Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Massachusetts

My apartment house is infested with bed bugs.
we just moved in an apt 15 days back to find it infested with bedbugs on the 4th day itself. After notifying the landlord, he got furious and blamed us for getting in the bugs and asked us to pay for the extermination. Later he agreed to do the extermination. However the problem is that one of my roommates has a severe allergy to bedbug bites which results in a swelling of affected area and severe pain. Also as per the exterminator to get rid of bugs it will take min 30 days. In this case as a matter of precaution we thought of moving to another apartment and asked the land lord to terminate the lease but he is talking about suing us for breaking the lease. We have already inspected our house by a local health inspector and sent him a notice. he is ready to exterminate and incur the cost but we do not want to risk our health and especially of our roommate who is suffering the most. we wish to move out of the apartment. how can we do that? also after enquiring we came to know that the aprtment has a history of bedbugs and they won't go even after several exterminations.. in this case what should we do? How to break the lease so early without having to pay? Its just 15 days? There are no clauses in lease about termination.

Asked on 2/01/09, 5:10 am

Joseph Murray Joseph M. Murray, Esq.

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Re: My apartment house is infested with bed bugs.

Retain an attorney to advise as to what violations may give you the right to terminate your lease. Good Luck!

Answered on 2/02/09, 9:34 am

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