Can I back out of my lease within 24 hours of signing?

By Diva Jones

On Friday I quickly ran out during my lunch to view a duplex with a locator.  The unit was located in an unpleasant area, but I needed to find a place quickly.  Since I only had a short time, I did a quick walk thru and told the locator that I would take it.  I gave my deposit along with my application and rushed back to work.  The next day, I met the locator to obtain my keys to do my walk through to document any discrepanies with the unit.  I was shocked of my findings!  I took pictures of everything that was wrong (no smoke detectors, no bulbs, the kitchen appliances where in bad condition, the cabinets drawers were sealed and would not open, the pantry closet shelving was infested with roaches when lifting the boards, the refrigerator also housed several roaches as well, all the windows did not lock, the bathroom toilet did not flush, the worst of them all was the closet that housed the AC unit … the wires were taped together as if they had been repaired, the gas water heater unit had some type of shredded cotton wrapping around it which eventually could cause a fire!  OMG as I kept looking around the worse fear entered into my thoughts and I became very afraid of what would happen if I took this place.  I quickly calle dthe locator to inform her of my findings and she thought they were minor things that could be resolved. 

I told her that I would not be taking the place and besides it was withing 24 hours and I had not yet moved into the unit.  She informed me that I would be reported to the credit bureaus.  I don’t care I said, because who in their right mind could live in this place!  So any advice if I did the right thing?  Can I report the landloard about my findings?

Thank you.

Austin, Texas

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