Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida
Hello my apartment was broken into on friday.. I contacted my property manager saturday, because the office was closed around the time the incident happened. I called the office and the front desk said she would be out until monday. she then gave me the property manager cell number, I called no answer and left her a voicemail. I aslo sent her a email that day. I called the office back explaining to the front desk I needed to speak with someone else who can help me because My door was broken and it was impossible for me to sleep there. the front desk gave me the emergency hotline number, I called no answer and left a voicemail as well. I called back and again and to my surprise it was my property manager who also had the emergency hotline phone with her. I explained the situation to her and she told me she was away on vacation, and there wasnt any techs available to look at my door but she can try and send someone on sunday to look at the door. Sunday came, no phone calls from the property manager. I sent her a email letting her know i was very upset, because i cant continue to miss days from work and how my door is broken. My door does not close properly, which means the rest of my things can be stolen. she responed to the email saying someone will be there monday morning. How can i get out of my lease because i dont feel safe and my door is still broken?
2 Answers from Attorneys
You will need to read the lease and see what it tells you about what rights you are being given. Also look up on the internet the Landlord/Tenant rights for Florida. there are several pages of information. In the meantime, I would hire someone to fix the door so you don't lose your job. Send a certified mail return receipt to the landlord and let them know you are hiring someone to fix the door and that you will expect payment for it. I am sure they are covered under a blanket policy as to damages to the apartment complex. YOu can not deduct it from your rent but you can sue for the reimbursement and possible lost time from work. I hope you have tenant insurance for any loss of property.
Prior answer is pretty much the entire story. Without seeing your lease, hard to tell whether you can actually terminate it for this occurrence, but in all likelihood you cannot. You likely do have an obligation to take action on your own behalf to protect your personalty. Dont wait for them to do something and sustain another loss as you wont have anyone else to blame or cover those losses than yourself.
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