Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Breaking my one year lease

Have you thought of a restraining order.

Re: Breaking my one year lease

You did not mention where you are located approximately, so I could know whether you are near my San Francisco office.

I dont think you want to sign from this general summary. I would hire an attorney to write a letter to the landlord advising him of the safety concern and demanding he take appropriate steps. If such is not the best option, you should hire a lawyer to argue he has breached his duty to provide a safe environment, and you must leave to protect your family. If your lawyer handles this well, there is a good chance he can only get money from you for money he is unable to get from renting to someone else. Since your lawyer will have a good defense for you, he may not come after you at all, and he may even be required to return your deposit.

Contact my office if I may help.

Best,

Daniel Bakondi, Esq.

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Re: Breaking my one year lease

The lease is completely independent of the threat, unless the perp is also a tenant of the same landlord. Even then, you better negotiate a resolution, rather than abandon and be sued for the lease payments.

Re: Breaking my one year lease

I agree with Mr. Nelson. Breaching a contract is breaching a contract, even when there is a good reason for the breach. As long as the reason wasn't caused by the landlord (you can make a good argument on this point if the threats are coming from a fellow tenant and if the landlord has known about them but failed to act), he can hold you to your lease.

If you move out early, the landlord will have to use reasonable efforts to re-rent the apartment. You will be responsible for the rent he loses in the meantime, and potentially for any decrease in the rent for the remainder of the lease period after the new tenant takes over. That would be the extent of your liability whether you stay or leave, so I don't see what the proposed agreement is supposed to accomplish.

You would also probably lose your security deposit if you leave early, if only because the amount of rent the landlord will lose will probably exceed the amount you deposited. You might get some or all of it back if the landlord finds a new tenant at about the same rent right away, but that doesn't sound likely.

I'm not saying you should sign the landlord's proposed addendum. He doesn't have the right to make you sign it. He does, however, have the right to hold you to your contract.