Rented a place in Maui from the mainland. Apt is no where in the same condition as described. Can I break the lease? (apartment, rental)

[dzstep]

Is there anything that can be done about this?

I found a place on craigslist and signed a lease without seeing the apartment first. Upon arriving to Maui, the apartment is in terrible condition, nowhere near what was described. The door is broken in, there's mold just to name a few issues here. The place wasn't even cleaned up after the last tennant moved out and they had 3 weeks to do it!!

Would I be able to break the lease based on the State law here:

HRS Section 521-61 Tenant's remedies for failure by landlord to supply possession.

(a) If the landlord fails to put the tenant into possession of the dwelling unit in the agreed condition at the beginning of the agreed term:

(1) The tenant shall not be liable for the rent during any period the tenant is unable to enter into possession;

(2) At any time during the period the tenant is so unable to enter into possession the tenant may notify the landlord that the tenant has terminated the rental agreement; and

(3) The tenant shall have the right to recover damages in the amount of reasonable expenditures necessary to secure adequate substitute housing, the recovery to be made either by action brought in the district court or by deduction from the rent upon submission to the landlord of receipts totaling at least

(A) The amount of abated rent; plus

(B) The amount claimed against the rent; or

(4) If the inability to enter results from the wrongful holdover of a prior occupant, the tenant may maintain a summary proceeding in the district court for possession.

(b) In any district court proceeding brought by the tenant under this section the court may award the tenant substitute housing expenditures, reasonable court costs, and attorney's fees.

[whtviper1]

Have you spoken to the landlord about getting out of the lease. I'd start there

[dzstep]

yea they want us to pay 2 months rent basically, plus we already paid a month ahead to get this place so technically they will be getting 3 months rent for nothing. I guess that rent money can be used to repair the place but either way, it's not exactly a great deal for us.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Did you refuse to move in? Because if you moved in, or even accepted the keys, you were given possession as required by law.

I'm finding myself just a tad bit short of sympathy, considering how frequently posters are advised to never rent without seeing the unit first.

You can see a lawyer for advice, or you can just pay the lease breaking fee and move on. The lease breaking fee is probably a lot cheaper than hiring a lawyer, and there is no guarantee that the lawyer can get you out of the lease.

The other option is to roll up your sleeves and start cleaning. Or you could pay a maid service to clean for a lot less than the cost of that lease breaking fee.

Is the landlord a jerk? Absolutely. He's a world class jerk. Just because he is a jerk does not necessarily get you off free. Consider your options and what each possibility might cost you.

Weigh the cost of losing 3 months rent against the cost of cleaning the house up and repairing a few small items.

After you decide and either move, pay, or clean up and stay, you can join the rest of us in our steady chant of "Don't rent anything without seeing it first"

[whtviper1]

Back to legal remedies -

If you took possession of the unit - focus on HRS 521-63, you can give notice of deficiencies and the landlord has one week to correct - and then you can break the lease. Of course, if the landlord disagrees with you - you may both end up in court.

[OpenD]

There are several resources available to you which may be helpful:

State of Hawai'i Landlord/Tenant Handbook: http://files.hawaii.gov/dcca/ocp/lan...t-handbook.pdf

Legal Aid Society: Legal Aid Society of Hawaii HOME

County of Maui Housing Department: Maui County, HI - Official Website - Housing Division

But no, you should not pay 2 more month's rent in order to leave, and yes, you need to establish a legal cause for breaking the lease so you won't have to pay the lease cancellation fee. Make a written demand that the deficiencies with the unit be corrected within a week, with complete details, and include photos if you can, and say if the landlord hasn't done what they are legally obligated to do within a week that you'll consider the lease broken and that you'll_______ (whatever you will do...)

But be clear what you will do if he does not comply, and if he does.

[dzstep]

that's kind of what I've been thinking on doing. Technically, the unit was not delivered as promised. It's not ready to be moved into (The landlord himself admitted that the unit was overlooked after the last tennats moved out and so it was never prepped for new tennants). Since it was never made ready for a new tenant and I'm currently staying at a hotel because the unit is uninhabitable, I feel like it should be enough to break the lease since one of the key elements of the lease is to have the apartment in a livable condition at the time of the move in...

[dzstep]

Also another thing to note, the lease started almost 2 weeks ago but we've just for the first time saw the unit one day ago. I don't know if that makes a difference but the fact that they had weeks to clean the unit but didn't show's significant negligence on their end.

[OpenD]

C

Originally Posted by dzstep

that's kind of what I've been thinking on doing. Technically, the unit was not delivered as promised. It's not ready to be moved into (The landlord himself admitted that the unit was overlooked after the last tennats moved out and so it was never prepped for new tennants). Since it was never made ready for a new tenant and I'm currently staying at a hotel because the unit is uninhabitable, I feel like it should be enough to break the lease since one of the key elements of the lease is to have the apartment in a livable condition at the time of the move in...

It's hard to give you the best advice when you didn't give all the information at first!

It totally depends on what you want to do now. If you want to cancel the lease and get all your money back you have that right....though you might have a fight to collect your money. But you need to decide quickly. Once you take possesion it will be much harder.

Think... is this landlord somebody you trust to treat you fairly in the future? If not, pull the plug now.

[dzstep]

Well so far they have lied about everything hence why I'm trying to get out of this lease. It doesn't seem like an honest mistake, it seems like this is just the way they handle things over there.