Getting sued for breaking apt lease due to unsafe circumstances

I just got a call from a credit collector regarding my apt I moved out of 6 months ago. My roommate and I had seen alot of drug trafficking going on every day and night to our neighbor directly next door to us. It had never presented a serious issue until his "customers" began bothering us in the apartment next door. They would walk into our apt without even knocking asking about "nick at night" (the dealers nickname apparently) several times and one time we even had one come to our door and ask us if they could climb over our back fence into his yard to wake him up because he was sleeping all day and she couldnt get ahold of him (this was 9 pm).

Anyways, we no longer felt safe there so we decided to leave at the end of the month (5 days after the most recent incident) and we hand delivered a letter to the apt management company and the keys all at once. Now we're getting sued for all of the rest of the rent for the lease (3 months worth) and a bunch of other misc fees, although they said we got credit for our deposit because nothing was wrong with the apt. The credit collectors are calling saying that they are going to take us to superior court and "this will become a bigger issue and we will take you to court and win this case if you dont pay us now"...im at the place now where i really dont know what to do, I no longer speak with my previous roommate do to her neglecting to pay me for the rest of our utility bills and im really at a loss for what to do. My credit shouldnt be negatively effected for something that wasnt my fault when I felt completely unsafe in the conditions and was afraid of repercussions if he found out we had told on him before we vacated.

Can anyone help me out please? I'd greatly appreciate any advice

[OHlandlord]

I don't have good news for you I'm afraid. You left your unit, and broke your lease, without giving any notice. You left for a reason that was not valid. (You have to give the LL written notice of a problem with the unit and give him a chance to cure the issues before you can legally break a lease.) So although you were afraid of repercussions from the drug dealer, you were obligated to report the goings-on to the LL and give him a chance to cure them before you were allowed to break a lease.

Therefore, you owed rent for the required notice period (30 or 60 days, whichever your lease and state law called for) that you failed to give. Additionally, since you broke your lease, you were obligated to pay rent until the places was re-rented, advertising costs, utilties that you would have paid, and any other costs that the LL incurred by you breaking your lease for which he is not reimbursed (like credit checks if there is no app. fee to cover them).

Most states limit this unpaid rent until re-rented to about 2 mos. period, but in some states the LL is not obligated to even look for another tenant. You remain on the hook for the whole thing. You should have done more research and checked the area more carefully before you rented there. You cannot hold the LL responsible for the actions of another tenant, unless he is given a chance to cure and he fails to do so. If you post your state I can give you more information.