I signed a lease at an apartment complex in Clarksville, TN, that expired August 14, 2008, after which it turned to a month-to-month lease. However, toward the end of June, while I was out of the country, the management with which I had signed the lease went bankrupt. A new management took over the complex, saying that the old management hadn't left any tenant leases behind and that they would provide me with a new lease after filling out a new rental application. I did, but was never provided with a new lease from this management. It must be noted that between early July and early August, most tenants left the premise, while I foolishly decided to stay. What's more, during that time period, no one occupied the office at the building, and telephone messages for maintenance requests were blatantly ignored (mold issues, black soot coming from air vents, inability to open windows, and inability to close the only window that remains open, allowing insects to infiltrate the apartment and having lead to higher cooling bills throughout the summer months). It should also be noted that a storm had taken out several windows in the building, which are now simply boarded up. Part of the building wall is held up by beams, while part of the roof has caved in. Rotting wall and ceiling beams can clearly be discerned in my apartment as well. When I paid rent on September 8, the management attempted to charge me a 10% late fee. Since I had no lease holding me responsible to any due dates and none of my maintenance requests had been honored, I refused to pay the late fee, but paid the month's rent. Informing them that I had never received a new lease, the management then produced the old lease (the one they claimed had been lost) and said they had decided to 'honor' it. On September 11, fed up with their imposing rules on me while failing to hold up their part (re maintenance), I put in a thirty-day move out notice. I was then told that I would have to give them a move-out notice on the 1st of the month (October); besides, I would have to give a 45-day notice as opposed to a thirty day notice. In sum, I refuse to concur with their request to pay a full month's rent for October and partial rent for November. I wonder whether the practices of this management are legal, and if they can hold me to their terms. I'm willing to pay a pro-rated rent to October 11, or 14 if need be, seeing as my old lease turned into a month-to-month lease on August 14, but don't see why I should have to pay for another 45 days beginning October 1, not having been aware that a lease even existed.
My question then is, since the old and 'new-found' lease turned into a month-to-month, is it legal for this management to not honor my move-out notice of September 11, requiring that I give a 45-day move out notice on the first of October and charge me for another 45 days, all the while ignoring all maintenance requests? (The last request was put in at least seven days ago, and maintenance has yet to make an appearance.)
03/10/2009 |
Category: Landlord Tenant |
State: ALL |
#15513
Failure of the landlord to maintain the premises may be used as a defense to eviction should provide written notice to the landlord that there is a defect in the property. The notice to the landlord typically must provide the landlord with a reasonable amount of time to accomplish
the repairs. If the landlord is nonresponsive, the tenant may then hire and pay for a professional to make the necessary repairs, then deduct the cost of the repairs from the rent paid to the landlord. Some states restrict this repair and deduct tactic and provide that the cost of the
repair must not be more than one month's rent. TN doesn't have a state statute governing deducting repairs, so lease terms would control.
I am prohibited from giving a legal opinion. In TN, a lease may be terminated by a month-to-month tenant by written notice given to the landlord at least thirty (30) days prior to the periodic rental date specified in the notice. Therefore, if the rental period runs from the
15th of the month to the 15th of the next month, a notice would need to be given to the landlord by September 15 in order not to be liable for the next rental period beginning on October 15.