Criminal acts in apartment complex

Hi. We live in Florida in an apartment complex. We have leased here for almost 3 years. For months we have seen young boys go in and out of the neighbors apartment. I filed a report with the Sheriff, and it was investigated. Children were followed prior to leaving his home, and arrested for posession of drugs. I was informed that my neighbor has a criminal record. We have sonce seen him get threatened by "customers" when he had nothing to sell. I then did a check on the neighborhood and found that our neighbor in the next building was just arrested for assault and battery with a deadly weapon. We confronted the complex about these issues and requested to be let out of our lease. We gave 30 days notice, and are moving next week. Npw, the complex has billed us $955 for an early termination fee. In addition, the community is advertised as gated. Since we have lived here the gates have never been functional. Are we legally responsible to pay the $955? We are leaving because it is no longer safe for us and our two small children to stay here.

[OHlandlord]

Have you ever written a repair request on the gates? If not, you have never asked for them to be fixed and can't use that (failure to repair) as an excuse to move out. Crime in any particular area is not a reason to end a lease. The management did not commit the crime. Did you report the crime (in writing) to mangement as well as the law? It was investigated, which is all anyone could do until the crimes were proven. (Those tenants are innocent until proven guilty.) Unfortunately, management cannot be held accountable for the actions of the tenants in the buildings. They can only take action after receiving copies of police reports on tenants who break the law. Did you send copies of the police reports to them?

I'm afraid you do not have just cause to break the lease and will have to pay the termination fee if it was a clause in your lease. If you pay this fee, have management write a letter and give it to you at the time of payment which states you are released from any further lease obligations. If you do not pay, you will be responsible for the rent until they rent your unit or your lease ends, advertising fees, utilities if your lease said you were responsible for them (in some states), and any other unreimbursed expense that the LL suffers as a result of you breaking your lease. If he re-rents it, he cannot charge rent from you. Be aware though, in FL the LL has no duty to try and re-rent the unit and can just leave it sit empty, charging you for the rent! He doesn't have to try and mitigate his losses. It would be cheaper to pay the termination fee and get the letter absolving you of further obligation. Sorry.