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Terminated lease early - Advice Needed (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter doowain
- Start date
gianmarco
Footballguy
I'm sure he can clarify, but I'm sure most of you have driven down the road and, when stopped at a red light, can all of a sudden smell smoke in your car if your AC is not on the recirculated air setting. The same way that smell can filter in almost immediately and be very strong is what I'm assuming is happening here. Similarly, I've been in a hotel/motel room where you can suddenly start smelling smoke that is coming from an adjacent room as if they were actually in your room. It's usually in one specific spot (like near a vent) where you smell it and that's possibly what's being described as a "wall of smoke" even though you don't actually see anything. I would hate to have that happen in my own home.
That said, my biggest issue with the whole thing is that, back in September when it first happened, it wasn't bad enough to call someone immediately. It was mentioned as a "by the way" when handyman was there on an unrelated issue. It was ok to live with September, October, November, and December but finally in January it was a "must get out ASAP". I get that there was finally a place to go, but if it was that bad to want to break a lease, I'd think more would have been made of it earlier on. Along the same lines, I also don't think the complex took it seriously enough and seem to have breached on their responsibility as well. Considering the circumstances, I'd think an agreement could be reached between the 2 but I would probably fight it was well considering their response or lack thereof.
That said, my biggest issue with the whole thing is that, back in September when it first happened, it wasn't bad enough to call someone immediately. It was mentioned as a "by the way" when handyman was there on an unrelated issue. It was ok to live with September, October, November, and December but finally in January it was a "must get out ASAP". I get that there was finally a place to go, but if it was that bad to want to break a lease, I'd think more would have been made of it earlier on. Along the same lines, I also don't think the complex took it seriously enough and seem to have breached on their responsibility as well. Considering the circumstances, I'd think an agreement could be reached between the 2 but I would probably fight it was well considering their response or lack thereof.
fruity pebbles
Footballguy
Count me in on paying for the month of January. If you were out on Dec 31st, i think you have some ground to stand on. But hard to see prorating a month cause it fits your schedule. And as much as you say thats not whats happening, it really is. If they couldnt fix it the 2nd time in November, you should have been out Dec 31st.
doowain
Footballguy
OK, so I'll repeat all of these answers since you've been replying without following along apparently.
Smoke smell was centered in the kitchen/laundry. When it wasn't at it's worst, you could track the source of the smell to around the stove and near the HVAC in the laundry room. How it was getting in, I don't know, I'm not a home builder or contractor. I am very handy and typically handle nearly everything at my house myself, but that apartment wasn't my home. I'm not spending my time or money to fix something that I don't own. That's just silly for you to even suggest (you did this in an earlier reply).
I thought the following went without saying, but I guess not. There wasn't a wall of smoke in the sense that I could see smoke like it was a fire or something. The wall of smoke was referring to the smell.
Again, the maintenance guys hypothesized that the smoke was somehow getting into my apartment through cracks around piping under the sink, around the HVAC, etc so they used the expanding foam on those areas. TO NO AVAIL.
I also have never heard of smoke going between walls, but smoke is smoke. Just like water, if there are no barriers to entry, it will find a way. But, again, I don't think it was going between the walls or spaces around piping (clearly because their solution did not fix it), but somehow getting in through the venting or something.
And to repeat myself again (I'm not sure why this is hard to comprehend), we moved in to the apartment at the end of July. No smoke smell at all until the weather got colder (meaning the smokers moved from smoking on their balcony to inside their apartment). I suppose it could've been new tenants, but considering the maintenance guy said he knew who it was, I doubt it.
doowain
Footballguy
doowain
Footballguy
sbonomo
Footballguy
Any chance it was coming from your stove, just asking? Assuming you have a gas stove, the only pipe around that wall would be the gas line..maybe the size of a quarter, half dollar...I have no comprehension of how that could vent so much smoke in your home that you cannot live there. Most ovens have a self ventilating hood (assuming Ohio does not have a full chefs hood that actually vents outside, although i could be wrong) so it cannot come from there. The sink. There is a drain pipe that should go straight to the sewer. unless the people next door are blowing smoke under their sink, I don’t quite get this either. Window????? Do you leave it open all day? Do the people next door to you sit outside and blow smoke in the direction of your house all day? Vents. Possibly, but why the laundry room and the kitchen. Do the people next door only smoke in the laundry room and kitchen? Does the laundry room go out to a balcony for the people next door? You already mentioned that it is not coming from outside so just trying to make sense of this.
cstu
Footballguy
Unless your lease specified that your unit was a non-smoking unit then I don't see much legal basis for your complaint. I'm a non-smoker too who hates smoke with a passion, but legally I believe the landlord did what they were required to do.
doowain
Footballguy
Electric stove. And it was noticed without the stove on anyway.
Never left windows open (or even opened the balcony door). I don't think I ever even stepped foot on the balcony once.
We were on the second floor and, with how the units are set up, the next closest balcony was easily 30 feet away. So no chance that smoke from outside was somehow getting in. And the laundry room is off the kitchen. You'd have to walk through the kitchen, dining area and then the living room to get to the balcony.
Trust me, I thought through all possible scenarios for how it could be happening and came up with no other explanation than it was somehow getting into the apartment through vents.
fruity pebbles
Footballguy
Thats exactly what im getting at. You were out on your schedule and you expect them to accept that.
doowain
Footballguy
But what you are getting at doesn't really matter. Whether I left on Dec 31st or January 8th, they'd still expect January's payment. It changes nothing.
fruity pebbles
Footballguy
It changes a lot in perception. If this living situation was so untenable that you could live there no longer to the point of breaking the lease. Why stay until all the ducks were lined up on your side? If you left Dec 31st and had given them a months notice i can see your case. But what are they supoosed to do for the rest of January if you leave mid month and prorate the rent?
doowain
Footballguy
It isn't when you have a 4 month old. You are more concerned with keeping the little human alive than going out on a balcony. We never bothered putting any chairs on the balcony either. So we saw no point in being out there.
sbonomo
Footballguy
sbonomo
Footballguy
Really? do you take it outside or leave it inside all day and night? And i am the "weird dude"
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doowain
Footballguy
sbonomo
Footballguy
doowain
Footballguy
Outside? Yes. Out on a 2nd floor balcony in October when it's 50 degrees, no.Really? do you take it outside or leave it inside all day and night? And i am the "weird dude"
doowain
Footballguy
For something that has nothing to do with you, you certainly seem to be taking this situation personally. Or maybe just have nothing better to do than troll this thread asking questions that have already been answered. Questioning everything as if I'm some terrible person for not just accepting that the landlord didn't fix something that should've been fixed. Your replies and general attitude are the reason tenants likely skip out on you. You threw some bogus story out about how you put your tenants up in a hotel when your AC unit(s) went out. Even if that were true, maybe you should've had them inspected or had preventative maintenance performed on them like a good landlord would.
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doowain
Footballguy
OK, so it's obvious you are trolling now. And if you are serious, yet another dumb comment from a weird dude.
Call it "taking my ball and going home" if you'd like, but I have no interest in replying to you further. Have a good one.
sbonomo
Footballguy
Just asking questions - you are the person that asked for advice on an internet forum. Two pages ago i told you that i was happy to let it go. FYI, i have had 3 bad tenants in 10 years (I own 5 rental propeties). My process has gotten better to weed out bad tenants over the years. Happy to send you statements of charges for the Aloft in Tempe where i put the renter or the 10k i put into air conditioning units up if you are truely questioning what i am putting into this thread.
cstu
Footballguy
All I'm saying is that leaving some windows open at least when you're out would have reduced the smoke issue.
doowain
Footballguy
Fair enough. But it was at it's worst when it was cold outside (~30 degrees in November -- even lower in December). Not going to leave the windows or the balcony door open when it's that cold outside.
And considering the proximity of the windows/balcony to the kitchen/laundry room not sure it would've mattered a whole lot.
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encaitar
Footballguy
Really? The guy's dealing with a smoky apartment(not by his doing) with an infant in the house and your advice is "open the window"?
