Mental Health reasons to break lease? (California)

Hello,

I currently live alone in a roach infested apartment. There have been shootings constantly around and outside the apartment gates. I am manic bipolar and my condition is becoming worse. Living here has made me extremely paranoid and is causing be to become very anxious. According to my lease, I can only live alone because I am on low income housing in California. I want to know if I would be able to break my lease with a note from the doctor. I can't live alone any longer. What can I do?

You cannot break your lease because you are not allowed a roommate. That is probably an income guideline rule (your assistance is based on the family income. More people = more income and less aide). S8 and HUD have these rules. It is not your LL's fault.

Crime in the neighborhood is not the LL's fault either unless he is doing the shootings. You should have looked at the neighborhood before you signed a lease to see if it was acceptable to you. You could have asked the police for crime statistics of this area, and the number of calls they have had to make to your apartment complex. The crimes are outside the complex and are not the LL's problem. Call the police whenever you see or hear of a crime.

You also cannot break your lease because you are becoming paranoid. That is your medical condition and is not the LL's fault. It is not a new condition as you knew about it before you signed the lease. There are anti-anxiety medications available to ease your discomfort. Since nothing about this is new except that your condition is getting worse, I doubt the doctor's letter would help. You need to have your doctor see if there are any new medications you could try that would help your condition. Moving to a new place is not a guarantee that your symptoms would abate.

What you can do is to write a letter to the LL telling him of the roach problem and asking for extermination of the complex. Send it by certified mail and keep a copy. In it, ask that he contact you to let you know when the exterminator will arive. If he fails to take action, call the health department, building inspector, or HUD.