If I moved into an apartment but have now found out about drug activity on the premises, can I get out of my lease and get my security deposit back?
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If I moved into an apartment but have now found out about drug activity on the premises, can I get out of my lease and get my security deposit back?
I signed a 1 year lease. The landlord told me the building and tenants were safe. A week or two after this, I was told by my next door neighbor that the 2 other apartments on the floor were “crackhouses.” Since then, there has been strange people in the hallway and coming in and out, loud noises, physical fighting in other apartments and the hallway, and detectives looking for a known criminal at all apartments. We do not feel safe here.
Asked on October 16, 2012 under Real Estate Law, New York
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
The way you can possibly cancel your lease for the unit you have without recourse is if you can prove that before the lease was entered into that you landlord knew there was illegal activity on the prmises and failed to disclose this material fact to you. What you need to do is to get your landlord to admit to you that he or she knew about drug activity on the premises.
The other way to get out of your lease is to submit a cancellation without recourse agreement to your landlord about undisclosed drug activity known before the lease was entered into and hope he or she signs it for you.
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