What are reasonable grounds to terminate lease?

[flaurena]

We're trying to break our lease, and have written a two page letter (yet to be sent to the landlord) which list 12 complaints. The most serious of which are 1) a fellow tenant in the building has shown signs of stalking me, and 2) the front door to the building doesn't close properly all the time, which has resulted in thest of mail (bank anc credit card statements, as well as checks).
Below is what I keep seeing everywhere, but my question is, what are reasonable grounds? Nowhere gives a definition of what are reasonable and/ or UNreasonable grounds.

"A tenant may not assign the lease without the landlord's written consent. The landlord may withhold consent without cause. If the
landlord reasonably refuses consent, the tenant cannot assign and is not entitled to be released from the lease. If the landlord unreasonably refuses consent, the tenant is entitled to be
released from the lease after 30 days notice."

Can anyone help us please?

[Brooklyn Babe]

Breaking a lease falls under breach of contract law, as a lease is considered a contract between a tenant and landlord. In order to break your lease, your LL must have breached his obligations under the contract. Keep in mind, the breach must be serious enough to constitute a nullification of the contract on your behalf. In all fairness, if the breach is curable, it's advisable to give your LL enough time (usually 30 days) to cure the breach. If, after notifying him in writing, there is no effort to cure the breach, then you may have a leg to stand on...As I said earlier, it all depends on what the breaches are and the level of seriousness.
For example, my LL continually breached our lease by not making court ordered repairs that affect the quality of life. I was told on that ground I could breach the lease and if he sued me, I could use "warranty of habibilty" as a defense.
My suggestion is that you search through the "Housing Court Archives" using search word break lease, breach lease, breach contract etc..

Some general info.
Housingnyc.com
http://www.housingnyc.com/resources/faq/leases.html
Residential Landlord & Tenant Guide (Syracuse)
http://students.syr.edu/studentlegal/resident.htm

Best of Luck!