I Don’t Feel Safe Here. I Gotta Leave!

Early Termination of Residential Leases

You are a new tenant moving into your rental home. And on that first day your comfort quickly disappears. You discover issues that concern you for your safety and health. What do you do? You signed a lease which is a binding contract. Do you request the landlord or property manager fix the issues? Do you insist they fix the issues or you will walk away? Will they fix anything? If you walk away, what problems do you create for yourself, namely the money you may still owe the landlord even though you don’t intend to live there? Can you walk away – terminate the lease – without penalty? Is early termination of residential leases possible? How can I terminate my lease early? Should I terminate my lease early?

How can a situation like this even occur? It seems you wouldn’t sign a lease without first visiting the home and evaluating it to ensure you like it. And to ensure there are no matters that raise concern about health and safety. Well, it happens. You may have been quite happy with the property when you “inspected” it. All may have been well. It was clean. The appliances worked. The temperature seemed to be fine. You didn’t smell anything bad. No signs of mold. No major water leaks. All the utilities seemed to work fine, at least some of the lights worked and water flowed from the kitchen faucet and the toilets flushed. Windows and doors closed fully. (Take notes on some of the things you should check out…) Sometime between your visit and when the previous tenants moved out, something broke. Maybe the tenants furniture was blocking your view of something. But now you are walking into the home after signing the lease and there are problems. You consider these health and safety problems. Perhaps you discover roaches. Maybe squirrels or raccoons in the attic space, a faulty water heater that isn’t heating the water, or a sagging wet bathroom floor that likely has mold growing under the tile. Maybe you discovered more problems, but let’s stick with these. These are bad enough, right?

You have multiple options at this point, one of which could be to terminate the lease on the spot. Virginia Code Title 55.1, Chapter 12, Article 4 (Tenant Remedies) 55.1-1234.1 “Uninhabitable Dwelling Unit” provides you with legal recourse. The law states, “If, at the beginning of the tenancy, a condition exists in a rental dwelling unit that constitutes a fire hazard or serious threat to the life, health, or safety of tenants or occupants of the premises, including an infestation of rodents or lack of heat, hot or cold running water, electricity, or adequate sewage disposal facilities, the tenant shall be entitled to terminate the rental agreement and receive a full refund of all deposits and rent paid to the landlord, so long as the tenant provides the landlord with written notice of his intent to terminate the rental agreement with seven days of the date on which possession of the dwelling unit was to have transferred to the tenant.” There’s more language in the statute, but this excerpt is good for our discussion here. A few important points to note. The definition of “fire hazard or serious threat to the life, health, or safety” can be subjective. You and your landlord may differ on this definition. This doesn’t mean you should be concerned, but perhaps be open to the possibility that a third party may be involved in mediating, arbitrating, or hearing a case in court to rule a final answer. “Tenants or occupants” refers to those persons authorized by the landlord to reside in the rental property per the lease. They do not necessarily include guests you invited to live with you. “Lack of heat, hot or cold running water, electricity” presumes you remembered to set up utility services and these conditions still exist. The “seven days” period during which you intend to terminate the lease begins on the day you were permitted to occupy the rental property per the lease. For example, if per the lease your first day authorized for move-in is February 14, regardless of the earlier date you signed the lease, then you would have until February 21 to terminate the lease.

When you are searching for a home to rent, have an experience real estate agent educate you on the leasing process, obligations of landlords, and your rights as a tenant. Review options for early termination of residential leases. After having a lease and becoming a tenant, should you ever find yourself in a position where you may want to terminate a lease for any reason, consider consulting with a lawyer who specializes in tenant-landlord law matters. Even when you strongly believe you are in the right, the landlord and their property manager may disagree and put up a fight. It is also possible that you may not be in the right in which case you could cause serious problems for yourself.