Just to be clear, it’s not illegal to break your lease. You can very legally do so at any time. However, if you do vacate your apartment you may still be financially liable for rent until your landlord can re-let your unit (which he/she has a legal obligation to do as quickly as possible.) However, landlords have obligations to provide you with a habitable premise under the law. If they do not do so they can be considered in breach of their obligations to you under the lease, allowing you to get out of it without penalty. From here on our document everything in writing, keep meticulous records of maintenance and pest issues, all emails when you reported them, etc. Then contact DC’s tenant assistance folks and speak to them about options. You likely have to give your landlord reasonable opportunity to remedy the issues, but if they do not, notify them you are considering this breach of your lease which allows you to terminate immediately.