HELP. Landlord Apt Complex won't let me out of lease.

[ctcsoft]

So me and my fiancee have been renting from this Apt complex for two years almost.

The whole time basically we have had LOUD neighbors. Now I've lived in Apts
before but never ever experienced noise like this. Its not so bad on the
weekends but they are noisy all week.

My first upstairs neighbor got kicked out for noise. Now my new neighbor is even
worse. I let it go for as long as I can. Is there anything I can do to LEGALLY get
out of my lease? I've always paid my rent on time $670 and not been late once.
I went over and talked nicely to my leasing office but they were complete a$$holes
and basically told me to deal with it and welcome to apt. living. BS!!! I've lived in
other apts before and it shouldn't be this noisy! Especially for $670!!

I've already found a house to rent from my co-workers dad who owns alot of
properties. So I just somehow need to get out of my current lease if its possible.
About 5 months left on my lease right now.

Any advice is greatly appreciated here...

** I'm trying to sublease now but I just started to advertise on that. Plus I think it will be hard to get a sub leaser for $650. This place really isn't worth $650

 

[Dissipate]

I would complain to the police department. I think most cities have ordinances about loud behavior after certain hours.

 

[Eli]

Pack up your sh!t and leave.

What's the worst that could happen?

 

[TheNinja]

What does your lease say? Is it month to month? Did you sign another year by year lease or what?

 

[AlienCraft]

Multiple cop visits to tell them to turn down = nuisance = move out = small claims court = no judge would deny especially if Manglement does nothing.
Key is to complain to cops, get a Radio Shack Sound Level Meter to document noise levels, and complain until they can't stand it. If there is a message machine on after hours, call it when the noise gets going and let it record the merriment. This should do it.....
Have fun with it....
or ...............




Find someone to sublet to temporarily.

 

[TechnoKid]

Yeah, if you pay month by month, I don't see how they could require you to lease for more months unless you prepaid those months, in which case you should get prorated on the rest of the time you didn't stay.

 

[ctcsoft]

Originally posted by: Staley8
What does your lease say? Is it month to month? Did you sign another year by year lease or what?

thats the thing. the leasing office here pulled a quick one. they had my fiancee
sign basically a two year lease when we moved in. at the time my fiancee really
liked the place and went ahead and signed away.. Made me pissed and now I'm
even more pissed today.

If I just packup and leave then our GOOD credit will be ruined and we will get
sued in court

 

[TheNinja]

Originally posted by: jmoe782

Originally posted by: Staley8
What does your lease say? Is it month to month? Did you sign another year by year lease or what?

thats the thing. the leasing office here pulled a quick one. they had my fiancee
sign basically a two year lease when we moved in. at the time my fiancee really
liked the place and went ahead and signed away.. Made me pissed and now I'm
even more pissed today.

If I just packup and leave then our GOOD credit will be ruined and we will get
sued in court

How close to the two years are you?

 

[ctcsoft]

Originally posted by: Dissipate
I would complain to the police department. I think most cities have ordinances about loud behavior after certain hours.

Did that with my first noisy neighbor.. Now my second neighbor turns out to be even
worse. She stomps around like she is 500pounds and plays her awful music VERY
loud. and the screaming.. we won't even go there..

 

[Dissipate]

Originally posted by: jmoe782

Originally posted by: Staley8
What does your lease say? Is it month to month? Did you sign another year by year lease or what?

thats the thing. the leasing office here pulled a quick one. they had my fiancee
sign basically a two year lease when we moved in. at the time my fiancee really
liked the place and went ahead and signed away.. Made me pissed and now I'm
even more pissed today.

If I just packup and leave then our GOOD credit will be ruined and we will get
sued in court

Yea, trying to get out of the lease is the wrong angle to attack this from. The best thing to do is get the police involved or possibly other tenents. There must be a formal way to file complaints.

 

[ctcsoft]

Originally posted by: Staley8

Originally posted by: jmoe782

Originally posted by: Staley8
What does your lease say? Is it month to month? Did you sign another year by year lease or what?

thats the thing. the leasing office here pulled a quick one. they had my fiancee
sign basically a two year lease when we moved in. at the time my fiancee really
liked the place and went ahead and signed away.. Made me pissed and now I'm
even more pissed today.

If I just packup and leave then our GOOD credit will be ruined and we will get
sued in court

How close to the two years are you?

5months left on the lease. June 30th the lease is up.

 

[TranceNation]

suck it up for 5 months or have a long talk with your noisy neighbor. Have you tried that yet?

 

[ctcsoft]

Originally posted by: TranceNation
suck it up for 5 months or have a long talk with your noisy neighbor. Have you tried that yet?

My noisy neighbor could care less. She is a true B!tch who cares about nothing
or nobody else. I can already tell that from her attitude. I feel very sorry for
whoever gets married to her too.

Yes I've tried 3x's to have polite conversation with her. Not working.

 

[Orsorum]

A couple things you can do:

First, don't go about this by trying to get out of the lease.

Second, make sure you call the police when necessary: after the county or city noise ordinance laws come into effect for the evening. If it's during the day, I would try calling the landlord and make a complaint about the neighbor being a nuisance: that is, they are interfering with your ability to inhabit the apartment. A noise level meter from Radio Shack may help in this regard.

That's all I got. Look forward to hearing any progress you make.

Cheers!
Nate

Oh: Document EVERYTHING. Every conversation, date, time, people involved, subject. I cannot stress this enough.

 

[TranceNation]

well then goto radio shack and buy a jammer to jam her sound system lol
else, you can start playing your music really loud at times when you think she'll be sleeping.
if your neighbor is the only problem with the apt, then see if you can switch apartments to another building without affecting your lease terms or rent. I know if I was in your situation I would find every opportunity to make it hell for your noisy neighbor.

 

[slick230]

Buy a bunch of blank keys that fit into her door lock, and while she's out go upstairs and bust one off in the lock. Make sure to put glue or epoxy on it first. Keep doing it until she gets the picture or until you move out. Inconvenience her just as much as she is inconveniencing you.

 

[SweetSweetLeroyBrown]

Originally posted by: Eli
Pack up your sh!t and leave.

What's the worst that could happen?

LOL

How 'bout having to deal with a civil law suit and having your credit score lowered.

 

[jelloinhawaii]

I think the key here is to be the ones taking the high road, rather than stooping to the level of the obnoxious neighbor. If the repeat police visits don't resolve the matter, check your lease for terms regarding living conditions. Landlords are required to maintain safe living conditions in common areas, and a lawyer may be able to tell you if this extends to noise pollution, or at least find some other legal route to find the landlord in breach of contract. First consultations are often less expensive than followups, as well, so arrive at the lawyer's office with all the documents you might need.

 

[Gravity]

2 year leases suck. Also, you can claim that YOU didn't sign it therefore it's invalid.

 

[MillionaireNextDoor]

From experience, Can't leave. Call the Police. Document it.

 

[SweetSweetLeroyBrown]

Originally posted by: Gravity
2 year leases suck. Also, you can claim that YOU didn't sign it therefore it's invalid.

Yeah, the lease doesn't hold him responsible, but his fiance signed it. So she is ultimately responsible for payments.

Hell, they can both move out right now...but they would still need to pay the monthly rent.

Landlords don't care if tenants occupy the apt or not. All they care about is the monthly rent check.

 

[AndrewR]

You can't hold the landlord responsible for the actions of another tenant (in most cases) -- doesn't make much sense to me, but that's the law. From someone who has been down this road before and broke a lease, you have few options available. The best one is with the police who are hopefully sympathetic. The police can issue citations, but you can also ask for advice on filing a civil complaint against them (had one cop suggest that to me).

If you call around the same time of night, you might be able to get the same officer to respond. If the noise is to such a level that it's obviously a serious problem, the cop hopefully will get pissed at the neighbor for making work for him (or her). I had one officer bust up a party immediately because they blew him off after he walked back to his car, turning the music up so loud he could hear it from the parking lot. He almost dragged the tenant to jail right then and there. That was amusing (or would have been, had it not been Christmas Eve).

If you vacate the premises, you are liable for the rent until the landlord relets the property. Subleasing might be an option, but most leases I've seen expressly forbid that practice. If you do move out, and the landlord relets the property, you are off the hook. We moved out, paid the last month, and the landlord relet the property. We sued the landlord over another issue, and they counterclaimed for the remainder of the lease. We defeated their counterclaim (their lawyer was a dipshit).

I really do like the idea of breaking keys off in her lock though. That's creative AND hilarious! (Ok, a bit destructive and illegal, but still funny!).

 

[Thegonagle]

Just keep complaining about the noise. The message will filter back to them, and they'll either get it, or they won't and they'll eventually be asked to leave.

You can usually break a lease (without negative marks on your rental history) by negotiating, but one of their terms will probably involve forfeiture of your deposit, and possibly an extra month's rent. That's not good for you. So, how about looking into a different unit in the same building, or another building they own? They'll probably be much more amenable to accommodating you in that case (well, unless it's a "management company" running the place for an absentee landlord). Try for a unit on the top floor.

 

[LuckyTaxi]

i feel you man ... my lease finally ended and im so happy to get out. i complained twice to my landlord who didn't really show that he cared. he actually cared more about the guy above me because he had personal issues with his lady not working and him working to pay the rent and every bill. who cares everyone does that, right?!

so i wrote my neighbor a letter and he was cool and everything, but he continued to pester me with his loud music and 3 y/o child running around all day. i complained to the landlord and documented all times and dated everything, but he once again said he'll do something. so i just ignored it the best i could until my lease was up.

call the cops, but i doubt they'll come out.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

jmoe,


check to see if your city or state has a tennant's association. By law, landlords probably have to ensure you a safe, private, and peaceful existance. This will not be stated in the lease, but it will be in your city code. Check for a renters or tennants association for quick access to what rights you have as a tennant. If those rights are broken, adn you given your landlord an oppurtunity to fix the situation, then you may break your lease. Look it up and tell your landlord to go to hell.