It is not in the landlord's best interest to remove you from the lease and replace you with the no credit/dwi guy. You might want to start looking for opportunities to be away from the apartment. Any possibility of traveling for your job? Do you have friends who could make you the third or fourth person in their apartment but only spend a couple nights a week there? Go visit mom and dad more often? Sister or brother who you could visit? Fall in love and spend more time with your SO? Offer to house sit while people are on vacation. Find someone on craigslist in a similar situation and trade - hey, that would make a cool movie concept. OR, maybe your roommate would be happy to have you leave and all you need to do is talk with him about it.

schoor: thank you for that! As an owner/landlord, such a blanket statement slamming landlord stings. (If I were to come here and make a negative blanket statement about "all tenants" I'm sured I'd be tarred and feathered ;) I've let several tenants out of their leases without a lawyer and without charging any further rent. One finally realized his dream of being hired by a police force, but he had to live in their jurisdiction (next county over). During his 4 year tenancy with me I watched him juggle college and jobs in criminal justice till he reached his goal. No way could I spoil it for him. Another was due to serious illness of a family member located out of state. Another was a young couple suddenly expecting an unplanned baby (their 3rd) and the house would simply have been too small for them. So they searched for a home to buy while they continued to rent from me. Three months before the lease was up they found a nice large one with plenty of room for the kids to romp. I let them out of the lease with no repercussions (and they invited me over the weekend they moved into their new home, they wanted to show it off ;) But a lease is a contract, and the promise to pay rent is there through the end of that contract. And yes, the landlord has the right to pursue collection of those rents during the course of that contract. If you're not residing there, he/she has the legal right to the rent you owe until he/she is able to re-rent. And re-renting doesn't happen in a snap. There's cleaning, painting, advertising, showings, prospective tenants might still have a month to go on a current lease, etc. etc. You do, however, have the right the live in peace. I didn't read your prior post, so I don't know how bad it is. I would suggest you try one more time with the landlord (no threats, no demands or yelling, that will just put her on the defensive). Read your lease language, know it and if necessary, remind her in a calm, civil manner that you have the right to quiet enjoyment and in truth you're miserable. She may be working over time to resolve it. And if she is indeed going for eviction, that process doesn't happen overnight, and as you mentioned, you really don't know what's going on behind the scenes with those upstairs and she's not privvy to discuss it. I put language in my leases that tenants will not interfere with quiet enjoyment of neighbors. At one rental I began getting complaints from a neighbor about noise and loud parties about my tenants (house, not apt.). The neighbor just hounded me incessantly (and he was usually drunk, which didn't help his case in my book). I told him I would talk to my tenants, and I did. But I also told the neighbor it's going to take more than his verbal complaining to me for me to pursue it beyond that. I told him if my tenants were truly that out of hand, call the police. Then I've got documentation to substantiate any more agressive action on my part. But you know what? Neighbors never called police. Not once. I spoke to the disptacher on several occasions, after every time the neighbor called me complaining. There was no documentation of a police visit to my tenants ever, for anything. A landlord can't simply boot someone out because of a disgruntled squeeky wheel next door, it's just not that simple. One last and very important consideration: you're already planning on future court appearances and are covering your bases now. If you do indeed land in court, there's the chance you will come out on the losing end, and if so you would be facing a judgement against you for the monies owed, and judgements show up on credit reports. You could well be harming your own future, because any type judgement on a credit report with regard to a property is a landlord's biggest red flag, makes potential landlords very, leery and most landlords will steer clear of a tenant who's landed in court over a rental. They figure it's got high potential to be possible grief for them as well. Something to think about...

Basically, it sounds like you chose the cheapest apartment possible. Surprise surprise, it is not the Taj Mahal. Instead of getting evicted and thus destroying your credit rating (making it unlikely you'll ever get a decent apartment, or borrow money for a car or house), take the initiative and try the following: 1) "The LL fails to repair the sink (inadaquate and insufficient presser of hot water)" Some areas just have low water pressure, there is not much the landlord can do about it. If water pressure is fine other places in your apartment (like the bathtub or kitchen sink), you might have a corroded faucet. Call a handyman and change the faucet. Use some of that money you're saving on rent. 2) "He also fails to replace the window screens that he promised to do so from the last september." It is winter, you don't need window screens. In the summer, for about $5 you can get the materials you need to fix them yourself (basically, nylon window mesh at home depot). 2) "There are rats running around on the ceiling and I can hear them biting something every other times when i try to go to bed." Call an exterminator. 3) "The bigger part of it is that my neighbor in the next building play their music loud" and "The neighbors are play music or watching TV loud in the afternoon. I know it is afternoon, but every person has diffrent shifts and jobs." A tenant in a different building is bothering you? How is this your landlord's problem? Call the cops. 4) "Hot water in the bathroom only last at most 15min." Again, you aren't in the Taj Mahal, but perhaps try to keep your showers under 15 minutes (which is a long, long, long time to be taking a shower, by the way). 5) "Whnever i try to contact with him, he hardly picks up the phone and never call me back. I sent a letter about it, but he called it "a stupid letter" and ignored it." You're being a pain, so he is ignoring you. That's not surprising. 6) "I don't think I can handle with it in this place anymore, otherwise i will lose my life." Don't be so melodramatic. Living in a cheap apartment will not kill you. Should you have to do this things yourself? No, and in a better building you would not, but in a better building the rent would be much higher. If in the end you decide you want more luxurious surroundings, and are willing to pay for them, the put ads on craigslist.org and find a subtenant. I'm sure the landlord will be happy to get rid of you.

I found the following from Maryland Landlord Tenant Laws: Q -"Can I break the lease if management doesnÂt properly maintain the property?" A -The answer is that it depends. If the property is so poorly maintained that it is no longer tenable to live there, a tenant may be able to go into District Court under the Rent Escrow Law (and in Baltimore City, under the Warranty of Habitability) and have a judge void the lease. In addition, if a tenant vacates a property because of the severity of the conditions, the tenant may be able to sue the landlord for constructive eviction and have the court void the lease and give the tenant money damages. The remedies of Rent Escrow, Warranty of Habitability and Constructive Eviction are somewhat complicated and it is advisable to seek assistance before proceeding. BNI, the Legal Aid Bureau (for income eligible clients), Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (for income eligible clients), or a private attorney may be able to provide you with more detailed information tailored to your particular situation. [Normally, the remedy for poor maintenance is to file a complaint with the local housing inspectors and/or to send a letter by certified mail to the landlord noting the items you want repaired. Then, if the landlord has not complied with the violation notice or repaired the property within a reasonable time, and if the repairs needed are substantial, it is possible to petition the court, in a rent escrow process, (and/or warranty of habitability process in Baltimore City) to have the rent money placed into an escrow account until all repairs are completed.] Actually, the laws are very easy to navigate and get answer to your questions (compared to many states). You can view the full content here: Landlord-Tenant Law Another page from that site: Tips from the Experts on Landlord Tenant Law Contact #'s are included as well. It's a good guide to help you out with whom to contact (including attorneys/legal aid, etc.)