Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York

breaking a lease

We relocated from Florida and rented a house in order to see where we would like to eventually purchase a house. From day one the house has been a disaster. We pay our rent on time but we do not have a stove that works correctly nor use of the master bath shower due to a leak. The landlord became quite defensive when I pointed out to him that the house was not cleaned as he had indicated in the lease. Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of the house before I took on the task of cleaning it myself. We are still waiting for repairs that were reported the same month we moved in. Our new house should be built about 2 to 3 months before the lease is up. I want out without losing my security deposit. What recourse to I have?


Asked on 4/12/00, 2:54 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Neil Ackerman Ackerman & Gallipoli, LLC

Re: breaking a lease

Hi.

Sounds like your landlord has arguably breached warranty of habitability implicit in all leases, as well as express provisions of lease. But you have no pictorial proof of breach of actual express provisions of lease.

Be that as it may, see if you can fake LL into letting you out by asserting you're about to report him to NYC (which is where I'm presuming you're living, given text of your message) as well as Better Business Bureau. If this goes good, then God Bless. But don't be surprised if LL doesn't fold that easy. LLs in NYC have dealt with myriad persons, myriad porblems, and tend to be tough.

Your choice then would be to sue or do a deal. Note; breach of warranty of habitability, if it did occur, generally only gives rise to right of setoff (i.e., right to withhold certain portion of rent).

So if LL doesn't fake, and you don't want to hire a lawyer to do a lawsuit, might have to do a deal, where he/she keeps portion at least of deposit. If that occurs, get written release!

Don't fold too quickly when talking to LL. At least one full talk, maybe two talks, before you fold.

Good luck!

Neil Ackerman 516-228-8245

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Answered on 4/23/00, 8:20 pm


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