We looked at our apartment in October of 2001. At the time, the building was drilling/re-surfacing the balconies of the apartments next to the apartment we were viewing. As there was actual drilling going on next door while we were viewing the apartment I specifically asked if we would have to deal with that on our balcony. The agent for the landlord said NO that everything would be complete in 2 weeks. Our lease began in December of 2001 and the drilling next door continued.
Last week we received a notice that drilling on our "line" of apartments would start next week and that they would be putting plastic over the windows and locking the door from the outside through the middle of October.
I contacted my landlord (our landlord is the individual owner of the condo unit we're in and in no way affiliated with the building managment) and informed him of the construction and asked if he could propose a solution to the problem.
He said that there was no way that he was lowering the rent and that we had never asked him specifically about the construction, so he wasn't liable. Furthermore, he said that our broker was at fault for not checking with the building to confirm what his agent had said.
I'm curious if anyone can help outline what my rights are:
1) Is he responsible for what his agent represented at the showing of the apartment?
2) Since he appeared to know about the construction, but choose to not tell inform us...were we fraudently induced into signing.
3) Who should I be focusing on...my broker or my landlord?
Bottomline, I never would have signed a one-year lease for an apartment with a balcony and great views if I'd known that the windows would be covered and the door locked for over six months (particularly summer and fall).
Please Help!!!