A Lease is a Lease

By Robert Griswold

Question: I live with my boyfriend in a loft apartment where we have signed a two-year lease that is actually a sublease. The original tenant has a long-term lease with the landlord but moved when he bought a home eight months ago. The building is not secure, and the building management is not doing much to keep the building safe or in good repair. The area seems to be becoming more dangerous so we want to move out. How binding is our sublease? What rights do we have? Does the guy we are subletting from have any legal right to keep the deposit we gave him if we break the lease? Please let me know. I feel frustrated and stuck in a bad situation.

Property Manager Griswold replies:

Your sublease is just as binding as the master lease since, legally, there is no real difference in the duties of your "sub-landlord" (the master lease holder) from if you had a lease directly with the actual owner of the building. The only exception is if the actual lease and sublease documents contain different rental rates or clauses, but generally speaking, they should be the same for most of the basic terms. Just as if you had a lease with the actual owner of the property, the burden of proof would be on you if you were to break the sublease claiming the issues you present in your question. You should put your "sub-landlord" on notice of your concerns about the building and the area so that if it becomes worse, or if you need to move, you have at least put him on notice. Yes, your "sub-landlord" does have the right to keep your security deposit if you breach the lease, but also has to return or account for the security deposit as required by law.

Copyright 2006 Inman News.