breaking lease immediately after getting keys

[Steven Page]

Hey y'all,

This is my first time starting a discussion post in here! My fiance and I live in Chesapeake, VA and are aspiring landlords (househacking here we come!) but are currently renting for another year to save up cash and were scheduled to move this weekend.

We got the keys for the place yesterday (Wednesday) and have found the place to be extremely dirty, almost as if it was just cleaned by the last tenants prior to move out. The property manager gave us a super quick walk through of the place yesterday and told us to write any damages on the move in form, which she took with her. When we were there today trying to figure out how our stuff would fit into the place we got a full scope of how dirty the place was: there was a bunch of dust all over the place, some stuff growing on the baseboard trim in the bathroom by the tub/shower, at least a dozen dead bugs and two fingernails around the den walls (haven't checked upstairs yet), weeds growing out by the back patio (which we are now responsible for pulling), and paint peeling off the trim in several spots some to bare wood. We tried to contact the her but have been unable to get up with her due to her being in Georgia and not having good cell signal.

Ultimately, we do not want to move in and are searching for options as the best way to go about this. I did a reverse search for the property owner and found phone numbers for the couple that owns the property and am not above calling them to let them know how their property is being (mis)managed but also don't want to step on any toes and piss people off. Thoughts?

Virginia is more landlord friendly from my research. It seems we would be responsible for paying the rent until a new tenant can be found which is worrisome because she could take her sweet time and string us along; there is really no motivation for her to hurry. 

Any and all advice, tips, etc would be greatly appreciated. 

[David Nacco]

@Steven Page That’s terrible man. Honestly you should call the owners and let them know. They might actually be good people and might not know this is how the property manager is doing things. I know if one of my managers did this I would wanna know for sure. Also I hope you put all of that info on the move in inspection sheet. Tell the property manager you want it cleaned and if they won’t then remind them you’re required to leave the property in the same condition it was given to you and make sure you leave it exactly the same as the inspection form says lol.