I'm looking for some advice - legal and otherwise - about how to handle this situation. Below are the facts of the case.
My roommate and I signed a 1 year lease sometime in 2012 and the lease officially ended around August 2013. We are currently living in the same place and have been on a month-to-month lease since that 1 year lease officially ended. However, the following sequence of events recently occurred:
1) My roommate found a bed bug on the floor of the apartment
2) Roommate hired a pest control firm to inspect the apartment (using a dog)
3) Dog indicated that there were bed bugs in one of the rooms - and the handler found a live bug in the same room
4) Roommate sends very long email to landlord detailing the problem (including responsibility of the landlord and tenant to address the problem)
5) Landlord sends lease termination email in response - giving us 30 days notice to move out
It is possible that my roommate overreacted to the initial sighting by sending the long winded email citing state regulations (like "warrant of habitability").
However, the retaliatory lease termination for reporting a problem is blatantly illegal in most cases.
I guess I am looking for advice about handling the situation. I haven't responded to the email that gave us 30 days notice to leave yet. I like the apartment and would prefer to not have to move but I'm not sure there are many good options at this point.
I actually set up a meeting with a lawyer to talk about this issue, but some people think I should try to reach out to the landlords first. The complicating factor is that they are out of the country (and have been for months) so I can't get into contact with them except via email.
My roommate and I signed a 1 year lease sometime in 2012 and the lease officially ended around August 2013. We are currently living in the same place and have been on a month-to-month lease since that 1 year lease officially ended. However, the following sequence of events recently occurred:
1) My roommate found a bed bug on the floor of the apartment
2) Roommate hired a pest control firm to inspect the apartment (using a dog)
3) Dog indicated that there were bed bugs in one of the rooms - and the handler found a live bug in the same room
4) Roommate sends very long email to landlord detailing the problem (including responsibility of the landlord and tenant to address the problem)
5) Landlord sends lease termination email in response - giving us 30 days notice to move out
It is possible that my roommate overreacted to the initial sighting by sending the long winded email citing state regulations (like "warrant of habitability").
However, the retaliatory lease termination for reporting a problem is blatantly illegal in most cases.
I guess I am looking for advice about handling the situation. I haven't responded to the email that gave us 30 days notice to leave yet. I like the apartment and would prefer to not have to move but I'm not sure there are many good options at this point.
I actually set up a meeting with a lawyer to talk about this issue, but some people think I should try to reach out to the landlords first. The complicating factor is that they are out of the country (and have been for months) so I can't get into contact with them except via email.
Landlord Issues - IANAL Third Edition
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