Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

Breaking a lease

I would like to know if the fact that my apartment is crawling with roaches can I break my lease? This is a health concern for me and my son. I have informed the office and nothing seems to be working. They have sprayed and I have bought pesticides myself. I have considered calling a pest control company myself because I can't seem to understand why this problem won't go away. I can barely sleep at night and I hate getting up in the middle of the night because I will definitely have to kill a few roaches first.


Asked on 9/05/08, 11:10 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

William Gwaltney William W. Gwaltney, Attorneys at Law

Re: Breaking a lease

check your lease for clauses related to early termination. If the condition you describe makes the apartment uninhabitable then you may have cause to break the lease. However, uninhabitable is not based on your opinion.

Dealing with roaches can be very difficult to handle. You need to document your contact with your landlord as well as any responses or actions taken by the landlord. If your landlord is making an effort but nothing is working try to work with him/her to resolve the matter. See if they have another unit in a different building or part of the complex that they can move you too.

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Answered on 9/06/08, 5:40 pm


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