Cockroaches and Secondhand Smoke as Cause to Break Lease?

[Maria S.]

Hello! I apologize if this is not the correct forum to post in, but I have found myself in an interesting situation and would like some input from landlords on how to approach this issue. 

I have lived in the same apartment complex for the past 14 months. We were happy with everything but wished to upgrade to a 2 bedroom apartment at the conclusion of our first year. Therefore, we moved our items one building over and have been in our larger apartment for the last two months. 

For reference, I am three months pregnant and am asthmatic. The first issue we noticed was a strong smoke smell in the common hallway upon entering our building that trickles into our apartment as well. While we investigated to find out if there was really anything to be done, we found that other tenants in the building do have the right to smoke in their own apartments, and it was decided that the issue could be lived with. We definitely smell smoke in our living area from time to time, but feel that it may not be worth the battle.

However, within the past week or two, small bugs have started to appear in our bathrooms. 1 or 2 seem to make an appearance each evening. Finally, I figured out that these are cockroach nymphs. We did inform management immediately, and they will be sending out a pest control service tomorrow. While pest control will hopefully be able to narrow down the source of the infestation, the most likely explanation seems that an apartment (or several apartments) around us are already infested and that we are getting the overflow. Quite frankly, I know that cockroach infestations can take several months (if not years) to solve, and that we cannot necessarily count on our neighbors to take correct precautions to "starve out" the roaches. If possible, I would like to leave before the infestation gets worse- I do not want to take the chance of having the roaches infest more and more of our belongings and apartment. I am allergic to cockroaches and CANNOT be around them. At this sensitive point in pregnancy, I am not sure how safe exposure to pesticides would be either.

We are planning to sit down with the property manager tomorrow and try to negotiate lease termination. While we couldn't find the exact figure in our lease, I believe that the fee is about 2 months rent. We are happy to pay this amount to get out as soon as possible, but may try to negotiate for a lower fee. 

Landlords, have you ever had tenants want to break a lease due to pest infestation that was pre-existing? Do you have any suggestions for how to approach this issue and leave in a manner that both parties can be satisfied? For reference, I am in southeast Michigan. I am not sure if the cockroach allergy/asthma as a medical reason to leave would work here. 

Thank you in advance for your help. I know that breaking leases is NOT the thing to do, but I don't see how staying here would end well.