Need advice on breaking lease in VA

[Anonymous]

Landlord in VA is in violation of landlord-tenant act. Failure to make repairs to hazards within reasonable amount of time - they agreed in writing to fix a very hazardous structure months ago. They started the process of hiring people and then stopped responding to us about it for the last 2 months. They also have 3 other safety issues they will not fix/address in a reasonable amount of time. (Months). They know we have a small child who can get hurt and they clearly don’t care.

Has anyone had experience in this? If so, how did you proceed to get out of your lease early without penalty? We aren’t looking to battle it out, we just want to get out of here and be done with it.

[Anonymous]

Get a lawyer to help you sort out the legal stuff. Also, document, with time stamps and pictures all of the damage. If you leave because it's no longer safe, you don't want to be accused of causing the damage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a lawyer to help you sort out the legal stuff. Also, document, with time stamps and pictures all of the damage. If you leave because it's no longer safe, you don't want to be accused of causing the damage.

+1. Having a lawyer is a good idea, but not required. If you think the landlord will sue you then I would for sure get a lawyer.

Document everything.