How Can I Get Out of My Illegal Apartment???

[coldinwny]

I have recently been having problems with my landlords. I currently rent a room in a single family home in Erie County, NY. I live with three other roommates (also renting), as well as one of my landladies (the daughter of my landlords, also classified as a landlord in our lease). We each have individual leases for our rooms.

The past few weeks, as the temperature's outside have dropped, it has gotten colder and colder in the house. Accordingly, we have tried turning up the heat (as Erie county law has the legal minimum set at 70 F during the day and 65 F at night after Oct 1st if the day temp is below 55 F, which it is). Our roommate, the daughter/landlady, insists on turning it back down to 62 F every time (upon the insistence of her parents). We approached our offsite landlady about this several days ago, as the house is poorly insulated (built in the 1900s) and the temperature inside is practically unlivable. She texted all of us with a reply:

"We are trying to conserve energy and are asking everyone to wear layers while in the house. If you are still cold let X (daughter) know and make arrangements so she can get into your room to adjust the radiator. Also no small appliances should be left plugged into bedroom outlets as this could be a fire hazard and adds to additional electrical expense. Thanks and please let me know of any concerns."

Now, I know this sounds like an open invitation to discuss, but we have had issues with keeping the house in repair for the last two and a half years that I have lived there. Beyond the internet going out, and it taking almost two months to get a repairman out to fix it--not the providers fault (we are students, and it is listed as provided in our lease), we have also had problems with the dryer breaking without repair twice, and our landlord/lady calling each of us singularly and almost yelling at us about how the kitchen is messy and each of us was at fault (even when one of the girls hadn't been home for a month because she had moved in with her boyfriend).

I am tired of being treated like a small child by my landlords--the problem is that I have a lease with them until the end of May next year, and cannot get out of it. I also would not like to try to sublet to anyone--I know how bad it is to live there, and would not try to get anyone else into my situation simply because I want to get out of it.

The one (potential?) silver lining to my cloud--I looked up the zoning variances in the area, and my rented room in the house is in an R-1 zone, with no variance filed (no renters allowed). I am also almost positive that it is not up to fire code (two bedrooms on the third floor), and as far as Buffalo-city zoning law, any "room" rented out legally also needs to have a closet attached--which mine does not.

I did a little searching and found an apartment down the street, even closer to where I want to be, which is currently for rent. I spoke to my roommate about it, and she would love to get out of our refrigerator house with me (her room IS legally classified as a room, closet and all). My question is, is there a way we can BOTH get out of our leases, short of notifying the city that the house is being illegally let?

Thank you for reading that essay, and for your responses. I look forward to reading them.