Landlord/property management issues
landlord tenant attorney Maryland Aug 9, 2026
Location: Maryland Hello everyone, I am currently renting a townhouse in Maryland and have been here since Janurary this year. When I first rented the place I had to do a virtual walk through for the move in inspection due to being across the country (military bs). Now that me and my wife have been here it has been a hell hole. The place is owned by a private owner, who uses the local property management company to handle the property. We have not met the owner. When we moved in I finally inspected everything myself, the railings going up the stairs are falling off the walls, the A/C doesn't reach the 3rd floor, we had water leaking through one spare rooms window and all they did was put some caulk inside to stop it from falling on the carpet (so where's the water going now?), the front doors handle is falling apart from the inside, I cant lock the door using the handle and the screws holding it in have no wood to screw into so they constantly tear into the door jam and i can only lock it by the dead bolt. The spigot outside didn't work at first. Come to find out it was a busted pipe in the wall, they fixed the pipe but left the holes in the drywall covered with plastic trash bags. The front door also doesn't have weather seals around and has a constant draft coming in. Now that's some of the small things. Our major problem and living concern: When we first moved in it was snow season, that's when we noticed when it rained or something, the breaker for the 2nd floor flips. The same area/room that flips also has a "light switch" that has no light connected and if we accidently flip it (happens often tbh) it flips the breaker. Now we had a slight shower last night and now my 2nd floor and 3rd floor are out of power. Our wifi is forced to stay on the 2nd floor due to the wiring they have, so we have no wifi, and the 3rd floor is the master bedroom and it has no power. The only other room is the one where the window was leaking. If we try flipping the breaker back and plugging anything in or turn anything on it flips the breaker.the first floor has power. We have sent multiple maintenance request for the door, the wall, and other things and they've all been ignored for the past month we sent a follow up email a week and a half ago and it was ignored. We called the emergency maintenance line last night when the electricity shut off and they said they'll send someone this morning, its currently 4 pm and they havent answered emails, phone calls, nor have reached out. Now I do not trust WATER AND ELECTRICITY mixing and we do not feel safe in the house. Sleeping on the third floor. Pregnant wife, and 2 dogs. Yea absolutely not. Anywho, we've come down to 2 decision. We speak with the owner about breaking our lease with no penalties, and receive our security deposit or some financial help getting into a new apartment. We have reached out to a lawyer but since its the weekend im waiting till Monday for a response, but we are not sure if we have enough to bring to court and that's why im here, seeing if anyone has some advice on what I can do or if I should even speak with a lawyer. Anything helps and thank you for your time. Tldr: having constant maintenance request ignored, electrical hazards and front door is barely operational to the point where we don't feel safe living here. Wondering whether getting a lawyer is smart or should I try to speak to the owner (owner uses property management company) about coming to a agreement on the lease.
