Need help ending a lease due to poor maintenance?

In June of this year (2009) I renewed a lease for a 3 bedroom apartment my Fiance' and I are renting,... I was hesitant at first but had to sign the lease to avoid paying a higher rent amount for what is basically the worse apartment I/she have ever had the "pleasure?" to live in. The lease itself is for a full year and here are the problems we have in countered since residing in this poorly maintained abode. 1. Exposed wiring leading to the AC unit in the apartment. 2. There is now a squirrel living in the space above our back patio, at times we can hear the little guy crawling around in what sounds like the walls (Landlord has been aware of a large Facia Board missing from patio above ours since before we moved in a year ago) 3. Roaches - Originally the complex had a contract with an extermination company to treat the properties but that has long since expired and all I have been told is that they are in negotiations with new ones,... The office manager suggested that I take care of the problem myself. - I am not renting a home to have to be an exterminator as well as a tenant. 4. Water leaks and Mold - Approximately a week ago I reported to the office management team for the apartments that it appeared that the upstairs apartment had a small leak somewhere as one of our walls was moist and damp (this problem was noted when one of our photos fell off the wall),... It took them a week to send a maintenance worker to find out what the problem was. He went up into the now vacant apartment above ours and investigated,... When looking at the laundry area for said upper apartment I was taken aback by the amount of mold I saw and wish I had my camera with me at the time,... some of the nastiest SH#* I have ever seen. --> it is no wonder why now our laundry area which is directly below the one above has now begun to show signs of mold as well,... it is growing down into ours. I am sure that I could find more things to disgust you with as far as the living conditions we are living with but I won't,.. rather I will let you all know that the leak and mold was the final straw that broke our camels back and we have found a House for rent that will be more than sufficient to provide us with the correct atmosphere to live in. My main question is what are my options in regards to getting out of the current lease we are in,... do all of the matters I discussed earlier make for a better chance of getting out of the lease or will we need to pursue another course of action??? Please please please Help

3 months ago - 4 answers