My wife and I live in a property managed by MBS, aside from the level of service and maintenance declining consistently since MBS took over things haven't gotten all that bad.

Recently (about 3 weeks ago) we reported what appeared to be a leak in our ceiling. I say appeared because there was no water visible only a stain on the ceiling that looked like it might be a leak. We made the report to the office but didn't hear back for a little over a week so we went back in to see what the delay was. Apparently the person who wrote the initial work order had completely left out anything about leak, and put only stain which caused the maintenance guy to push us down the priority ladder (understandable he's probably extremely busy). After they heard that the stain was getting bigger and had begun actually leaking they came and looked at it immediately. The maintenance guy cut a hole in the ceiling to see what was up and sure enough there was a leak that he said he was unable to repair and would have to get a contractor in to look at it. It has been at least 2 more weeks and the only word I've gotten is when I go in to see what the status is and they give me all the usual MBS run around and stories. So, my question is what steps should I take in order to legally get out of my lease due to management not maintaining the property I am leasing?

I've looked into some Texas statutes on Property Code and found what appears to be at least a start but I'm looking for a little guidance.

According to Sec. 92.056 I need to provide notice of the problem and give a reasonable amount of time (7 days) for them to fix it or let me know in writing why they have not. I also need to provide a written notice delivered by certified mail return receipt requested of the problem. After which they have another 7 days to respond in writing or have the problem fixed. In so far as I can tell, once I've done these things I have the right to abandon the lease, or make arrangements to have the problem fixed and subtract it from my rent.

Am I way off base here? I want to do this right so that I have concrete evidence and proof of my right to get out of the lease.


Thanks in Advance!!