Q: Apartment building without valid Use and Occupancy License
My fiance and I signed a one year lease starting on 9/1/17. On the first day of our lease we went to the city utilities department to place the electric into our name and was denied due to the landlord not having a valid Business Tax Receipt and a Use & Occupancy Certificate. We notified our new landlord about this issue the same day. On 11/23/17 the building was inspected by the city and failed due to broken windows in several units, no permits and inspections for two replaced windows, and no Business Tax Receipt. On 2/9/18 the city posted a violation notice for failure to comply with original inspection findings. Due to the landlord's failure to comply with code enforcement for the permits and failure to obtain a valid Business Tax Receipt and a Use & Occupancy Certificate, is this unit considered illegal? If it is illegal can I break the lease without penalty and get security and last month's rent back?
A: Generally when one enter into a valid contract, e.g. a residential lease agreement any resulting illegality on the part of at least one party to the contract that materially impairs the performance the contract such as here an inability to obtain utility services into one's own apartment frustrates the purpose in the performance of contract in the eyes of the law and therefore any one of its parties may potentially walk away without any liability. Under the circumstances you described here I would suggest that you ask/write a letter to the property managers of this apartment building requesting them to correct the defects forthwith within a reasonable amount of time. If they are unable to do so it is likely that you may unilaterally terminate the lease agreement and demand a return of your security deposit and any prorated amounts in your first month's rent and move out as soon as feasible. Hopefully this helps and best of luck.
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