Hi,
I'm looking to break a lease with a minimum of hassle, and I need some help. I'm a single mom, and I recently signed a year long lease for an apartment in central NY. I gave them the first month's rent and security deposit, and a week later, got a move in date and picked up my keys.
Well, on the day my daughter and I were moving in, I found out that a registered sex offender was living behind us! I won't go into the details, but the offense was against a young girl the same age as my daughter, and it made my hair stand on end. We returned our boxes to the moving truck, I droped my keys off at the office, and told the manager we were out of there, never to return.
We never spent a single night there, and I never will. But the landlords want to hold me to the entire lease, although I'm willing to let them keep my security deposit. As a single mom, I don't have the resources to maintain two residences, and I cannot in good conscience let my daughter live next door to a child molester. All I want is to walk away (let them keep the $ they already have), without my credit being trashed. If I refuse to pay the rent, what could happen? I've never done that before in my life, but I'm at a loss.
Oh boy. How do I get out of this as gracefully as possible? Any ideas are welcome, although the landlords are not open to compromise.
Thanks!
Carla