Hi all
I really need some advices here,pls.
I'm a local who has rented a
condo unit some four months ago because we needed a bigger space after our second child came along.
Shortly after we moved in (less than a month), we noticed disturbing problems with the unit.
1) one of the bedroom (which was intended to be our kids rm) was infested by mould mites. We called in our own pest control guy and were told that it was due to moisture in the home. LL called in his pest control and the same was said. Subsequently LL called in some Reno guys n they said the cause was the leaking water heater in the common toilet and they changed that. Pest control also did some misting to eradicate the mites. This however did not resolve the problem.
2) later on, we discovered that mushroom was sprouting in the common toilet. We informed the LL about it and his response was such tt he had no idea why it happened and asked that we keep the toilet clean.
3) recently, the condo mgmt guy approached us and informed that the 2 units below ours had leakage in their common toilet n hence asked to check ours. Hacked the ceiling with LL's approval and indeed water was dripping badly inside. However, they couldn't find the source of leakage and suspect that it might be coming from other units. And so this toilet was left in an unusable condition for the last 2 weeks waiting for them to find the source n fix it before they are able to come by to patch back whatever they have hacked.
I am very bothered by the mites and moulds because I have two very young kids (2.5yrs and 7 months). the elder one has not been able to stay with us (we park him with our mil) because each time we bring him back, he would be itching and coughing. The younger one was hospitalised shortly after we moved in for upper respiratory tract infection. I can't be sure but I suspect it could be due to allergies to the mites or the detrimental effects of the mould.
We have plans to terminate the lease early for the above reasons and have spoken to the LL. He has agreed provided we find a replacement tenant. However, we r expected to pay for the agent fee(he insisted on using his own agent), accommodate replacement tenant's request (eg providing with a new bed/store away whatever furnishing tt they do not want on behalf of LL and return upon expiration of lease), top up the difference if the rent is less than what we are now paying and be liable for repairs of defects for one month. It doesn't seem reasonable and I wonder if we are being taken advantage of.
In our situation, is there any clause in the TA that protects us and allows us to get out of it with minimum losses?