Can I back out of an apartment lease I signed a few days ago?
April 17, 2018 7:46 PM Subscribe
I recently moved down to San Diego, and found what I thought was a nice apartment, but upon moving in discovered that I can hear literally everything going on in the unit above me - footsteps, TV, sex, you name it. Does this give me grounds to back out of my lease, and what would be the best way to handle this situation?
As I mentioned in the question, I just moved into a new place. I signed the lease this past Saturday, and have been here Sunday and Monday night (it's Tuesday night right now).
At first it seemed like a nice place, and the two times I saw it before I signed the lease there were no apparent issues. However, I'm on a first floor unit and after moving in, I realized that you can hear literally everything going on in the apartment upstairs, clearly. I was woken up the first night by the couple upstairs having sex - it wasn't the sex itself that woke me up, but the sound of the bed moving, which sounded like it was in my room. Same thing for when they walk around, you can clearly hear every footstep - and not like muffled footsteps, it's LOUD. When they watch anything on TV, I can clearly hear what they are watching, etc. I have lived in a bunch of apartments before, including ones with neighbors on the floor above and I have never experienced anything even remotely close to this amount of noise before. And it's not the fault of the people upstairs, I don't think they are exceptionally noisy people, I think the apartment just has exceedingly thin floors or something.
Does this give me grounds to back out of the lease and get my deposit back? I never would have moved into this place if I knew how much noise I would be getting from the apartment upstairs. What would be my best way to try to get out of this apartment and get my deposit back? I've never even considered doing something like this before but the noise is really amazingly bad.
As I mentioned in the question, I just moved into a new place. I signed the lease this past Saturday, and have been here Sunday and Monday night (it's Tuesday night right now).
At first it seemed like a nice place, and the two times I saw it before I signed the lease there were no apparent issues. However, I'm on a first floor unit and after moving in, I realized that you can hear literally everything going on in the apartment upstairs, clearly. I was woken up the first night by the couple upstairs having sex - it wasn't the sex itself that woke me up, but the sound of the bed moving, which sounded like it was in my room. Same thing for when they walk around, you can clearly hear every footstep - and not like muffled footsteps, it's LOUD. When they watch anything on TV, I can clearly hear what they are watching, etc. I have lived in a bunch of apartments before, including ones with neighbors on the floor above and I have never experienced anything even remotely close to this amount of noise before. And it's not the fault of the people upstairs, I don't think they are exceptionally noisy people, I think the apartment just has exceedingly thin floors or something.
Does this give me grounds to back out of the lease and get my deposit back? I never would have moved into this place if I knew how much noise I would be getting from the apartment upstairs. What would be my best way to try to get out of this apartment and get my deposit back? I've never even considered doing something like this before but the noise is really amazingly bad.
Legally, I don't know. But I would call the landlord immediately and just ask to get out. I did that once for the same reason and it worked. They found another tenant immediately and I wasn't out any money.
posted by pinochiette at 8:16 PM on April 17, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by pinochiette at 8:16 PM on April 17, 2018 [4 favorites]
It depends on what's in the lease agreement and the local tenant rules.
posted by thesockpuppet at 9:18 PM on April 17, 2018
posted by thesockpuppet at 9:18 PM on April 17, 2018
If it's a hot rental market, you can often get out of a lease by asking the landlord. Landlord figures it's better to take the extra time to find a new tenant who won't complain. Landlord will probably want to keep this month's rent (and you could keep living there for the remainder of the month). Best to ask.
Legally, like if you were in front of a judge, it would have to be really thin floors and really loud sex to support an argument that the "implied warranty of habitability" is violated.
posted by unreadyhero at 10:10 PM on April 17, 2018
Legally, like if you were in front of a judge, it would have to be really thin floors and really loud sex to support an argument that the "implied warranty of habitability" is violated.
posted by unreadyhero at 10:10 PM on April 17, 2018
It would depend on where you are and on the terms of your lease. I have no idea how matters like this are handled in California. IME, that is, in Florida, sometimes they (landlord) will let you out of it if you can produce someone who will rent the place in your stead, thus ensuring the landlord does not lose the income from the rental unit.
Without knowing more about the terms of your lease, though, it's hard to give a more specific answer.
posted by Crystal Fox at 11:50 PM on April 17, 2018
Without knowing more about the terms of your lease, though, it's hard to give a more specific answer.
posted by Crystal Fox at 11:50 PM on April 17, 2018
Beyond your specific lease there is no cooling off period for leases in California. However just cause for breaking a lease includes noisy neighbors according to this and a few other sources. IANAL or anything but found through some quick research. I'd just be direct and upfront at your earliest convenience with the landlord and see what happens.
posted by chasles at 3:57 AM on April 18, 2018
posted by chasles at 3:57 AM on April 18, 2018
On a quick check (not legal advice!), CA law allows leases to prohibit subleasing or assignments, so, if yours does, you are formally out of luck. I agree, the best approach is just to speak directly to the landlord. Try not to sound annoyed or judgmental, just say that the space isn't working out for you and you'd like to talk about how to resolve the lease. They might find it easier to let you out now than to have you complaining for twelve months and then leave anyway.
posted by praemunire at 9:29 AM on April 18, 2018
posted by praemunire at 9:29 AM on April 18, 2018
Regardless of whether the landlord does you a favor, lease breaking provisions in California are reasonably tenant-friendly, as I understand them. You only have to pay until they re-rent the apartment, which they are required to make a reasonable effort to try to do. Obviously, a lousy landlord could deliberately drag their feet.
posted by wnissen at 10:43 AM on April 18, 2018
posted by wnissen at 10:43 AM on April 18, 2018
This is a clear case of failing to allow you quiet enjoyment of the premises, which in most states is in and of itself grounds to break the lease.
Quiet don't literally mean "no sound" or even literally refer to sound alone. It's basically the right to be free from unreasonable interference with your tenancy and from unreasonable disturbance. Normal household noise wouldn't be unreasonable, but loud music or stampeding animals at 2 in the morning more than on rare occasion would be.
Point being a few hundred bucks paid to a landlord-tenant attorney to write a letter would likely get you out of your lease with little to no penalty if you have evidence to back up your claims, especially if the landlord is nonresponsive to requests to help solve the problem.
posted by wierdo at 12:47 AM on April 19, 2018
Quiet don't literally mean "no sound" or even literally refer to sound alone. It's basically the right to be free from unreasonable interference with your tenancy and from unreasonable disturbance. Normal household noise wouldn't be unreasonable, but loud music or stampeding animals at 2 in the morning more than on rare occasion would be.
Point being a few hundred bucks paid to a landlord-tenant attorney to write a letter would likely get you out of your lease with little to no penalty if you have evidence to back up your claims, especially if the landlord is nonresponsive to requests to help solve the problem.
posted by wierdo at 12:47 AM on April 19, 2018
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posted by rhizome at 8:06 PM on April 17, 2018 [1 favorite]