Broke lease for good cause want deposit back

My husband, 2 yr old son and I rented a house in August 2008 and moved out in June of this year because our landlord did not make necessary repairs to the house. We have had multiple issues with this, from the day we moved in.

In November 2008, we had a gas leak that spread over the entire house. When the electric company inspected the house, they shut off the gas and advised us that there were hazard tags all over the gas lines in the crawl space and had been there for a long time. We told the technician that the landlord had just put in a water heater before we moved in and a new furnace after we moved in. He said that the tags were in plain sight, and there was no reason that no one had fixed the leak. The landlord was even at the house when the furnace was put in. The landlord refused to compensate for this-nothing off the rent, no apology, no nothing, and told me I have no tenant rights. The landlord actually yelled and cussed me out for calling the electric company about the leak first and not him. The Electrical tech also noted that the wires in the electrical box needed replacement and repairs due to them being exposed and and huge fire hazard, as well as light sockets being the same way. He had told the landlord everything over the phone with me standing there.

We have had broken/cracked windows that we had reported to the landlord since the first day we moved in. They said they replace them, and I kept calling to see when it was going to get done. Winter came around, and we had to go through the whole winter with the same windows.

We have also had two squirrels that chewed through the side of the roof and were living inside the walls of the house. We notified the landlord constantly, and nothing was done. One day, one of the squirrels chewed through the wall in the sun roof and was hanging there. We called the landlord and they came and patched the wall and gave us a chirping box to keep them away, but it never kept them away. The landlord replaced the roof of the house, but the squirrels chewed their way back in. We called them about it, and I even spoke with the landlord in person, and nothing was done about it.

A few weeks ago, we had a water leak from the crawl space that was through the floor, and was starting to mold. I called the landlord right away, and he told me he was not a 24 hour on call service or hotel and it was in my best interest to find the shut off valve to the water in the crawl space under the house in the middle of the night w/out a flashlight. I ended up calling the water dept to help me, and the landlord didn't send maintenance over until late the next morning.

We had enough and gave notice to the landlord that we were breaking our lease when maintenance came over to fix the water leak. We didn't move before because we had no where else to go. I asked for the deposit back because of the health and safety issues, and the landlord told me I wasn't getting a dime. I have documented our issues and have pictures to go with it. Sorry for the long explanation, but I was wondering are we legally entitled to get the deposit back because of good cause and health and safety concerns?

Please help.

Sorry I forgot to mention I sent the landlord written notification by certified mail and requested delivery receipt of our early termination and included the reasons for the early termination in the letter. Our lease was for 1 year, and the lease does specify to give 30 days notice (with no payment penalty) but with all of the circumstances, (We gave 2 and a half weeks) I would hope this would be an exception.

While you gave hm the correct type of notice (written, certified) for the termination, did you do the same for the repairs? You need to give him written notice of a problem (not verbal, phone call, text message, nor e-mail). It has to be written. Did you do so? If not, you have no proof that he was notified of any of your repairs (but was notified for electric andf gas company repairs). You then have to look at the legal remedies for your state. Colorado has no repair and deduct remedy nor any rent withholding remedy. Sp you would have to look to the state statute on LL responsibilities to see if you can terminate.

Hi, and thank you for your response. Unfortunately, I did not send certified notification of the maintenance issues to the landlord. I did document the issues as well as documented conversations with the landlord when we had notified the landlord of the issues. I know that it may or may not hold up in court if we choose to go that route, but I never thought it would come to this.

I did however include the maintenance issues in the certified termination letter, and provided timelines when the issues had happened. I know that as well may or may not hold up, but I wanted to remind the landlord of the issues that we had with them, that we were more than fair on the time frame it would of taken for repairs. I also included in the letter that the only maintenance issue that was resolved was the gas line, and as of the day of notice of termination, everything else remained unresolved.

I have tried to call code enforcement and get information, but they advised me that they do not handle landlord-tenant issues. I also tried calling the housing authority to file a complaint and see what they could do to help, but they advised me to seek legal counsel.

Do you know of any other place to call for landlord's legal responsibilities? We cannot afford a lawyer, as the economy has taken a huge toll on us, just the same as many other families have been affected by it. Any information is very much appreciated.

Thanks.

If code enforcement does not handle LL-Tenant issue, look for another department. Building inspector, health department, someone oversees LL-Tenant problems that deal with health and safety violations. (They maybe even call it a health & safety officer or a nuisance officer there.) Call around. Call job and family services and ask them. If all else fails, call the library and ask them who to call or the mayor's office or your city council person for that district. Call the electric company and ask them. One of them will surely tell you who covers these things there. Someone is in charge of these types of violations. The problem is that it is a different department in each state. You will have to research who is in charge for your area.

A good type of recourse in Colorado is to file a small claims court case. The judge will be very sympathetic but be sure to document those incidents, maybe take photos of those tags on the gas pipes, photos of the outlets with exposed wires, etc.
Good luck.

Judges in some states would be sympathetic, true. But keep in mind that this is a LL friendly state as evidenced by state laws. LLs there do not have to give notice prior to entering (no statute on this), there is no statute of consequences if a LL uses "self-help" evictions (does it himself), tenants have no rights to rent withhold or to repair & deduct the costs of repairs (no statutes again), laws state a LL does not even have to try and re-rent the unit if a lease is broken (tenant is responsible for the entire lease), retaliation is not clearly defined in the statutes (no time limits), there is no limit to the amount of deposit a LL can require, a LL can terminate a m2m tenant with only a 10 day notice (not 30 days), a LL can terminate for non-payment or lease violation with only a 3 day notice, and the LL can terminate unconditionally (with no chance to correct) for any repeated violation. That state is very LL friendly.

The tenant would have to show copies of written repair requests for all of these things (not just photos since the LL didn't take them, he can say he did not know what it looked like). It would be the burden of proof on the tenant to prove that the LL knew these things were wrong (not verbal but in writing), that he was given opportunity to repair, and that he failed to repair these items. Verbal warnings of needed repairs can't hold up. The tenant would say she called and told him, the LL would say she never mentioned them. The tenant could prove calls to the LL, but not the content of those calls. Always do repair requests and lease violation notices to LLs in writing, send them certified, return receipt requested to prove when he got them!!! This starts the time limit on those repairs.

That is why the tenant was advised to call an official who would cite the LL for code violations. This would have officially documented the need for repairs and may have been quicker than sen ding the repair requests herself. The code enforcement officer would have cited the LL, gave him a time limit to repair, and would have the strength of the court to fine the LL if violations were not corrected. Further, the tenant could use those violation notices to prove that the LL knew of problems and that he was given time to repair.

One other issue, tenants need to take immediate steps to notify the LL of problems. This tenant lived with these problems from August until June without having them fixed or without taking further action than just telling the LL. NO mention is made of any written notices ever being sent. No action was taken after the LL did not repair. IF you fail to follow through on an issue and continue to live there, that opens the door to a judge assuming that the issue was not important to you and saying that you obviously accepted the unit in that condition. Send notice to repair. If the LL fails to do so (within 72 hrs for emergency repairs or 30 days for non-emergency repairs, and if the repairs are needed (not cosmetic), you need to take further steps. If your state permits rent withholding, deposit the next rent with the clerk of court (not keep it yourself). If your state permits repair & deduct, have it fixed and deduct the amount from the rent (sending him the rest and the copy of the bill). IF it requires immediate attention, call the health department, code enforcement, a building inspector, HUD, Metro, or some other government department that deals with this problem in your area. Get the LL cited and he will be forced to repair. But above all, do NOT sit back and let these types of things continue without action.