Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Virginia

Re: The right to terminate a lease when ''quiet enjoyment'' is not possible.

In theory yes. In fact, this happened to me and while I was in law school I sued my landlord, and they ended up paying me a little bit. However, it is NOT easy. The problem is not with the concept (the principle). The problem is with proving something that is inherently subjective. The threshold is rather high. Normally "quiet enjoyment" in the law does not refer to "quiet" but is a rather strange term of art. It really means whether or not the apartment is habitable. So the problem needs to be rather severe to qualify. It is a little hard to convince people that mere noise is that bad, although it can be.

You should understand that you will probably NEVER get them to stop asking for money simply by persuasion. The amount will go on a list and they will keep calling you. (Although once it goes to any third party, like a debt collector, you can insist that they not call you, but that's a whole different topic.)

The only way it is ever going to go away is that eventually they will have to bring it to court, and then you will have a chance to argue your case. So you should just resign yourself to the fact that they are acting as bureaucrats and whatever they say or do is meaningless. It helps to send them a letter now and then so you can prove that you advised them that they are full of it. (And if it goes on your credit report, you can fight that also, but that is yet another big topic.)

How did I get them to pay me some money? With the help of an architect friend, I was able to identify some violations of the building code. I counter-sued (after they sued me). As soon as they realized they were in danger of having violations of building codes exposed and the government finding out about it, they ran for the hills and cut me a small check to make the whole thing go away.

Re: The right to terminate a lease when ''quiet enjoyment'' is not possible.

I'm afraid, Sir or Gentle Lady, under the facts and circumstances which you've described, that you will have to pay a sum certain for your premature and unilateral termination of your lease agreement. (Squeaky floors, I fear, will not pass muster as providing a legally defensible basis[alleged breach of quiet enjoyment]for you to disavow with impunity your obligations under your lease agreement.)