What does it take to break a residential lease in state of Colorago?
Moved to Denver, CO. to enter university taking an accelerarted degree to degree program for nursing license. Rented/signed lease for a duplex and when moved in found the walls/floor so thin as to literally hear every word of conversation and activities of daily living of the tenants below. This so obviously a gross mis-representation of this unit and an intolerable situation for my necessary 1&1/2 years of studies. Broker/landlord refuse to let me out of my lease agreement only offering to install padding and carpeting. In consulting three professional carpet businesses I was told that this solution would not be effective – a layer of soundproofing would have to be installed, this covered by plywood and then a high grade of padding and carpeting. This would be very expensive and most likely too expensive for the landlord. In the midst of this issue, I received news of an extremely serious health situation in the family forcing be to leave Colorado. In explaining this to the University, even after the semester had begun they fully understood and agreed to fully refund any and all monies I had paid. I have left the state of Colorado with my rent paid in full through this month of January. I in no way want to be irresponsible to my obligations as far as the rental situation goes. It is just that I feel strongly that this property was mis-represented to me. It would be an intolerable hardship for me to continue paying rent until the termination of my lease. The brokerage firm has begun to advertise to rent this duplex again but I know it was marketed for three months before I rented it. I was told that I should have done ‘Due Diligence’ and I have great respect for Due Diligence but, in this particular situation there would have been no way to experience or learn of this noise as the tenants below were not home when I was shown the unit. I would have had to take occupancy to experience the intolerable noise through the floors and this would not have been possible without first signing a lease. I suspect this duplex is not up to Code as I have never experienced conversations so clearly penetrating walls and floors from an adjoining unit.
I am aware of “The Convenant of Quiet Enjoyment” in Colorado and wonder if that gives me any legal standing in Colorado. I would like to be able to negotiate something with the Landlord that would be fair to me and respectful to his position, too.
I will greatly appreciate your professional knowledge, advice and direction.
Most sincerely.
Mary LaDage
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August 28th, 2010 at 3:31 am
If you think that you have any legal standing, consult a lawyer. It’s as easy as that. Most will give a free consultation, listen to your story and tell you immediately if you could take legal action.
In the end, here’s the jest of your story:
1) You are a student and need a quiet place to study.
2) Your apartment was older (most likely) and didn’t provide the level of noise that you wanted.
3) You told your landlord.
4) Your landlord offered his solutions.
5) You rejected them.
Your landlord did exactly what he was supposed to do – he took your complaint seriously and offered his solutions that would have at lease minimized the noise to some degree. Had you complaiend to him and he done nothing then yes, you have major legal standings right now.
However, right now it doesn’t sound like you have any legal leg to stand on. Unless he represented the apartment as a “quiet solitude” or a similar statement, he still stayed within his legal bounds and didn’t misrepresent anything.
Anyone who has lived in an apartment could tell you that the walls can and often are paper thin. You either move or deal with it. Also,iIn your situation you weren’t tied to your apartment – there are thousands of other locations in the area that I’m sure you could have studied.
August 28th, 2010 at 4:09 am
You have no legal standing whatsoever. First, you need to learn what the ‘right of quiet enjoyment’ means. It has NOTHING to do with noise levels, and everything to do with maintaining privacy within your unit. It does NOT refer to vocal noises. If this comes to a court situation, you will lose, with no question. You signed a binding legal contract to rent the premises, and the understanding is that you KNOW and have viewed that which you are renting. You will be found responsible for costs incurred because of your desire to leave prior to lease expiration. That will include rents you need to pay,as well as landlord costs in procuring a replacement tenant.
August 28th, 2010 at 4:19 am
You may have to start using ear plugs for when you want to study and turn on music that you enjoy when doing other things. It doesn’t sound like you have much recourse as far as breaking the lease. An attorney can advise you when he or she looks at your lease.
Another possibility is to sound-proof one room where you could study.