Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Louisiana
I entered into a one year lease with a renthouse. The landlord knew about, and failed to tell me, that it had electrical problems. It would constantly trip breakers. I feel that is a severe safety issue as circuit breakers are there because a circuit can catch on fire without it. I wanted out of that house and after a good half dozen attempts by the landlord to fix the issue, I moved out. She won't pro-rate me back the rent for November because she says I broke the lease, and even said that she could make me pay for the rest of the lease, or until she rents it again. I say had I known this house had so many problems, I'd have never entered into the lease in the first place. To me, when a circuit protection device trips repeatedly, that makes the house unfit to rent, and she rented it to me not telling me about that. If she would have mentioned it when I was looking at the house, I would have ran, not walked, away from that. It was a 60 year old house, what if one of the breakers had failed to trip and the house caught on fire? I mean, I don't take things like circuit breakers tripping lightly. I'd like to know if I had a legal right to walk away from that house, and quickly, without giving her more than about 3 weeks notice that I was leaving, or if, once I sign a lease, it doesn't matter what issues the house has, I'm stuck? Can withholding known problems with a house to a possible tenant be an automatic reason to break a lease? I don't mean small things, I mean serious electrical problems like multiple circuits in the house that trip breakers for unknown reasons. The landlord tried about 6 times with the same electrician to fix the problem, but after almost 2 months, nothing was fixed, Please help me with this. I doubt she'll sue me, but I feel if she did, I have plenty of witnesses and people who can back me up, even the landlord herself telling me she knew about these problems from the previous renter who could help me win, and possibly win a case I filed against her for not being honest with the condition of the house. What are my options? Please help! Thanks!
2 Answers from Attorneys
You can certainly break a lease if the house has problems which cannot be fixed. However you have to provide written notice and comply with any conditions set out be lease. She would lose any case she brought against you for the full years rent. You could sue her for return of rent paid but it would be costly and time consuming.
Actually, that is not really correct. Under Louisiana law, if the home you rent has problems, you are required to first give written notice to the landlord. Then, if the landlord fails to repair the problem within a reasonable time (which varies depending on the severity of the problem), you are supposed to hire a professional to repair the problem yourself and then deduct the amount of the repairs from your rent. You are not allowed to simply walk out on the lease.
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