If my apartment was broken into and I have a 2 year old child, what are my rights as a tenant to get out of these apartments due to safety risks?
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If my apartment was broken into and I have a 2 year old child, what are my rights as a tenant to get out of these apartments due to safety risks?
Asked on April 11, 2012 under Real Estate Law, California
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Unless your presumed written lease has some provision allowing you to terminate the lease due to safety risks, you unfortunately do not have any recourse to end your lease due to the fact that it was broken into with one exception.
The one exception is if the landlord actually knew before you entered into the lease for the premises that you have that it was a safety risk with respect to crime and did not advise you of this material fact before you moved into the unit. Proving such actual knowledge by the landlord is difficult.
However, if you are on a month-to-month lease, you can give notice to your landlord that you will be terminating your lease in writing. That is one option for you.
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