Animal Cruelty...Breaking Lease

[BigTfred]

What is the name of your state? California

Good Morning All,
I'm glad that I finally found a place to vent my frustrations and ask for some sound advice.
I moved into my new place in January 05 - signed a 9 month lease with the landlord who lives on site with his two dogs. When I signed the lease, it was late at night and the dogs weren't anywhere to be seen - I didn't get a good look at them until a few weeks later.
Skipping ahead...I now have reason to believe that he is abusing these animals. Both of them are extremely skinny (one of them is now tethered with a 5 foot rope to keep him from slipping between the slats on the fence) - they are both starving for food, water and attention, they are forced to sleep outside in the rain without proper shelter, one of them, because he is tethered on a short leash, is forced to sleep in/eat around his own waste, the list goes on and on. This has made it extraordinarly difficult for me to come home at night and for me to trust my landlord. I am not in a position to take care of these animals and feel like I can't call the ASPCA until I move out. I consider this a "lease breaking" violation - but I wanted to check with all of you before making any decisions.
I went over my rental agreement with a fine tooth comb and didn't find any clauses about the penalties of breaking the lease. I know that I will be forfitting my deposit (at the very least) but I don't know if I have any rights in this situation that will keep me from losing my shirt on the other 7 months of tenancy I signed up for.
Please help! I will be giving my notice on April 1st and need some peace of mind ASAP.
Thanks for your words,
-T

 

[ENASNI]

umm

Call animal control and get them over there to inspect those dogs immediatly!

I am not sure if this can be done anonymously... but Do it.

Heck I am not sure if you want it to be done anonymously...maybe LL will be so mad you will be given notice and then he would have broken the lease in the wrong way.

Otherwise.. lack of trust in your LL is not a legit reason for breaking your lease, but I do understand your angst.

http://www.dca.ca.gov/legal/landlordbook/

Any way you go... please do not leave those dogs to suffer. Please.

 

[treese]

I agree that you really should call regarding the dogs ... why let them suffer any longer?

I also agree that your concerns are not a valid reason to break your lease.

 

[BigTfred]

My concerns are not a valid reason to break my lease? So you suggest that I live in an extraordinarily uncomfortable situation with this abusive ******* for the next 7 months?
I have already tried talking with him about the dogs. If the ASPCA shows up, he will know that I called them. This would create serious problems around the house - I share a living space with this person - I have to engage with him on a daily basis. How could this interaction be anything but unpleasant if he knows I was the one who busted him?
In the meantime, I have tried my best to ease the suffering of his animals. I give them fresh bedding when they need it and try to give them a little attention when I am home.
Clearly, I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.

 

[ENASNI]

Ahem

So you live in a secluded place where no one visits... nobody checks on the meters... picks up the garbage, drops of the mail...
No neighbors can see or hear these dogs...

As you can see I am more worried about the dogs than your situation at this point because I don't see how you can sleep at night.

Oh poor you can't live with a whatever that curse word is.

If you can't pretend that it is done anonymously to keep it nice nice around the house...wait...

WHy do you want to keep it nice nice anyway... YOU WANT OUT... make him want you out... get it...
YOu have no recourse in that you don't like the *******... understand...
If you want to look at your lease and see if you get a replacement person... maybe someone that likes to drown cats...or strangle canaries... that might be your only out.
Get it! Got it! Good!

I am not talking to you anymore... I am ticked off... good luck with others... they have more patience than me....Jeesh..

 

[BigTfred]

What is your problem Ensani? I CAN'T SLEEP AT NIGHT! THAT IS WHY I HAVE ASKED FOR ADVICE! You have no idea who I am and how stressful this situation is. This concern consumes just about every second of my day. You are in no position to make assumptions about how I feel - I haven't done anything wrong and am, in fact, trying to correct what I feel is an incredibly immoral situation. I don't need you to boo-hoo me - I came here for support -obviously something you are incapable of providing. Don't respond to this post, I would only like to here from people with something constructive to say.

 

[HomeGuru]

yes, choices.........

 

[treese]

Patience is not my strong point either ...

I am sorry that you feel stuck between a rock and a hard place - life can be unfair and unpleasant.

Legally, you do not have a valid (or legitimate) reason to break your lease.

Enasni gave you the link for California's Landlord Tenant Law, which I suggest that you read.

You can try to negotiate to be released from your lease with the LL.

Legally, the LL can hold you liable for any damages, costs to rerent the apartment and for rent until a new tenant is found. Hope that the LL can find a new tenant at the same rent amount ASAP.

All you can do at this point is give your notice, move and deal with the consenquences.

Do you think the abusive ******* of a LL is going to play nice and have pleasant interactions with you for the last month you live there, after you tell him that you are going to break the lease 7 months early?

 

[BigTfred]

Thanks for all of the advice! I am absolutely going to report him - this has always been the case - I just wanted to see if this situation changed anything being that he is breaking animal cruelty laws as outlined in the state's civil code. I am going to give my notice and speak withhim about the ethical treatment of animals this evening. I will update you all later.
Thanks again

 

[laidback]

centralcoastspca@yahoo.com

your LL should be punished, the people
at above email should be happy to help the dogs in any way

I think you should take photos to help them 9the dogs).

LL might go to jail for up to 6 months, so maybe you could live there w/o him/her/it & help the poor critters so they wouldnt end up another statistic.

Hope you do well

 

[BigTfred]

Wow...the worst case senario is being realized.
I tried to have a conversation w/ my LL last night and he blew up - quite scary actually.
I didn't even get the chance to tell him that I was going to be leaving; I mentioned that I needed to speak with him when he had a moment of free time and he flew off the handle telling me that he had no time to deal with my problems and that I needed to get out of his personal space.
Needless to say, I'm a little alarmed by his unpredictable mood swings.
So...I sent him an email:
"Please consider this email, sent on the evening of March 31st 2005, as my 30-day notice. I will be vacating the premises by May 1st 2005. If you would like to discuss my decision in greater depth, come and speak with me."

His response (just what I was fearing):
"Breaking your 9-month lease agreement is not an option. It's your option to live anywhere you want, but you are responsible for your rent until the end of the term. Other options may be discussed."

The plot has truly thickened here. Looks like I will be discussing "other options." What a pain! This is, without a doubt, one of the most stressful, nausea-inducing situations I have ever experienced!
Any thoughts?

 

[You Are Guilty]

Any thoughts?

I'm thinking your LL might be amenable to some sexual favors. Might be cheaper for you in the long run.

 

[BigTfred]

Thanks for trivializing a very serious situation. This experience may be something to laugh at in the future but it absolutely is not funny right now.

 

[ENASNI]

well its gotten ugly huh

Icky...
Well I am back...
Make that e-mail a written notice... E-mail is still sometimes not recognizable in court... and if this guy is off his rocker, then well... I can't see into the future but you might see the inside of one. just to be safe you might even want to send it CRRR... spend the $5.

Call animal control... if you haven't already... he is already mad.. who cares. maybe if he thrown in jail (not-likely but we can hope) at least the time you are there will be maniac free.

Go to Home Depot... get a bolt lock for bedroom... Eat at Denny's. Protect your valuables..

Advertise for someone else. He can't double dip. Take pictures of the dogs. Not sure what you might need... but heck maybe you will set a precedent or something if it goes to court.
There maybe someway for you to get out of this... we can only hope.
Good Luck.

 

[BigTfred]

Thank you for the advice Ensani! I have taken many of these steps already - photographed/documented the condition of the dogs, creating a paper trail of correspondence, etc. I have used all of my free time to research and print out documents of landlord/tenant laws as well as California animal protection laws (of which he is clearly in violation).

The bottom line:
Though my name is on that lease and I am legally bound to pay out my term unless otherwise negotiated, I feel as though I would have a pretty strong case against this man in court. In my opinion (and what I believe would be the opinion of any descent human being) there are some serious moral and ethical codes being violated here - codes that are above any signed lease or written word. Whether or not that argument would hold up in court is another story but I find it hard to believe that any judge would find in favor of someone like this.

Oh...Ensani, rest assured that the dogs will be taken care of! Their safety and well-being has been and still is my absolute priority!

Thanks again for your post!
I will let you all know what plays out..