Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York

Breaking a lease due to yearly rent amount listed in lease

My boyfriend and I live in an apartment complex with a six month lease at $635 per month. the complex had a break-in two doors down. A week later our aprartment had an attempted break-in but since my boydriend was home the robber failed and was caught. But my boyfriend plays hockey and is gone every other week, and since this has happened I no longer feel safe at my own apartment. I tried talking to our apartment landlord and was told that we would need to pay 2 months rent and forfit our deposit. After looking at our lease I discovered that the yearly amount stating us to pay throughout our lease was a total of $2540 which is only 4 months worth of rent. Can I pay the difference of what we've paid now from that total ($1270) and get out of our lease without having to pay $1905?


Asked on 12/15/03, 4:21 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Arnold Nager Arnold H. Nager, Esquire

Re: Breaking a lease due to yearly rent amount listed in lease

You could try to break the lease based upon the landlord's breach of the warranty of quiet enjoyment ie:, lack of security, etc.

If he sues, the error in the amount of the lease payment might help as a defense. In any event, if he does sue, demand a jury trial unless you signed that right away in the lease.

In examining this response, please note that we are not entering into an attorney/client relationship, that this is to be taken as informative, and not as legal advice, that it is always best to speak to a lawyer in your area and/or in the area where the transaction and/or events occurred, and that my answer is necessarily limited by the fact that I have not seen the documentation or had an opportunity to go over the matters with you in detail.

Read more
Answered on 12/15/03, 5:04 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Real Estate and Real Property questions and answers in New York