Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Georgia

Can violent crimes be a reason to break a year housing lease?
My husband and I recently moved into a new home where we signed a year lease. The lease says it may not be broken for any circumstance, but in the 1 1/2 months that we have lived here, we have had 1 robbery, 2 attempted, 3 shootouts between the nextdoor neighbors and rival gangs, and numerous threats (Including 30 kids in front of our house flashing guns at me).What we thought was our dream house has become an unexpected nightmare. The police have been here a total of 13 times, and we are terrorified. They even told us we need to move asap.To top it off, we had a septic pipe brokenin our crawl space for over a month, and many repairs that were promised to be finished before we moved in still unfinished! Any advice? We are desperate!

Asked on 5/13/08, 9:27 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys

SHERRY RAGOLE RAGOLE & ASSOCIATES, LLC

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Re: Can violent crimes be a reason to break a year housing lease?

Consult with an attorney about breaking the lease for security concerns. As far as using the repairs as grounds for breaking the lease either now or in the future, make sure that you communicate any structural problems to the landlord or his designee in writing and keep a copy.

Answered on 5/13/08, 9:41 pm

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Scott Riddle Law Office of Scott B. Riddle, LLC

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Re: Can violent crimes be a reason to break a year housing lease?

Yes, the situation you describe is a good reason to break the lease, since safety should be a concern. However, breaking a lease has consequences. You do not state how the landlord is responsible for the violence, so that is not normally a reason to get out of your obligations. Lawyers will take a fee for reviewing the lease, but those funds could be used to pay a month or two to settle with the landlord (in writing). Repairs should be taken care of as the lease provides. One note on that - landlords are used to tenants coming up with repair issues or other complaints when they want to move for other reasons.

Answered on 5/13/08, 10:34 pm

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