Regretting signing lease

7 Comments

So me (22f) and my roommate (21f) (with her 1 and half ur old daughter) may have made a huge mistake.
We got approved for a town home (singed a lease) that needed some serious renovation, which MOST of has been updated. New carpet, paint, and kitchen and bathroom flooring. They are also getting new kitchen counter tops installed.
However we are a week moved in and all the stuff they told us need to be completed has not been. Basically we told them we didn’t wanna sign the lease till we saw the place, we did a walk through before renovations and it was disgusting. But they assured us it would all be taken care. Management reviews were good so we were hopeful.
They still haven’t put all the outlet covers on, we have no blinds and have had to buy curtains for some of the windows. The bathroom and kitchen cabinets were clearly never cleaned out even tho they did vacuum them out, they stink and upon wiping them they crumble and are basically impossible to clean. Cleaning lady canceled the day of move in and so the lady getting us moved in went and did some minor cleaning.
Today i text her again with all of our concerns and only got a small response ignoring the two major issues which are the central air unit outside is disintegrating and growing mold on it as well having someone come in a clean the cabinets.
We don’t know what to do and are afraid the mold is making it a unfit/unsafe place. Can we refuse paying rent until these issues are resolved?

TL;DR: We signed a lease that we shouldn’t have, the repairs haven’t been completed and we are hardly getting any updates / being ignored.

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Comments ( 7 )
  • donteatstuffoffthesidewalk
    3 years ago

    whatever you do document the fuck outta that shit

    no more calls use email only

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  • RoseIsabella
    3 years ago

    Never be afraid to respond to someone else's objections to your, "no", with simply repeating yourself, and saying, "I said no"!

    Maybe you can take them to small claims court? For future reference whenever you have to iron out these sort of details while doing business with anyone make it a point to do all correspondence via email, or even snail mail. It's important to get things in writing so that you have a paper trail. Never take anyone simply at their word whether on the phone, or in person, because then the person can simply lie, and say they never said whatever the so called promise was, which will make things your word versus theirs.

    I hope that these landlords follow through on their promises to clean the townhouse you signed the lease for, or at least allow you to get out of the lease! I truly wish you all the best! I'm wouldn't be surprised if these are the kind of people who would refuse to give you the deposit for no apparent reason, or be quick to try to evict you if your rent is a few days late.

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  • Boojum
    3 years ago

    As others have said, the rules vary widely and depend on where you live, so you really need to get local advice.

    But one thing that others have suggested is true everywhere: do everything in writing.

    Also, take lots of photos and make sure you save them to the cloud so there's no risk of them being lost if your phone goes astray.

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  • raisinbran
    3 years ago

    Your best option is to break the lease and move out. The landlord will not take you to court. Take photos of unfinished work. Do not stay and withhold rent.

    In real estate, verbal communication means nothing. The industry is full of liars. Did you sign a move-in checklist? It's standard practice especially for property management companies. If so, did you lie on the checklist, saying everything was okay when you moved in?

    The stress of having a bad tenant, landlord or property manager is not worth it. End it as soon as possible.

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    • olderdude-xx
      3 years ago

      I disagree: If you just break the lease expect to be sued - and expect to be charged for their legal expenses to sue you as well (its in the lease).

      Landlords and their lawyer friends often make more when a person breaks a lease than any other situation.

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  • olderdude-xx
    3 years ago

    It depends on local and state law. In some states and localities you can withhold paying rent until these things are fixed. In others you can withold nothing (or face eviction), and in some you can withold partial rent until things are fixed.

    You may also have valid complaints for the local building inspector. Normally if they issue a citation the landlord has either 5 or 10 days to fix; and in many states you can then get out of the lease if they don't.

    You really need to locate the local and state renters aid group. They can advise you of your local laws and how to proceed. These organizations can normally be found via a simple internet search.

    I wish you well with this,

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  • litelander8
    3 years ago

    You seem nervous. It can be overwhelming. They should be willing to clean the apartment though. Talk to them about you not wanting to be there so to them already being negligent. And yes, better business bureau for sure. You can even resort to calling local news stations.

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