Jonathan and his family woke up to a complete mess in their apartment Father's Day morning.
“The carpet was completely saturated with water,” he says.
He called the maintenance crew at Portifino Place.
A carpet cleaning company was sent in to soak up the water, but Jonathan said that wasn't the end of his worries.
“It's really smelling like mold and mildew in here, we don't feel like it's safe for me and my kids,” he says.
Jonathan tried to get out of his lease, which ends mid-July.
“They refused that offer, again, stating that the problem was solved,” he added.
But Wednesday morning, Jonathan woke up to find water covering his floor again.
“It's more than we can handle right now. All that we asked was can you please let us move out of here so you can take care of your apartment and we can take care of our lives,” he says.
A real estate attorney told me in situations like this, the wording of your lease makes a big difference.
“Always go to your lease first to see if the problem is addressed,” attorney Jeff Raynor says.
Chances are if you didn't cause the issue, the landlord is fully responsible.
If that's the case, Florida statues do say a tenant has the right to provide a 7-day notice to terminate the lease if the problem isn't fixed.
To be on the safe side the notice should be written, not verbal.
“Otherwise, people forget conversations, and claim they never occurred,” Raynor says.
NewsChannel 5 did get a response from the apartment management company:
"When we learned of the roof leak on June 18, we responded by sending our maintenance team to address the issue and to treat the unit for possible water damage. Even with routine maintenance, roof leaks can occur. We are honoring the request of the residents to end their lease early – more than two weeks before the lease is up. Resident satisfaction is our top priority and we will continue to work alongside the affected family to help make their move a seamless one."
