Want to break lease due to very apparent roach infestation and unclean state
Hello everyone. Basically just signed lease to an apt that has a very apparent roach infestation we were not aware of. I was just wondering if we're able to terminate our lease with the return of our rent. Move in was supposed to be yesterday. It took forever to receive the keys and by the time we did and went to inspect unit, office was closing up. I was appalled at the state in which they handed over the apt. It was not cleaned at all!!! There were dead roach carcasses scattered throughout the unit. Most especially in the kitchen cabinets. Bathrooms were not cleaned from the state we found the toilets in. That's not even the worst! The refrigerator and the freezer had dead roaches inside and roach droppings scattered everywhere on the inside of the door!!! When we moved the fridge the flooring was torn up and dead roaches scattered there. I was so disgusted! There were live roaches found in the living room and bedrooms crawling on the walls in broad light! There was even some trash scattered from what I can only assume to be the previous tenants in one of the bathroom closets. We made sure to photograph and record everything of course. I had to come home and shower bc I am actually allergic to cockroaches. Found this out from an allergy test I had done a couple years back. Back then when our neighbors moved out roaches infested our apt towards the last 2 months of our lease so yea I was struggling with allergies those last few months. I was even given an inhaler bc sometimes allergy would get so bad I'd start wheezing. We went today to speak with property manager but bc of memorial day weekend they won't be in office till Tuesday. But one of the office staff went with us to inspect the unit. I stayed outside but my other members went inside with them. This person straight said the unit was basically fine just a bit neglected. I'm sorry sir WHAT?!! No sir, in all my life I have never leased an apt and handed to me in a dirty and unclean state like that! We were told to come back on Tuesday to speak with property manager and we'll get some form of credit towards rent.
However, we want to try and terminate our lease if possible because the level of irresponsibility and audacity is insane!! I should've seen the red flags yesterday when property manager casually told us he didn't know our move in was yesterday and thought it wasn't until sometime June.
I just want some advice as to what I can do in this situation. Also, would the termination of our lease with the return of our prorated rent be possible? If they handed us a unit like this I'm sure they'll hardly do anything to fix the infestation problem aside from cleaning. I do not want to go through another bout of breathing/allergy problems. What steps can I take these next few days to prepare ourselves and what are our rights? I want to be prepared as much as possible before our discourse with the property manager. Any advice is welcome.
submitted by /u/purpleborapeace
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