I am currently in the lookout for a lawyer who has knowledge of landlord-tenant law in the state of michigan. I need one to write a scary letter threatening to sue to break the lease with no penalties because I have plumbing that has been in a horriffic state of repair for quite a while, and despite being notified a million times, has done nothing.
The cheaper the better. I have a feeling they will cave, since this is the second time I've been in a state of disrepair with a major problem where they didn't fix it for almost a month. They have no legal standing in this case. They're been in the wrong far too many times.
I just want out of my lease. Getting my security deposit back would be a bonus.
The power of one
Let me tell you what we did when we were without hot water for a week. I did a little legal research into the matter, which was basically nothing more than looking up the renting/leasing statues for the state of Texas and parsing through a little legalspeak, and wrote my own letter (per Code requirements) to the landlord which I sent by registered mail. Using the best legal language I could muster, including the liberal use of the section symbol and Code citations, was enough to get the situation fixed.
Never underestimate the power of legalese. In the case of our now former apartment complex, I think management banked on the fact that a lot of tenants wouldn't say anything, since many of them were illiterate, illegal or considered themselves impotent in the matter.
I'd try sending them a nice legal-sounding letter of your own writing and saving yourself some money. The pen is mightier than the sword.
Re: The power of one
That's what I was thinking.
But I want to break the lease. I'd rather it DOESN'T get repaired, so if it goes that far, it can go to court, and they lose.
Their substandard repair staff, and the constant overflowing dumpsters across the parking lot drive me nuts. I'd love to be rid of them.
Re: The power of one
I seem to remember that in Texas, you can, after a period of time, break the lease penalty-free, but for this to work, you have to do everything the statue says, which includes something like two rounds of reigstered letters to make them aware of the problem. After some time, if it's still not fixed, you would have the right to get out of the lease.
But, as I suspect it is with most other things, the laws in Texas seem to favour big business interests rather than the little guy. (Yee-haw!) It might be different in Michigan, and I would lay money on it being a lot easier in more traditionally liberal states like Massachusetts or Washington.
Re: The power of one
There's no such statute in michigan. I can legally hold my rent in escrow until they repair the damage, or I have the option of soliciting bids and reparing it myself, and taking it out of my lease payment.
See, the trick is, it won't be a traditional renter dispute. My grounds are they violated part 18 of the lease agreement, that they didn't repair the apartment in a timely manner. Twice, in fact.
Thus they violated the terms of the lease, and I want to settle out of court on the breach of contract suit and just get out of the lease with no penalites.
This should be an open and shut case, in your favor.
that's what I'm thinking.