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Breaking My Lease

By Kissalvoe

I have been with my apartment complex in Albuquerque, NM since May. We signed an 8 month lease and it ends as of January 31st. However, I do not want to stay that long. I don’t feel secure in staying for a few more months.

Several times we have placed work orders for maintenance to fix a door or our ceiling fan (the light no longer worked!). It took 4 weeks for them to even go LOOK at the fan. They said they would replace it the following week but never did. Two weeks later, there was a leak, apparently from our master bathroom toilet, which flooded our apartment and the apartment below us. The call went to the office around 10am. I leave for work at 5am and don’t use that bathroom other than for showers.
THe office never recorded our new contact numbers from months before. They were always able to get ahold of us through our agent/alternate contact, but not on this day! They never notified us of the problem. Maintenance went in the apartment and ruined things with their negligence. They threw wet items all over the bed, onto the living room floor, filled backpacks with expensive electronic equipment and left it in puddles of water.
I didn’t come home til after 6pm and when I did, I had no knowledge of what happened. My apartment was thrown upside down. The carpet was torn up and a blower was running to dry underneath. All of the lights (that worked) and fans in the house had been running all day. All without our knowledge.
I took a complaint to my apartment manager who said it was our fault. The negligence was on OUR part because we “left the water running”. I asked him if I was supposed to shut the water to the toilets off everytime I left the house. He said it was a leak we didn’t report. And why? BECAUSE IT WAS A LEAK WE HAD NO KNOWLEDGE ABOUT. When I left for work that morning, there was nothing out of place. The floor in the bathroom was completely dry. He refuses to take any responsibility for the fact that nobody bothered to contact us, the fact that the maintenance men were negligent and not only ruined things on their own (NOT due to water damage directly from the leak), and that they left all electricity running for 8 hours, using up resources that WE have to pay for.
On top of all of this, and the reason I really don’t want to stay… The master bedroom, where the carpet was lifted for the blower, smells like mold. It’s damp (two weeks later) and smells moldy. The apartment manager refuses to work with us at all. What can I do to either make him work with us or get our of our lease so we can move somewhere SAFE and free of mold?
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Edited on: Friday, April 17th, 2015 5:22 am
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3 Responses to “Breaking My Lease”

My response: (We welcome stories, examples, explanations, answers and a touch of your personality)
 

Henry Gipsen

November 19th, 2009 2:18 pm

To get out of a lease can be very difficult… So, that option may not be the best choice for you. Its probably better to get management to agree to repair the unit by drying and cleaning the water completely. If the leak is due to a water line that broke, I don’t know how they can say you are responsible?! This is a bit out of my experience level… I’m sure someone here will provide you with some real solutions.
If the water damage goes unrepaired, it will get worse and most likely grow mold. I don’t get why your manager is being so difficult? Sounds like they are slumlords :(

anonymous

November 20th, 2009 5:01 pm

I’d tell you to file a complaint with the RPA… can’t they help you get out of your lease? That or work it out with your manager somehow.

Veronica

May 31st, 2011 6:44 am

Make an arrangement to the management, so you can break your lease. Settle your bills and move to a new place. They are irresponsible, they must meet the needs of the tenant especially doing repairs. You may file a complaint to them but make sure you have documented proofs to show.

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