PLEASE HELP!!! I need to get out of my lease!! Advice needed (Minneapolis: sublease, apartment)

[skylarkmn]

Hey everyone,

I currently live in Minneapolis as a renter from a private landlord. I've been having issues for a while but honestly I was just trying to make it work/I didn't want to get involved in a big legal mess. I can't do it anymore, though.

Here's the situation:

I moved into a garden level "2 Bed/1 Bath" apartment in August 2008 (1 yr. lease) and dealt with normal rental issues like bugs, maintenance, and such. However, a friend revealed to me around October that my bedroom was actually not legally a bedroom. There are no exterior windows and no exterior doors, thus making it a fire hazard and such to sleep in. Minneapolis Housing Maintenance Code Section 244.410 states that a room cannot be called a sleeping room if there are no windows or external (leading to the outdoors) doors.

I brought it up to my landlord and he said he didn't know. I believe him. But...then, my roommate tried to, at least, get a rent reduction, and he basically said he had to be 'fair' because we saw the apartment and agreed to the lease so rent would remain the same. But I DID NOT KNOW this until October otherwise I would not have signed the lease. He advertised it as a 2 BR.

I know it's now February but I've been trying to deal with it for months. I've tried but the apartment, though a nice 1 BR + den (NOT a 2 BR,) is not working. I can't make it work. I can't ever close my door because there tends to be a lack of air. I can't shut it at night because its a fire hazard. Plus...the radiator sounds like someone is ferociously banging on the pipe with hammers; this sound is only magnified by closing the door.

I lose sleep, privacy, and cannot find a retreat in my own apartment. I want to get out and I believe that I have a shot to legally be released from the contract. I'm nervous though. I want to know how to go about doing this.

I appreciate any advice and/or added references and cited information for me to use in this. My landlord is a nice guy so I honestly feel bad doing this, but I CAN'T make this work. I would just find a subleaser but, I can't, in good conscience, put someone up in a windowless, box-y, den masquerading as a bedroom. I won't.

Thank you so much. God bless.
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[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by skylarkmn

Hey everyone,

I currently live in Minneapolis as a renter from a private landlord. I've been having issues for a while but honestly I was just trying to make it work/I didn't want to get involved in a big legal mess. I can't do it anymore, though.

Here's the situation:

I moved into a garden level "2 Bed/1 Bath" apartment in August 2008 (1 yr. lease) and dealt with normal rental issues like bugs, maintenance, and such. However, a friend revealed to me around October that my bedroom was actually not legally a bedroom. There are no exterior windows and no exterior doors, thus making it a fire hazard and such to sleep in. Minneapolis Housing Maintenance Code Section 244.410 states that a room cannot be called a sleeping room if there are no windows or external (leading to the outdoors) doors.

I brought it up to my landlord and he said he didn't know. I believe him. But...then, my roommate tried to, at least, get a rent reduction, and he basically said he had to be 'fair' because we saw the apartment and agreed to the lease so rent would remain the same. But I DID NOT KNOW this until October otherwise I would not have signed the lease. He advertised it as a 2 BR.

I know it's now February but I've been trying to deal with it for months. I've tried but the apartment, though a nice 1 BR + den (NOT a 2 BR,) is not working. I can't make it work. I can't ever close my door because there tends to be a lack of air. I can't shut it at night because its a fire hazard. Plus...the radiator sounds like someone is ferociously banging on the pipe with hammers; this sound is only magnified by closing the door.

I lose sleep, privacy, and cannot find a retreat in my own apartment. I want to get out and I believe that I have a shot to legally be released from the contract. I'm nervous though. I want to know how to go about doing this.

I appreciate any advice and/or added references and cited information for me to use in this. My landlord is a nice guy so I honestly feel bad doing this, but I CAN'T make this work. I would just find a subleaser but, I can't, in good conscience, put someone up in a windowless, box-y, den masquerading as a bedroom. I won't.

Thank you so much. God bless.
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Best advice I can give you is be clear and concise on what your issue is. Sounds like there are 3 seperate issues. The "bedroom", the rent reduction, and the boiler noise.

From my perspctive, I would say rent reduction is not likely going to happen if you saw the appartnment and it is legally a 2 bedroom.

Sounds like the boiler is a problem, and this is something that often happens if you are close to the boiler, which the lower level is. Typically, somebody cranks the radiator valve all the way shut because it is too hot. Problem is this blocks flow to other units and stresses out the pipes because the water can't flow through the normal path.

Your best option to get out is probably the bedroom. You could work with the system to get out legally, but you could probably just tell the landlord straight up that you want out due to a combination of issues and see if he will agree or work out some deal.

Also, what does the lease say? If it says two bedroom, then you very likely have a good shot. If it does not, then it gets into "he said, she said" in reference to advertising.

[Minnehahapolitan]

Bugs are not normal rental issues. That is a lack of responsibility on the part of the landlord. Also, any landlord worth his own weight knows what a legal bedroom is. I would guess that if the landlord didn't know what a bedroom is, and has an infested building, that he probably didn't know how to write a good lease contract either. That may be trouble, but I don't know your lease. There should be help through Hennepin County or the City of Mpls., bring them a copy of your lease.
Landlords can be really nice people, but seperate a person from their business. If they are slumlords, then they obviously don't have the same respect for you that you do for them. Don't be sentimental, It is your home, not a ham sandwich that someone accidently put mayo on.

[skylarkmn]

Thank you both. It is very encouraging to hear you affirm my issue. The main issue that I know I have grounds for lease breaking is the legality of the room (rather, the illegality.) Clifford63...you affirmed exactly what my father said (which is great--I always like to have at least three sources that agree with one another before running with a big ordeal such as this.)

Sadly, the lease says nothing about the number of bedrooms, so it is a concern of mine to get into a he said/she said. It's an extremely basic lease with little detail. However, when I asked my landlord if he knew that it was illegal, he said he did not. I have the copy of the initial email I sent bluntly pointing out the problem. The main discussion happened over the phone (which is not ideal because I can't necessarily prove it.) But I have copies of other emails as well that address the issue. SO, in essence, I have copies of him admitting the truth of the law.

Minnehahapolitan...thank you for the blunt words. I definitely need it because, though I can be quite powerful in speech in other areas of life, like defending others, I tend to be a slight pushover when it comes to matters like this. Your words encourage me to emotionally detach from my landlord as a person and view it as strictly business. It will be a challenge though.

If anyone else wishes to add onto the wisdom of the above men and/or women, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you!

[silverjet]

You should check out this resource for help:

HOME Line: A nonprofit Minnesota Statewide Tenant Advocacy Organization (http://www.homelinemn.org/hotline_history.html - broken link)

[Double]

Unfortunately, I would probably chalk this up to a raw deal and suggest grinding out the rest of your lease.

In this poor rental market, your landlord knows he will have trouble filling the unit. I doubt he will let you out of the lease, since it is for his protection and to guarantee the rent. It doesn't sound like you're experiencing any unique problems in the world of low-end rentals. You probably can't get out of a lease if there are cockroaches in the place or if the neighbors are always smoking pot. It sucks, but the process would be so lengthy, your lease will probably expire before any legal decision gets made.

I'm just brainstorming here...

What if you just pack up and move into a new place? Do you think he would pursue you in court? Since he's a small-time landlord, he may not have the financial resources or knowledge to follow through with a lawsuit. If he did, at least you would have the opportunity to explain your side of the story and in the meantime you wouldn't have to deal with living there.

Or maybe offer to continue paying rent for 2 months or until he finds a new tenant, whichever comes first. Just to throw him a bone.

[bloomingtonsteve]

You really need to push this. Contact the tenants union. It's people like who that can stand up for other lessors. Renters has many rights that landlords try to ignore.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Double

Unfortunately, I would probably chalk this up to a raw deal and suggest grinding out the rest of your lease.

In this poor rental market, your landlord knows he will have trouble filling the unit. I doubt he will let you out of the lease, since it is for his protection and to guarantee the rent. It doesn't sound like you're experiencing any unique problems in the world of low-end rentals. You probably can't get out of a lease if there are cockroaches in the place or if the neighbors are always smoking pot. It sucks, but the process would be so lengthy, your lease will probably expire before any legal decision gets made.

I'm just brainstorming here...

What if you just pack up and move into a new place? Do you think he would pursue you in court? Since he's a small-time landlord, he may not have the financial resources or knowledge to follow through with a lawsuit. If he did, at least you would have the opportunity to explain your side of the story and in the meantime you wouldn't have to deal with living there.

Or maybe offer to continue paying rent for 2 months or until he finds a new tenant, whichever comes first. Just to throw him a bone.

I would not suggest vacating without working something out first. Landlord can go right down to concilitory court and file a judgement. If that is not taken care of, it ends up on the credit rating for 7 years.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

I'm a little confused by your room. So it doesn't have any windows at all? What are you living in a closet? Here is what I was able to pull up on the Minneapolis website:

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/insp...rdwellings.pdf

It states that All bedrooms must have at least one window that meets the following requirements:
-minimum net clear opening height of 24"
-minimum net clear width of 20"
-minimum net clear opening of 5.7 sq ft
-maximum finished sill height of 44" above the finished floor.

and any basement sleeping area or basement addition for sleeping area requires that an emergency escape window be installed in the basement.

Could you please describe a little bit better about the situation of your bedroom? what are the dimensions including height? Does it have a closet? Are there no windows at all?

[skylarkmn]

Hello again all,

I just wanted to give you an update that I emailed my landlord. I know its phone-worthy, but I want solid records of my correspondence with him on the off chance it gets hairy. He seems very willing to work it out with me peacefully. I don't know what his ideas are of working it out, but he knows that I want to move out and that moving is the only satisfactory settlement for me at this point.

Slig,

I do basically live in a closet with a closet. There are no windows at all, just to clarify. I don't know the height, but the room is about 9' x 9.5' or maybe 9' x 10'.


Thank you all for all of your help! If you could all keep checking in, I would love it, just in case I need some more help with this down the road. I'll keep you updated on how it goes too. God bless!!!