Well, that’s debatable. Do vermin and filth make a place uninhabitable? I think this is why it’s not strictly a case of buyer’s remorse. But I do agree that buyer’s remorse is coming into this at least in part.
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I’d also caution your S not to pay any rent/money until his subletting situation is resolved. While I still think the agreement needs to be in writing to be enforced, texts, emails and the like might suffice to prove the arrangement. However paying money/rent would be a big indicator that a rental arrangement was agreed to.
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Yes, vermin & filth can make a property uninhabitable.
Full fumigation may not be necessary, as I wrote before. There are roach motels and so on. Less toxic remedies than fumigation/bombs. It doesn’t sound like the apartment is overrun with cockroaches. Is he sure they aren’t silverfishes? Swarms are another thing. I remember doing a bomb ourselves when we had hundreds on our stove at night (memories from the '70’s).
If he is really stressing it seems the best remedy is to try to get out of both summer and fall. But fairly so that other tenants and landlord don’t lose anything. I agree it depends on where he is and what the lease actually says, as well as discretion of roomies and landlord.
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Could be a successful argument.
Good points.
Fumigation is not a great remedy as the residual effects can be harmful to one’s health.
Why not settle & move-on ?
I am aware that many have temporary circumstances which limit one’s housing options, but there are many avenues for one to investigate / pursue rent sharing arrangements.
Seems like the inspection put him on notice and upon further reflection is causing serious worries. Seems like a bad situation waiting to reoccur.
P.S. I wish for the best for your son. It is never too early to understand the concept of settlement or settling. First step is to share concerns with the other parties directly affected. Be upfront that the lack of cleanliness & presence of filth & vermin make the place uninhabitable as soon as possible in order to mitigate damages.
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Alert: Bias follows
My opinion may be biased a bit, but I don’t think this is a case of being uninhabitable. If it was so bad as to be uninhabitable, your son would have clearly realized that when he visited the first time. It may be dirty, filthy even, but it is not uninhabitable. It is buyer’s remorse, plain and simple. Not that I don’t sympathize, because I do. Very much. I could imagine my son doing a quick walkthrough and saying “This is PERFECT!” then regretting the decision later.
Time and communication are your allies here. If reneging on the lease is a real possibility, the sooner your son makes that decision, the better. He should decide upon an alternative, then notify the current landlord that he does not plan to move in because of x y and z.
If he informs the landlord/friends on June 1 that he will not be moving (staying) in the unit on Sept 1, the landlord may release him from any legal obligation free and clear. At worst, the landlord may keep part or all of the deposit for breaking the contract. However, I think if the landlord is informed early enough and signs another tenant, he may be honorable enough to return half or even all the deposit.
Related: Everyone should be aware that agreeing to a sublease is also agreeing to be responsible for any damage the original lessees (and in this case, any and all roommates) have already done. Do not blithely walk into these situations.
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@EconPop would you want the son to find a replacement or prefer to find a tenant yourself, and if the former, would you then vet the potential tenant?
My kids may not have been the most popular people in the world so others might have different experiences.
But finding roommates that you can get along with in college isn’t always the easiest thing.
I was just happy my kids found a situation that wasn’t horrible.
I mean he could get out of this arrangement but does he really want to? I kinda think he won’t.
My personal opinion. Talk to the guys there who are moving out. Dude, you’re a pig! How about you pay to have someone clean this place? Hire service masters or another service, have them clean the apartment.
Have the place fumigated. It might be that any college residence has some sort of bug problem. College kids are messy, they don’t like to clean. Bugs happen.
The places my kids lived in were a disaster zone. One place my son lived in should have been condemned. He had great roommates, except for the one who wouldn’t pay her share of the bills. They kicked her out mid year, she wasn’t paying anyways. He made good friends, they still like each other.
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I don’t do group situations so it’s little different. I would never want a residential tenant to find a replacement. But I’m usually easy with situations like this - where a tenant wants to get out of a lease early. It’s a hassle to have a tenant who doesn’t want to be there, so I don’t try to force them to stay by keeping the entire deposit. But again, I have never allowed a residential tenant to locate a replacement.
I have for office rentals, but the last two times it did not go well and I probably won’t do it again. It’s just smarter for me to start the process from scratch and do it myself.
In this case, I think the best thing the son can do to create a happy ending is notify the landlord ASAP. That’s more important than trying to find a replacement. The landlord is better suited and more capable of locating a tenant, not the son. The more time the son gives the landlord, the more likely a tenant will be found and all ends well.
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I don’t know where he stands right now. He’s got some thinking to do. I’ll come back and update at some point.
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It’s not really off topic as in a hot rental market, the landlords can do anything they want and the tenants will have no choice but to accept the rules. 11 1/2 month lease? Fine. Huge security deposits? Okay. Charges for rekeying? No subletting (or very strict rules)? Landlord’s choice.
Boulder controlled new construction for many many years by limiting sewer taps. No new toilets, no new building. That’s been gone for a while but also the size of CU has doubled in the last 30 years. There are lots of new apartment buildings but not so many new houses in the popular areas for students so those are a premium.
OP here can take our advice and approach the landlord to do repairs and cleaning and fumigating, but the landlord could say no, I have 10 other groups interested in this apartment.
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As someone who lived in NYC for decades, it can totally make sense to continously occupy a property (even with different tenants). If the price and location, size, are desirable and difficult to replicate, there’s a good reason. If this situation is similar, I would make it work.
One of the nicest buildings I lived in was constantly being treated for roaches (and yes, they were there.) Cleanliness matters, and good pest control helps, but this may be a problem that persist and needs vigilant management.
Lastly, in the real estate markets I know best, when there’s a full lease turnover, rather than extensions as you have, and that full fix up, paint, etc., the rent also increases by a bigger amount than at extension. Just saying, be careful what you wish for or at least understand what you’re getting into!
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UPDATE:
My son had a frank conversation with his friend/roommate who was very understanding. He feels at least their relationship will survive this.
He packed up everything and left yesterday. Numerous other cockroach sightings and roach feces have been photographed.
The subletting roommate made an appearance and my son said in a nutshell, “I’m leaving because I can’t handle the infestation and the dirtiness.” And the subletting roommate immediately said yes, it has been a problem for years! Then the other roommate confirmed all of it, saying it’s hard to keep roaches out of a 100 year old house. (My son bit his tongue and didn’t say that his home is 200 years old and has no cockroaches.)
Son said he’d pay the subletting roommate for a month, which he seemed happy with. The fact that subletting roommate didn’t even argue the point says a lot.
I’m furious with the friend/roommate. How could he invite his friend of eight years to live there KNOWING cockroaches have been a problem for years? My son feels he was duped by all of them. He’s pissed off, frankly. He absolutely will not go back to the apartment.
His big issue now is to hopefully convince the other college friend who has also signed on to the lease to break it and look for a two bedroom apartment.
He isn’t sure exactly what to say to the landlord. @Econpop any suggestions for how to approach this? He knows he needs to do it ASAP. The lease is due to start in September.
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I’d send the landlord an official notice breaking the lease due to the uninhabitable conditions. send copies of the photos and the statements from the current tenants that there are always cockroaches in the living space. Tell the landlord that it has cost him one month’s rent so he tried to live there and couldn’t.
Document, document, document.
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I’m glad he had the conversation with the roommates asap. Timing is a big bonus in lease situations. I don’t think he needs to say anything specific to the landlord. I don’t think he needs to send pictures. Timing is the most important factor. Give the landlord enough time so he feels he’s not being ambushed by the request, and I think the odds are the landlord will just say okay. Just as the roommates got your son to agree to move in, they’ll get someone else to move in.
I would send the landlord an email stating that your son has decided not to move in because the unit is filthy. I don’t recommend using the hyperbole that the unit is inhabitable. That’s simply not true, and instead of having the effect of making the LL feel threatened and fearfully agree to let your son out of the lease, it could have the opposite effect of making the LL feel your son is a professional tenant (look up the term) trying to entrap him in something - it the LL feels the latter, he may decide to fight hyperbolic fire with hardball tactics and not be as understanding.
I recommend an initial simply worded email saying the other/prior roommates have created a filthy environment that has roaches, bad odors, whatever. Explain that Son was unaware of the extent until he had sublet the place. Now that he has experienced the unit firsthand, there is no way he can live in such filth and with such pests. This doesn’t blame the LL and will not make him possibly defensive in his response.
If the LL denies the initial request, that’s when I’d send him pictures and more detail. But I don’t think it will get that far unless the LL is unreasonable. With this request coming 60 days early, I don’t think there will be a problem letting him out of the lease. The LL may say he wants to hold the deposit until a new tenant has signed on, and may not refund it if no new tenant is in place by September 1, but I think that will be the only negative and that’s not even likely in my mind.
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Ok, thanks, this is useful. But @EconPop you don’t think he should say he isn’t moving in because of the cockroaches? The filth is due to the roommates mostly.
I don’t know, I wouldn’t throw the other roommates under the bus as suggested above. I think he could just contact the landlord (email?) and ask if he can break the lease, if the landlord wants him to find a replacement, and that for various reasons he cannot live there. If he has to explain he can say he did not see cockroaches when he visited.
In my 20’s, in a certain area of Boston, I didn’t have a single apartment without cockroaches. I would not blame this on the roommates or even the dirtiness. Be aware the landlord may say he can fumigate. The “filth” is not a legit reason to leave since your son saw the place.
Trying to lure the other roommate may affect other people.
Overall I think your son is lucky to get out of the summer, and I think getting out of the fall lease depends on landlord’s inclination and the length of notice.
Some are quite sensitive to fumigation substances & may suffer serious allergic reactions.