I have recently moved to an apartment building and have a month-to-month agreement. The building I am living in is not very safe. There are loud parties, drug dealers come to my door, and I am afraid to go out at night. I want to get out of my lease. What can I do?

If you have a month-to-month tenancy, you are legally able to give notice to your landlord of one month. You have to serve the notice on or before the day your next rent payment is due. The notice is then effective on the last day of that rental period.

Your landlord has an obligation to ensure that neither he nor other tenants disturb your possession or peaceful enjoyment of the premises. The circumstances might be sufficient to allege that your landlord is breaking his obligations, particularly if you have complained to him. You can apply to court immediately for an order to end the tenancy and possibly also recover damages. In this way, you will avoid the possibility of your landlord taking action against you if you abandon the property without giving notice.

If you leave your place right now without any notice, your tenancy will be deemed to have ended on the first legal opportunity you would have had to give proper notice. Your landlord can take legal action against you for damages for breach of the agreement before you left and for rent until the tenancy would have ended legally.

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November 2004 More Renting a Place to Live FAQs:

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