Can I break my lease due to Pot smoke?
Additional Information:
I rent an apartment in Brighton, Massachusetts. I’d like to break my lease early due to pot smoke from another tenant getting into my unit. The landlord does not believe my complaint, and has therefore not done anything to remedy the situation. I feel it’s within my right to leave. He is holding me to my lease terms, apparently due to my “unreasonable demands” and for “not being particularly sweet” about my complaints and requests.
Attorney Answer:
I am of the belief that if the landlord has not taken steps to restrain the tenants from engaging in illegal drug use, you may validly terminate your lease on the grounds that the landord has interfered with your right of quiet enjoyment of your apartment in Brighton. However, in order to minimize the risk associated with this (that risk being a lawsuit by the landlord for rent), I would recommend that you have several disinterested witnesses corroborate your observations about the pot smoke. These witnesses should be people who come across as being extremely credible, and who should anticipate possibly having to testify at a court proceeding. If you would like to discuss this further, please be in touch.
Attorney Alan Fanger is a Metrowest real estate litigation lawyer and handles landlord tenant disputes throughout the Greater Boston and Boston metrowest region including Norfolk County, Suffolk County, Middlesex County and the communities of Arlington, Boston, Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge, Canton, Concord, Dedham, Dover, Framingham, Lexington, Milton, Natick, Needham, Newton, Norwood, Quincy, Sherborn, Sudbury, Waltham, Wayland, Wellesley, and Weston, Massachusetts.
