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Termination of Lease Contract Before Date Stated in Contract Begins

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  • 02-23-2012, 10:55 AM
    jnk394
    Termination of Lease Contract Before Date Stated in Contract Begins
    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Texas

    I have signed a re-newal lease contract for the condo with the owner of this unit. However, there are several issues.

    We felt rushed to sign the contract because when we were gone during one weekend, a real estate agent stated to one of the roommates that she had talked to us (the other two roommates) and got permission to show the place. She, the real estate agent, did not ask the other two of us. Also, the owner said we had to make a decision asap because other people were interested. Aren't we allowed to think about this without having to rush a decision?

    When we first moved into the condo, it was not clean as they said it would be. They said the carpet would be cleaned and that it would be in a liveable and working condition. When we moved in, we had to clean and sweep the floors because they had NOT cleaned it before moving in. They had a cleaning lady come in and clean the floors after I complained verbally, but wouldn't this be considered a delayed move in for us? There were food crumbs left from the previous people. The laundry door was not working (was not fixed even until now). The carpet in my room had to be replaced after I complained about it, because it was in horrible condition. I had to move my stuff out of my room so that they could replace it.

    We also told the owner about the mold issue we have. We sent her pictures in December and even emailed her several times. It took her a little over a week for her to send someone over, but they did not fix it. They looked at it, saw the windows had some issues, but have yet to take action in actually fixing the issue. There is also a leak from the unit above us, so there is water trickling and building up in one of our bathroom walls. I showed this to the maintenance people and sent a picture and email to the owner (in the december of 2011) of our unit to notify the people above us, but there has been no action taken to clean up the build up that happened and I dont think the people above us fixed this leak yet.

    We are sending a certified letter about the mold. We are planning on writing to her about the loud neighbors above us.

    But here is my question.
    Will we be able to terminate our FUTURE (for Aug 2012-2013) contract right now due to the problems we have in the current contract with the owner? We are looking for people who could sign with the owner, so will this lighten up our penalties if we terminate it?

    Is there another way for us to terminate the contract without having our credit being hurt?

    Also, there is a foundation problem in the whole condo complex, but our owner owns only our unit. Would we be able to complain to the owner about this foundation problem? We had to get a maintenance guy to come and shave the top part of our room doors so they would close properly.
  • 02-25-2012, 07:39 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Termination of Lease Contract Before Date Stated in Contract Begins
    When you feel rushed you are free to say, "I feel rushed, and I'm not going to commit right now." If that means you lose the unit, then that's what it means.

    You chose to renew your lease after the carpet issues were resolved, so they're irrelevant. I don't know anything about the "mold issue", so I'm not going to speculate on what portion of it may be caused by the condition of the premises and what portion may be caused by your use or cleaning. If you want to try to prove that the mold endangers your health, get it tested for toxicity.

    You have told us nothing about the "foundation issue" or how it affects your ability to live in the unit.

    Nothing you have told us so far gives you a basis to escape your voluntary lease renewal.
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