My daughter & 2 other college girls recently signed a year lease for
house, starting 1 Dec 2004.  They were allowed to start putting some
of their stuff in the house before the lease starts.  Upon arriving at
the house yesterday evening, they found the neighborhood full of street
people selling meth, prostitutes, etc.  They were obviously unaware of
this activity before signing the lease & are afraid to return. 
They gave the landlord $700 as a "deposit" upon signing the lease. If
they notify the landlord & do not take possession of the house, can
they legally get out of the lease & get their money back?

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Request for Question Clarification by alienintelligence-ga on 30 Nov 2004 19:07 PST

Hi clockwood,

First, I would like to say, Google Answers 
should only be used as a reference and not
a substitute for professional legal advice.

Next, if none of the contracted individuals
feel comfortable with contacting the landlord
then someone should, as soon as possible, call
and voice the concerns. A tactful and even
toned approach will typically get the best
result, regardless of feelings and emotions.
So stick to the facts and no opinions.

Everything may work out fine. 

If not I might suggest this would be a good
time to actually seek legal counsel on a pro
bono basis for an initial consultation. The
reason I say this, there might be something
VERY evident in the contract that they could
spot and use that we would never think to 
suggest.

I called and spoke with two Realtors. If this 
was a house or real estate that was being 
sold, a certain amount of disclosure would
be required, regarding the surroundings, and
history of the location.

That isn't required for a rental. The omission
might not have even been malevolent, if the 
landlord lives at the location, the situation
might not noticeable.

Was the price of the rental in-line for
the general pricing of the city?

There may be more specific local laws that 
pertain, or another GAR with knowledge to 
the location that could still answer this. 

In the meantime, you might want to find a law
association that provides pro bono consults,
in the township the contract was entered. 

-AI

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Clarification of Question by clockwood-ga on 30 Nov 2004 19:43 PST

Thanks AI.  The house is apparently very nice for what is normally
available for college kids & the rent was less than expected.  The
girls have spoken to the landlord who is very cordial but unwilling to
release them from the lease.
My hope was that there would be way to get out of the lease for
failure to disclose known criminal activity in the immediate vicinity
of the property.

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Request for Question Clarification by alienintelligence-ga on 30 Nov 2004 21:23 PST

Ahh, but how would a good, upstanding
citizen such as the landlord, know 
about local crime?  =)

It appears that it may have to be
a $233.33 lesson for three people.

Any retained legal help will cost
in excess of the lost deposit and
won't necessarily guarantee getting
the deposit back.

Between the three of them, calling
all legal counsel in the phonebook
one should turn up free or nearly
free help. 

I fear the best result will be a
broken lease and no deposit back.

-AI

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Clarification of Question by clockwood-ga on 01 Dec 2004 20:12 PST

gozzy11-ga, not sure what you mean about the landlord having a "CO"?

No.  Not unless the apartment is uninhabitable and I don't mean
because of the neighborhood which they could have found out about
earlier.  Sorry.

First this comment is not legal advice for the state in which the
rental is located, One should always check with a local lawyer before
taking any action, that said there seems to be a couple of issues to
work out.
1st the year lease, the deposit is probably lost, but the real
question can the landlord hold them to the year lease, if they breach
the contract, and its maybe, but there is something in law called Duty
to Mitigate Damages,  which requires the nonbreaching party  to take
reasonable  steps after notice of breach to stop the losses. In this
case you should notify the landlord as soon as possible in order to
put the landlord on notice to mitigate his/hers damages. though laws
differ from state to state so one should always seek local attorney
before acting.
2nd be prepared for the landlord to take you to court for the lease if
you breach, IE take pictures of the area, ask the local police dept
what kind of area is the house located in. what did the landlord tell
them about the area, While not legal excuses to break a rental lease,
local judges do not always follow the black letter of the law, who
know's you might get a judge who is favorable to your side.
3rd do you have evidence of criminal activity next to the house ot just suspect it?
4th you daughter signed a contact, no one forced her to sign, and now
she wants to breach the contract, thus the nonbreaching party has a
right to some kind of remedy, does this mean the whole years rent, I
do not know, up to court, but lesson learned about signing contracts.

note: in some states if the landlord does not have a CO for the
rental, then they can not charge rent, so maybe worth calling the
local county clerk to see if the place has a CO as well as a local
attorney.

All said do not take these comments as legal advice for the state in
which the rental located, sinces laws differ from state to state, thus
depending on the amount of money for the year lease,  a couple
hundered spent on talking to a local lawyer  might be well spent in
order to avoid future liablities