Can I terminate lease due to robbery

I lease a home with 3 other roommates. Our lease is up May 1, 2009 however our home has been robbed twice within 8 weeks. We feel very violated and unsafe. We don't feel comfortable leaving our house and feel scared when with get home not knowing what or whom we may find. We have been fortunate that no one was home when it was broke in to. Our landlord will not pay to have locks changed, (we have done this at our own expense), an alarm system installed or let us terminate the lease early.

Our lease states to terminate we need to provide new tenants (which we have started looking for) or continue to pay rent. Due to the criminal activity and feeling unsafe in this house is this grounds for being able to break this lease and move on.

I need help fast,

No so sunny in San Diego

To answer your question in a word, No. You cannot terminate because of an area's criminal activity. Your LL is not responsible for crime in the neighborhood unless he is the one doing the crime. If he has supplied you with locks on the doors and windows, that is all he must do. He has installed reasonable security measures. He need not give you a free improvement to the property by installing an alarm system for you. Had you wanted that, you could have looked for a rental with this amenity when you searched for a unit. He is under no obligation to install this for you. Why would you need new locks if the ones you have work? Was your house entered with a key? Did you ask if the locks were changed before you moved in? (Most LL change locks after every tenant, so they probably were changed then.)

The truth is that no one is safe anywhere any more. Break ins occur in every neighborhood, both rich and poor. Thieves break through doors with bump locking (google this if you don't know what it is), break windows in cars and houses, steal things left outside, and even rob people standing in front of the ATMs. Feeling safe is a frame of mind that is illusionary. It has nothing to do with your rental contract.

Find new tenants and submit their applications for screening. Any application you submit to the LL must be a qualified tenant and pass his screening criteria before he accepts them and lets you out of the lease. If you are unsure of his criteria, ask him for it in writing so you will know what qualifications a tenant must have. Use his application forms.