Get Out of Unsafe Living Conditions: Sample Letter to Break Lease Due to Safety Concerns

When you sign a lease, you always hope that there won't be anything wrong with the space. Unfortunately, sometimes landlords hide things that turn out to be a safety issue later, like pests, mold, unsanitary conditions, and more. If this comes up for you, you may be legally allowed to break the lease.

If you find that your property isn't safe, you might be looking for a sample letter to break your lease due to safety concerns. Some landlords deny that the safety concerns are their fault, so you should draft a convincing letter to tell your landlord what the problem is, while also providing proof for why you are breaking your lease early.

If you need help writing a letter to get out of your lease due to your safety concerns, DoNotPay can write it for you.

What Happens if You Illegally Break a Lease

A lease is considered to be a contract. When you sign a lease, you are effectively signing a contract connecting you and your landlord. With any type of contract, if you break it illegally, there will be legal consequences. Here are some examples of what you might face if you illegally break your contract.

1. It can cause you to have an eviction on your record. An eviction can lower your credit score.
2. It can be challenging to get a new lease somewhere with an eviction on record plus a poor credit score.
3. You might be sued by your landlord in an attempt to get the money you owe for breaking your lease.
4. Your landlord can sue you for breaking the contract.

Reasons You Can't Use to Break a Lease Legally

There are a few legal reasons for you to break your lease without penalty. However, there are a lot of other reasons that aren't going to be considered valid. Here are some examples:

• You want to move to be closer to your family.
• You are going to move in with a partner.
• You intend to upgrade or downgrade your living space.
• You bought a house.
• You need to move due to a change in employment

Can You Break Your Lease Legally if There Are Safety Concerns?

In the US, there is a “Warrant of Habitability” that requires landlords to make sure rental properties meet specific health and safety standards. Each state has different safety laws, but many of them require rental properties to meet these basic safety and health requirements:

• Working heating or air conditioning
• Functional appliances
• Trash disposal resources
• Mold remediation
• Pest management

If your rental property has pests, mold, dangerous chemicals, unsanitary carpeting, or other unsafe conditions, your landlord may be in violation of the Warrant of Habitability, and you can, therefore, break your lease legally.

However, if your actions are the reason your property is unsafe, then this would not count as a landlord violation. Instead, you are no longer in accordance with your side of the lease contract, and your landlord can evict you.

Breaking Leases for Safety Reasons by State

The rules about breaking your lease due to safety concerns will vary from state to state. If you are considering breaking your lease, check out your specific state's rules below:

Sample Letter for Breaking a Lease Due to Safety Concerns

You can try to write a letter yourself asking to be let out of your lease based on safety concerns. Here is a sample letter to break your lease due to safety concerns:

Your Name

Your Address

Your Contact Information

Date

To [Landlord Name],

I am the tenant living in [Apartment number and number] at [Address]. I am writing to you to inform you that I am obligated to terminate my lease, effective [Date 30 days from this letter], due to safety concerns.

With the [Name the safety concern], this property is uninhabitable and not safe to live in. I had previously reached out to you about these safety concerns, but they still have not been resolved.

Since the required safety standards are not being met, I should be allowed to terminate my lease with no notice, but to give you time to find a new tenant, consider this letter as my 30-day notice. I will be moved out by [Date].

If you have any questions, my contact information is [Contact information].

Sincerely,

Signature

[Tenant Name]

How You Can Break Your Lease on Your Own if You Feel Unsafe

Depending on what the unsafe conditions are and who caused them, you may be able to get out of penalties from breaking your lease early if you properly handle the termination of your lease. Here’s what you can do:

1. Check out your state's laws on unsafe living conditions. In many states and circumstances, it is permissible to be let out of a lease if there are safety concerns.
2. Collect evidence that proves your living conditions are unsafe. If it is due to your landlord’s negligence, you should collect proof of that as well, since many states require landlords to perform repairs and keep things up to code.
3. Write a letter to your landlord asking them to let you out of the lease because you no longer feel safe living here. Make it clear that it’s not your fault that the living conditions are unsafe.
4. If negotiation doesn’t go well, your landlord might demand a fee.
5. If your landlord refuses to let you out of the lease with unsafe conditions present, you may have to take them to small claims court.

Use DoNotPay to Break Your Lease

Even though most states allow you to break your lease due to safety concerns, some landlords play hardball and make the process much more difficult. Trying to get out of a lease because you no longer feel safe can be challenging, but DoNotPay is happy to help.

Here's how you can get started in 3 easy steps:

1. Search Break My Lease on DoNotPay.

2. Prepare a signed copy of your lease that you can use as a reference, and enter the state the lease was signed in.

3. Let us guide you through the 4 potential options.

Then, DoNotPay will create the right solution for you that fits your specific situation:

• If you're a uniformed service member breaking a lease to fulfill your service obligations, we'll send your landlord an SCRA Protection Letter.
• If you're breaking your lease for a reason protected by your state's tenant laws, we'll write your landlord a letter detailing your protections for breaking the lease under the relevant law.
• If your reasons for breaking your lease aren't protected by federal or state law, but you'd like to try to convince your landlord to let you break the lease through mutual agreement, we'll draft a hardship letter making your case to your landlord.
• If there are no remaining options for breaking the lease with protection, but your state requires landlords to mitigate damages to tenants who break their leases, we'll notify your landlord of that obligation and minimize the remaining rent you have to pay.

Why You Should Use DoNotPay to Break Your Lease

Anything that can make your life easier is generally a good way to go. You should let DoNotPay file a letter to break your lease for multiple reasons, including:

• It's successful: You can trust that DoNotPay will help you break your lease if you no longer feel safe.
• It's fast: You only have to spend a brief bit of time entering information.
• It's easy: You give us a little bit of information about your situation, and we handle the rest.

DoNotPay Can Help in Many Ways

Writing a letter to break your lease due to safety concerns is just one of many tasks we can assist you with. Check out more things we can do to help you:

• Use our virtual credit card
• Create a power of attorney
• Appeal parking tickets

Conclusion

A lease can be a great way to have a living space without committing to living in a specific area. However, if you find that your rental is no longer a safe space, you might be looking to break your lease. You will have to work with your landlord to come to an agreement. Part of that is writing a letter explaining why you feel they should break your lease.

If you need assistance writing the letter to your landlord, DoNotPay is happy to step in.