work is $100 more in rent but includes everything I could need. Washer/dryer, dishwasher, fire place, heat, hydro, cable...

[willyb]

Ending a lease early (Breaking a Lease)
Please Note! Your lease agreement is a legally binding document. If you break the lease you may be legally responsible for all of the remaining rental payments and/or the landlord's advertisements costs. If you do not pay these, your landlord will probably sue you. You can end your fixed term lease before the end of the lease term under the following conditions:

• both, you and your landlord agree in writing to terminate the lease early
• you (tenant) will continue to pay rent until the end of the term
• landlord agrees in writing that you can assign or sublet the unit and an acceptable replacement tenant is found (advertising on apartmentguide.ca web-site is very successful)
• the landlord is able to rent out the premises in a short period of time and mitigate the potential loss
• your landlord has violated the Residential Tenancy Act and you have an arbitrators permission to end your tenancy
• if the agreement is for a fixed term of six months or more, the landlord cannot unreasonably forbid you to assign or sublet the rental unit

[willyb]

Either ask the landlord to end it. or Do it the hard way and go into arbitration...which does take awhile...

The contractor who installed our floors told our landlord in front of us that the balcony was very unsafe and should be replaced immediately.

That statement there, said he broke the Residential Tenancy act



What are the landlord's and tenant's responsibilities for cleaning and maintenance?
The landlord is responsible for ensuring that rental units and property, or manufactured home sites and parks, meet "health, safety and housing standards" established by law, and are reasonably suitable for occupation given the nature and location of the property.
The tenant must maintain "reasonable health, cleanliness and

[Lil Jenna]

I hope he just lets me go... with no hassle. Highly doubt it though.

Although if he does take me to Arbitration I will have to let them know that our building is not up to fire codes.. and everything else that is falling apart.

Honestly, I'm scared to see whats going to happen. I don't have the money to pay for another months rent with my damage deposit on the new place plus rent for Jan 1st.

EDIT: I have already given my written notice, with all problems listed.

[Lil Jenna]

I already looked up the Residential Tenancy Act, but that you so much for the help! I was just looking to see if others have been in this situation and how it turned out....

I have a friend who was fucked over by his landlord went to Arbitration and won... she still hasnt given him the $850 back

[baby-phat]

I know that some landlords (not many, but some) will let you break your lease if you can find someone else to move in there and take your place.
You could and possibly should go through arbitration yourself, because they should not be renting that apartment at all if it's unsafe and not up to par with fire codes.

Good luck honey. :)

i would call Tenancy office directly and get their advise. they kind of sound mean at first , but if u're nice to them i'm sure they can really help you

[rawb]

ARE YOU PEOPLE SERIOUS? YOU CANT BE SERIOUS. ARBITRATION?

AM I IN CRAZY LAND WHERE EVERYONE MAKES EVERYTHING A HARDER DEAL THAN IT SHOULD BE?

5 WORDS: "I CANT AFFORD IT ANYMORE" WILL GET YOU OUT OF ANY RENTAL/LEASE AGREEMENT, WITH THE BIGGEST THING YOU LOSE BEING YOUR DAMAGE DEPOSIT IF YOUR LANDLORDS AN ASSHOLE. IT IS VAGUE ENOUGH THAT YOU CAN MAKE IT TRUE NO MATTER WHAT YOUR SITUATION, IT HAS LEGAL CLOUT, AND YOUR LANDLORD DEFINITELY DOES NOT WANT A TENANT THAT CANT PAY THEM o

[NinjaBoy]

^
Easily the easiest and most logical way to get out of there.

Going through the other methods will take a long time, and pretty much end in the same results. Your not going to have a good refrence if you take him down legally, hell you'll probably have an alright refrence if you just say, "I'm running out of money, and won't be able to afford rent next month".

[Lil Jenna]

^Now thats some good advice!

I don't want the hassle of going to Arbitration.. I really just want to get the fuck out of there and not have to pay Jan 1st rent.

[TrixX]

i wrote down why i should be let out of my lease and ended it with, if they disagreed i would take further action. i got out easy as pie. i don't know anyone that hasn't been able to break a lease. you'll be fine :)

[baby-phat]

^^ hmm.. I didn't realize that kind of thing ever worked. Good to know. :)

[TrixX]

Originally Posted by baby-phat

^^ hmm.. I didn't realize that kind of thing ever worked. Good to know. :)

hahaha. i believe kylee just got out of her lease for the same reason, they knew they were wrong and didn't want to deal with arbitration!

uh, a lease isnt worth the paper it is written on. just give ample notice and offere to help pay to rent out the suite or do the searching for the tenant yourself.

i have broken leases before and not said anything other than it isnt what i wanted in a place. a landlord cant trap you in if you are being reasonable, and the tenancy board will tell them the same thing.

on another note, you should be reporting this slumlord as he is the exact reason why people get put out onto the street without a place to live and half their belongings.

[Courtney]

just do it they can't do anything other than take your damage deposit

[Gusto]

basically just ask your landlord, but here is some stuff:

Breaking a Lease - BC, Canada - Expert Advice for Tenants

[Gusto]

just be careful with some of the advice in this thread. i wouldn't just assume you're not liable. the real deal is that the landlord can try and come after you for lost rent and/or the damage deposit. however the landlord needs to make an attempt to minimize his losses by actively trying to rent out the apartment to someone else. if you or the landlord can find someone to take over the lease, this should satisfy the agreement. however it's the landlords call if he wants to try and recover any losses from you.

[Lil Jenna]

I called him three days ago and I still haven't heard from him.

I will try again tomorrow to contact him, but after that I will contact the appropriate people.

[lildonkey]

leave a message for your landlord and say you made a mistake a left the water-pump on from when you were watering your grow-op and that it flooded a bit... that should get him over pretty fast

[Lil Jenna]

Talked with him last night and because our deck is falling apart hes not holding us to our lease.

Also thanked us for giving him a months notice... most people he said that have moved out in the past gave less than that.

I thought he was going to put up a fight

^ most managers wont hold you to a lease, they know they cant

[ebbomega]

Originally Posted by Lil Jenna

I thought he was going to put up a fight

Are you kidding? He can probably turn around and rent the apartment back out with minimal work on it for about twice what you were renting it for.

The housing market right now is godawful for renters, but great for landowners. Means that they'll take any excuse for you to move out because then they can charge stupid amounts more to someone else. They're only allowed to raise your rent by 20% per annum, now they can raise it by 50% or more...

[Lil Jenna]

Originally Posted by ebbomega

Are you kidding?

No, I wasn't. Thats why I asked for advice.

[Gusto]

Originally Posted by ebbomega

Are you kidding?

are you being patronizing? ;)

[ebbomega]

Originally Posted by Gusto

are you being patronizing? ;)

Is that rhetorical?