Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida
I have signed a year lease agreement on my current home which I have now occupied for 4 months. At the time of both application and lease agreement, damage to the bedroom carpet was noted and replacement was agreed to in both the applicaiton stage and the final lease. However, this has not occurred. Additionally, the electricity in both bathrooms has not been functional. I have requested this be corrected in 6-8 emails with no response or action forthcoming.
I now find that I will be relocating to a different home. The lease agreement reads I am responsible for 2 months rent if leaving prior to the specified one year. However, I believe the lease holder broke the lease agreement by not replacing the carpet as promised and by not responding to other potentially hazardous issues in a timely fashion.
Can you tell me if the lease holder has broken the contract and/or am I still responsible for two months rent in order to move to a new location?
1 Answer from Attorneys
A tenant may withhold rent in the event that items that require repair are ignored by the landlord. The tenant should pay the rent due into the court, with the stipulation that it not be released until the repairs are made. Since you continued to pay your rent, the landlord continued to ignore your requests. You should contact your landlord, or have your real estate attorney contact your landlord. If you move out without paying or coming to some sort of agreement with the landlord, he will likely sue you for at least the 2 months rent as required by the lease. Of course, you can countersue for repairs not made, but this is the hard way to do things. Sometimes landlords have a way of seeing their lax maintenance when an attorney brings it to their attention.
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