Need advise on breaking a lease in Seattle (tenants, landlord)

[eightbitguy]

Originally Posted by homelessinseattle

I picked up on the other lease thread and read the rights on the tenants union. Not much help there. My wife and I rent an apartment near lake union, she has been in the unit for over 20 years. The building is an old ten unit building and in a bit of disrepair. Inside the wood floors are worn to bare wood, the entire unit needs painting. Some of the repairs the landlord has done over the years inside are very poor quality. There is a bit of mold on the bedroom ceiling where the roof leaked at one time. We talked to the landlord yesterday. He said we could sublease the unit ourselves, or he would do it for $35 hour. He has a history of not showing up to show his apartments. It sounds like we are on the hook for renting this apartment till the lease runs out in August or we find another tenant.
So my point is we are stuck trying to rent out an old apartment that needs to be refurbished. Or find someone that needs a place immediately and doesn't care. Anyone have experience with anything like this? Any ideas?
I'm thinking we might need an attorney. We hope to be out mid January.

The state has laws about what needs to be repaired and how quickly. Mold should be a 10 day repair. Call the tenants union to confirm the specific rules in your case, but in general if you notify your landlord (in writing, certified letter) of needed repairs and they don't make them within 10 days of your notice, you can break your lease with no consequence.

[homelessinseattle]

Yes I've read that. Trouble is there is never anyone around to sign for certified mail. I see an attorney tomorrow. Maybe we can get something done.

[homelessinseattle]

Reading through the tenants union website again, it says there is no state law that requires a landlord to remove mold. Only that they would have x days to repair a problem that caused the mold, such as a leaky pipe.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by homelessinseattle

Reading through the tenants union website again, it says there is no state law that requires a landlord to remove mold. Only that they would have x days to repair a problem that caused the mold, such as a leaky pipe.

I believe it comes down to a "warrant of habitability" that is owed by the Landlord to the Tenant. See:

http://www.tenantsunion.org/pdf/Warr...ty_Handout.pdf

[tommy64]

Originally Posted by eightbitguy

The state has laws about what needs to be repaired and how quickly. Mold should be a 10 day repair. Call the tenants union to confirm the specific rules in your case, but in general if you notify your landlord (in writing, certified letter) of needed repairs and they don't make them within 10 days of your notice, you can break your lease with no consequence.

That will guarantee the LL to be a stubborn S.O.B. from that point on.

[eightbitguy]

Originally Posted by homelessinseattle

Yes I've read that. Trouble is there is never anyone around to sign for certified mail. I see an attorney tomorrow. Maybe we can get something done.

That is immaterial. If you send it and he doesn't sign for it, you can still do what the law says. You should call/email him to let him know and keep copies of everything, but its not your fault if he doesn't get his mail.

[eightbitguy]

Originally Posted by tommy64

That will guarantee the LL to be a stubborn S.O.B. from that point on.

If you move out it doesn't matter, does it?

[tommy64]

Originally Posted by eightbitguy

If you move out it doesn't matter, does it?

Nope, not as long as you keep paying and paying until the lease expires.

If you want any kind of LL cooperation it won't come from getting the authorities involved in a questionable condition defect. How serious is the matter if the tenant has been living with it for as long as they've been there?

It's firing a shot across the LL's bow, who has the lease in his favor.

[CrazyDonkey]

Self-help is required...

If the LL was amenable to an early termination agreement, the OP would still almost surely have to fork over at least an extra month's rent to get out of the lease. Since the LL is willing to accept a replacement tenant for the remainder of the lease, the OP should consider spending, say, half or more of that amount to 1) make repairs needed to make the unit rentable (if notifying LL of these and allowing time for him to do them, OP could recoup these costs later) and 2) improve the appearance of the unit (spackling, caulking, painting, new blinds, etc.) to increase the chances of finding a qualified tenant.

OP should get confirmation from the LL that he will allow a new qualified tenant to assume the remainder of the lease at the current rent - an e-mail exchange to that effect could do. Otherwise, the OP could go to the expense and time to find a new qualified tenant, only to have the OP recant any verbal promises or assurances.

[eightbitguy]

Originally Posted by tommy64

Nope, not as long as you keep paying and paying until the lease expires.

If you want any kind of LL cooperation it won't come from getting the authorities involved in a questionable condition defect. How serious is the matter if the tenant has been living with it for as long as they've been there?

It's firing a shot across the LL's bow, who has the lease in his favor.

If the landlord doesn't make the appropriate repairs then you move out and can legally break the lease with no consequences. That's the entirety of what I've been talking about in this thread. So if you move out (after breaking the lease, legally) you do not owe any more money.