THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 7, 1995 TAG: 9501050276
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 26 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: LANDLORDS & TENANTS
SOURCE: Albert Teich Jr.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Q. I am renting an apartment and have signed a year's lease with the landlord. In the lease, it is stated that waterbeds are strictly prohibited.
There are two tenants who live on the floor above me who have waterbeds and had permission to do so by the landlord.
Does that legally give me the right to break my lease? Why sign a lease if both the landlord and the tenant are not living up to it?
A. Just because the landlord allows the people above you to have something that he does not allow you to have does not give you the right to break your lease.
As long as the landlord is not discriminating on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, condition of previous servitude, sex, etc., he can basically make any deal that he wishes.
If you believe that the waterbeds are too heavy for the structure of the apartment, you might very well have good grounds to break your lease but we think that would be a little difficult to prove. One leaves, one remains
Q. The lease for my apartment is in my name and my roommate's. I have given a written, 30-day notice to the landlord that I will be moving from the apartment and that my roommate will be staying.
My landlord proceeded to write a letter back asking both of us to come in and see him.
After informing my roommate of this request, he has refused to meet with the landlord. How should I remedy this problem?
A. You did not mention the type of lease you and your roommate have. If you have a yearly lease, you are not able to terminate it except at the end of the year.
If you are on a month-to-month lease, you or your roommate can probably give notice that you are terminating your lease. That notice should be 30 days in writing and is to take effect on a rent day.
We believe the landlord, when he originally rented the premises to you, intended the lease to apply to both of you.
But the two of you intended to be jointly liable for the rent but that one of you could terminate the lease at the expiration of the rental period.
I cannot give you 100 percent assurance in this suggestion, but why not simply tell your roommate that you are moving, that you are terminating the lease at the end of the lease period and, if he desires to stay in the premises and pay the full rent, then he may do so but you are leaving.
I believe, assuming you are on a month-to-month lease, either one of you has the right to terminate the lease at the end of the rental period upon giving the proper notice. MEMO: Albert Teich Jr. is a real estate lawyer based in Norfolk. Send
comments and questions to him at Real Estate Weekly, 150 W. Brambleton
Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510.
by CNB