Breaking Lease

[netfocus]

Florida

I signed a 12 month lease on an apartment a few months ago. The washer/dryer which is listed on the lease has never worked, and the owner seems to be unwilling to pay to have it fixed. Almost 2 mos like this; could I break the lease with no or little penalty since the landlord refuses to fix this?

I would liken it to if you looked at a rental house with an air conditioner which was listed on the lease as provided, but then, when you moved in the air conditioner was no longer there; it would seem thats a violation of the lease, but Im no attorney.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

A tenants options in Florida if a landlord does not make repairs:

http://www.trls.org/brochures/landlord-tenant/RepairsTIP.pdf

Notice this is talking about withholding rent, not breaking a lease without the risk of a financial penalty.

Even withholding rent can only be done if the repair needed is SEVERE or endangers a tenants health (i.e., plumbing that doesn't work, a hole in the roof that allows rain in). A non-working washer and dryer hardly fit into this category.

Non working air conditioning COULD be an issue in Florida (especially in the middle of summer and depending on what part of Florida) but a non-working washer and dryer..nope.

Gail

 

[Who's Liable?]

There could be an issue of material falsification if the LL advertised said unit with working A/C, than failed to provide it.

 

[netfocus]

There could be an issue of material falsification if the LL advertised said unit with working A/C, than failed to provide it.

I think this is more along the lines of what I was thinking; its not like I was just living here and something broke - this item was broken from day one and it was a "selling point" in my signing the lease in the first place; its like promoting an apartment with an ocean view and then you move in and it overlooks a freeway.

Couldn't a lease be void on this point alone?

 

[netfocus]

A tenants options in Florida if a landlord does not make repairs:

http://www.trls.org/brochures/landlord-tenant/RepairsTIP.pdf

Notice this is talking about withholding rent, not breaking a lease without the risk of a financial penalty.

Even withholding rent can only be done if the repair needed is SEVERE or endangers a tenants health (i.e., plumbing that doesn't work, a hole in the roof that allows rain in). A non-working washer and dryer hardly fit into this category.

Non working air conditioning COULD be an issue in Florida (especially in the middle of summer and depending on what part of Florida) but a non-working washer and dryer..nope.

Gail

Gail, see my post above - this seems like a completely different situation as the item was NEVER provided from day 1; so its not an issue of making a repair - its the fact that I signed a lease for an apartment with a washer/dryer and that item was never provided..

 

[jgold]

You need to make a request to have it fixed in writing. In your contract it should say who is responsible for repairs and the minimum amount you are responsible for. I think in FL the tenant is responsible for any repairs under $150, but that varies from landlord to landlord. If he is responsible for the repair and does not respond to your request you can break the lease.


Go in the link below and call the number on the top of the page. They should be able to help you.

http://www.800helpfla.com/landlord_text.html