I would like to learn about what my tenant rights are with regards to terminating my lease early. This morning I found out that the key that was given to me by my landlord will unlock my neighbors lock and deadbolt. This is of great concern to me as I accidentally thought I was entering my apartment but instead I walked into my neighbors apartment at 02:30 in the morning. This could have been a very dangerous situation. Also, I was mugged two weeks before where my drivers license was stolen. My license had my apartment number on it. I do not feel safe in my apartment anymore and I am outraged that it appears me and my neighbors have the same lock/key. I would like to speak with someone as soon as possible as this is causing me great amount of anxiety and I need to know what my rights are and how to proceed.
Answers & Comments
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I know this do not have anything to do with the question you just asked but how did you end up walking into your neighbors house by accident? was this really an accident or was you just curious to know if your key would actually work in your neighbors apartment door..? but still i'm just trying to figure out how did you end up unlocking your neighbors door by accident..isn't there an apartment number or something where the tenants can tell there apartments apart from each other..but anyway if you are having any problems with your apartment that you are not comfortable living with...i would call my landlord as soon as possible and tell him about any problems you are facing...btw Happy Holidays!!
The reasons you've given aren't going to be good enough to void your lease. Neighborhood safety is not your landlord's responsibility, and the lock issue is something that can be fixed right away. I'm not saying it wasn't a sleazy thing to do, but in the end he's just going to say "sorry I had no idea" and fix it for you.
My advice is this:
You can leave right now if you wanted, but your landlord is going to keep your security deposit. I was in a situation sort of like this and I talked to my landlord and respectfully asked if I could sublet my apartment...to sweeten the deal I offered to do all of the work. So I got a bunch of copies of the credit check paper, posted an ad at craigslist.org and held an open house. I had about ten people apply for the apartment in the first hour & sublet it to some guy the next day, he took over my lease and I got my security deposit back.
You are overreacting. Give them a chance to re-key the lock.
If you want to stumble home when the bars close and try the wrong door, at least take responsibility.
The landlord had nothing to do with you losing your license. You need to ask him to re-key your lock as he should have done when you moved in.
Your landlord has to change yoru locks but you are not legally allowed to break your lease for this reason. Tell him, he should change your locks within a resaonable amount of time, say a couple days b/c of security issues, if he doesn't you can then break your lease.