Lease/landlord question

[Hotchef181818]

Guys-

looking for some feedback. We moved back here right before the election and choose to rent for a year to see what happened. Anyways, my landlord is borderline retarded and it's starting to bother my wife and I on multiple levels.

Today, while traveling out of town I got a call that the alarm at the house was going off. While talking to Adt I got a text from the landlord, who knows we are traveling letting me know they needed to get in the house for an A/C repair. The way the lease reads is that they have to give 1 hour notice before entry. Do I have a leg to stand on to terminate the lease and move on ? The police were called for the alarm but who knows if they actually showed up or even wrote a report.

My wife is pretty pissed there's people in our house with us not being there and I have to agree, even though I don't own it. I'd obviously involve an attorney when the time is right, just looking for some feedback.

[kwando]

I assume you set the alarm up under your name? And the landlord was the one that tripped the alarm.

I am no expert....

If you have documentation where the landlord has not followed HIS side of the lease agreement (multiple times), i would ask the landlord to terminate the contract and ask for any security/prepaid months of rent. If being nice does not work, hire a lawyer and take legal action.

[Wulf202]

Standard notice is 24hr written posted on your door. However if you signed a lease giving them permission to do a 1 hour notice that's a legally binding agreement. I doubt you can break the lease just on that one violation. However inform the landlord in writing that this is not acceptable to start your paper trail

[Monky]

You have a landlord.. you really have no say in having people in your house when you aren't there.

That being said. I don't think you're going to be able to terminate the lease for him not giving you notice while you're out of town, informed him of being out of town, and on a rather hot day he wanted access for an A/C repair... it's pretty thin.

That being said, talk to him, tell him he needs to give you notice, as it states in the lease regardless if you're out of town. Perhaps he thought that your informing him you were gone gave him consent for the repair. Did you know there was an issue w/ the A/C?

Document the conversation (send an email after the phone call, save the txt, or just send an email). If it continues then you would be on better ground.

You sound like you want out of the lease regardless of today's alarm call.

[Hotchef181818]

I get it, I don't own the house, I have no say in what happens there. However I signed a contract that stated I would pay rent and comply with the rules he set forth. I guess I assumed they would extend the same courtesy.

They knew I would be out of town because there are painters repairing hail damage on the exterior and we discussed them not having access while we are gone.

The fact that I had got a text from them after the alarm was going off was what pissed me off. But I guess since I'm just a renter I have no rights even though my personal property is stored there.

Here's another thought. Let's say he has his 13 yr old with him for the day and he finds a loaded gun and shoots himself or dad with it.

Communication goes a long way in my world.

And yes, I'd like to get out of the lease but there's only a few months left so I'll probably just let it ride.

[T. B. Turner]

You might try one of those landlord/tenant hot lines. A few years back we lived in a house that was under a management company. The manager of the company was a young twenty something woman who did not know what she was doing. We made a couple calls them, they gave us good advice. We basically had to tell her what she could and could not do. I don't remember which one we called.

[Dave_L]

I thought Colorado gave tenants a lot of rights? Id say he HAS to follow the rules in the lease agreement but I don't know the recourse available.

Everything I've read says the lease dictates how the landlord can enter unless its an "emergency" situation. The article I read even says that if the lease doesn't include a written clause saying how the landlord can enter, then the tenant has the exclusive use of the property and doesn't have to allow the landlord access but if they don't, the assume all liability for damages and repairs.

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/Attachment%2010-Landord%20and%20Tenant%20Rights.pdf
If

[spqrzilla]

Not having read your lease, I can't tell you whether or not the landlord's access to the house was a breach. Certainly a repair of the A/C is not an emergency. A lease that only requires 1 hour notice before entry in a non-emergency situation is not acceptable and I wouldn't have signed it.

You can, if you believe that the landlord's action was a breach of the lease, send notice of termination based upon it but you run the risk of being the breaching party if you do. If ADT will give you a copy of the alarm in writing, I'd attach it.

However, I will point out that in the metro area, rents are pretty high and its not difficult for a landlord to relet the premises in this market. So your downside is limited.

[fitterjohn]

Being on both sides of the situation, I don't think you would have a leg to stand on, all he has to do is say the a/c tech suspected the condensate drain is clogged and flooding the room and it would be an emergency. It sucks to be a Tennant and it sucks more to be a landlord, I'd just ride the lease out and only rent from property management companies with a good track record. At the end of the day it's a judge that decides if you can break it, and I find it hard to believe a judge will have pity on someone because the landlord was fixing an a/c when it was close to 100 degrees just food for thought

[Hotchef181818]

Just to clarify a key point about the AC. I've been the point of contact for the company that was rescheduled to replace it Friday. They knew as well as the homeowners that we were out of town and my reasons for not having them in the premises while I wasn't present. From what I gather the homeowners rescheduled for today for some reason and didn't inform me until the alarm was going off. While on the phone they asked me to call and have the police stopped from coming because her husband was supposed to wait for her to reach me before entering since she knew the alarm would be set. This was a non emergency situation, the unit was being replaced and was functional, plus nobody was home for it to be affecting if it wasn't.

[fitz19d]

That last reply makes it almost sound like they were trying to be nice and have it fixed for when you got back but just fucked up on the notification. Or they just wanted it out of the way sooner than later. It's irritating. Renting always has headaches, and since it's so close to the end ya, I'd lean towards sliding since it's not worth the blowback. Unless you find stuff missing when you get back.

[Martinjmpr]

However, I will point out that in the metro area, rents are pretty high and its not difficult for a landlord to relet the premises in this market. So your downside is limited.

Yeah, this is what I was going to say.

With the high demand and sky-high rents in the metro area, I would think all you have to do is ask your landlord to let you out of the lease and he would probably be happy to do it, knowing that he could re-let it within hours, probably for a significantly greater monthly rental.

Just make sure you have a place to go if you do that. ;)

[ChunkyMonkey]

And yes, I'd like to get out of the lease but there's only a few months left so I'll probably just let it ride.

Unfortunately, thats your best option imho. The other route is rather lenghty and depending how stubborn each side is, court isn't fun.