My upstairs neighbor shot a bullet through my ceiling! Can I break my lease?

Question

As the subject says, my upstairs neighbor owns a gun that was loaded by a drunken acquaintance last Saturday around 1:30 am. The neighbor then went to disassemble the weapan and not realizing it was loaded, discharged, shooting a hole through their floor and our ceiling. The bullet (a 40 caliber) lodged in the carpet about an inch away from my roommates bed.

My realty company is trying to tell me that unless I can prove that my upstairs neighbor is a homicidal maniac (which he is not, I've met him, he is a very nice person who just did something stupid with a gun) then we have no right trying to void our lease.

Now, the neighbor claims that he took the gun home and that he isn't bringing it back on the premises. But I still don't like the idea of living in a home with a bullethole, the general feeling of being unsafe, and leasing from a realty company that doesn't stick up for its tenants.

Do I have a case?

Michael S. · Answer

i had a similar situation, people where shooting at the next door neighbor, missed and sent two bullets through an open window into the wall ! i got there just as the cops arrived and i asked them if they were o.k., and if they wanted to move? they said they were going to stick it out....i was shocked...a couple of months later he(tenant) was arrested for robbing 5 banks he got 120 years in the fed.....and last year somebody got murdered in the street in front of the house, other than that the house is a pretty good money maker!

Mark N.A · Answer

Personally, as a LL I would hate to face a Magistrate in court trying to keep a tenant from breaking a lease after another tenant shot into his residence.

I would much rather face the Magistrate explaining why I was evicting the shooter.

And I would really REALLY hate to deal with some ambulance-chasing attorney knowing that I might lose or, just as bad, that my insurance company would settle and then bend me over the nearest barrel.

If you came to me wanting to leave, Tori, I would make sad noises and quickly send you on your way, along with quickly giving the boot to the upstairs tenant.

Timothy W. · Answer

Did you shoot back?

Maryann L. · Answer

Hi Tori,

I don't think you have a case.  The landlord had no control over what that tenant did, so truthfully it's not cause to break a lease.  If I had a tenant break a lease every time a neighbor did something stupid, I'd have no tenants.

I think you could approach the landlord and ask if you can be let out of the lease early?  There is no harm in asking, but be prepared if they say no.

Good luck.

Marc Freislinger · Answer

I disagree with this. The landlord can't control the upstairs tenant. They most likely don't even have grounds to evict at this time. An isolated incident (accident) generally isn't cause for eviction. All they can do is send a violation notice to the tenant and evict if the situation repeats itself.

You've mentioned that the gun is no longer on the premises, and that you're on good terms with the neighbor, so I feel there's more to this. You're looking for a reason to break your lease for some reason.

Unfortunately, this isn't it.

Michael S. · Answer

where the police called?anybody  arrested?police report? you need documentation this way if it happens again, and somebody gets hurt,you can sue you landlord for $$$$

Mark N.A · Answer

Michael:

If I ever EVER start whining about managing my low-income properties I will read your post again and count my blessings......  PRICELESS.

Account Closed · Answer

depends on the laws in your state. in some states there are laws regarding violent crimes and breaking leases.

this doesn't sound like an occasion that would qualify for that.

however if you read your lease close enough you'll find clauses about the landlords responsibilities in regards to keeping the place safe and if something else happens again due to the inaction of the landlord you would then have grounds to break.  Like i said it just all depends on your lease and the laws in your state.

James Hiddle · Answer

Start wearing Kevlar vests :mrgreen:

Seriously though I agree with Smith go to your landlord and ask him to get released early.

Steve Babiak · Answer

The manager could issue a "Notice To Quit" to the upstairs, so that the undesired behavior of discharging a firearm on premises (without good cause) is not repeated.  The idea being to get rid of or solve the problem, with the problem being the discharge of the firearm in the manner that you explained.  It might require eviction of the problem-causing tenant to reach that solution ...

That's about all the manager could do, unless this is an offense that's been repeated.

My upstairs neighbor shot a bullet through my ceiling! Can I break my lease?

Most Popular Reply