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I'm a former landlord and armchair attorney and the answer is yes, you can break the lease if the landlord does not take care of the problem in a timely manner. She/he is in breach of the lease by not providing a habitable environment. Get on them to get a professional out asap, give it a reasonable amount of time to work and if it's still a problem, move. But document, document, document. Save everything, emails, voicemails and texts-just in case. Good luck:)
@SaraRocks: I know nothing about legal matters, but just wanted to say eww. I hope they solve it soon!
@Lindsay12.31.2010: Thanks Lindsay! It is really disgusting!
I would ask a lawyer in your state. Actually, since the roaches make the living conditions unsanitary, there is probably a Housing Rights group around who can tell you what the best way to proceed would be.
Remember, document, document, document...write down when you told the building manager ect. about the roaches, what they said they would do, when you saw them again. Dates are key. Take pictures.
@Rubies: I second the "take pictures" suggestion. Just in case you wind up in court, you want to have visual proof that they were there.
Good luck - if you end up moving, make sure to take precautions to keep roommates of the buggy variety from following you. My grandparents' first apartment right after they were married had a fair share of roaches and they ended up moving. They sprayed a sheet in the middle of the living room with roach propellant. They proceeded to pack each box one at a time, placing it down, then spraying around the perimeter just to make sure none got in. And make sure to cover any of the openings in the boxes you've packed with plenty of packing tape.
Update: We had called our landlords the day after the original post. They offered to take 10% off our rent for the next couple of months and agreed to pay for Orkin to come in and spray for bugs. However, in less than 3 weeks, the roaches are back with avengence!! We are going to see if we can get some advice from some people in the county about moving.
Honestly, this is causing A LOT of anxiety for me. Can you break a lease based on mental anguish? Thank you Bees for all of your advice! More to come soon..hopefully!
@SaraRocks: Oh, wow. That sucks. I reiterate that you should reach out to a housing rights group, ask them about whether you can withold rent until the situation is resolved or if they can give you advice on how to get out of the lease. Keep documenting!
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I moved into an apartment in July which had been vacant for some time. There were plenty of roaches in our house, but we asked the condo association to come spray. Since we saw even more roaches, we put down some traps about a month ago. Well, this didn't help either and my husband just killed one in our DISHWASHER!! EWW
I am wondering what my rights are as a tenant. Can I break my lease for this? I am located in Maryland.
Thanks!