Q: Can I break a lease for an unchecked cockroach infestation which existed far prior to me living here? Never disclosed.
It has been an intermittent problem which has just amplified in the last month or so. My lease is up March 31. I'm considering staying for April but withholding April rent in order to afford to move, on the grounds that this infestation is UNSANITARY and disgusting. I'm going to have to throw away a lot of things (furniture, appliances, electronics) in order to prevent spreading this infestation to another property. I want to understand my rights moving forward.
A: In Oregon, a landlord has a responsibility to rid rental dwellings of all insect, rodent, and vermin infestations. But the tenant must first provide notice of the problem and allow the landlord adequate time to cure the problem. If a landlord does not, a tenant has a variety of potential remedies. Withholding rent, however, is fraught with peril and if not done properly, the tenant is likely to find themselves evicted, potentially with an eviction on their rental record. You refer to withholding rent in order to afford moving. That is not the way it works. To lawfully withhold rent, you are likely going to have to pay it into some sort of an escrow (like paying the disputed funds into the court and allowing the Judge to decide how much goes to who). Spending the money on other things is likely to get you evicted. Review it all with a landlord-tenant attorney if you really want to know your options.
Katherine Goodman agrees with this answer
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