Chapter 25 – Landlord and Tenant
25-1
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CHAPTER 25
LANDLORD AND TENANT
I.
OBJECTIVES
landlord-tenant relationship. After reading the chapter and attending class, a student should be
able
to:
1. Recognize that the legal principles applicable to landlord-tenant relationships are drawn from
law as well as legislative
enactments.
2. Describe and differentiate the four main types of
tenancies.
3. Understand the importance of a carefully drafted lease that makes clear the parties’ rights and
frauds.
4. List and discuss the primary rights, duties and liabilities of the
landlord.
5. List and discuss the primary rights, duties, and liabilities of the
tenant.
6. Describe the different ways that a lease may be terminated and identify the legal
principles
that apply to each method of
termination.
II. ANSWER TO
INTRODUCTORY PROBLEM
A. The first question following the hypothetical that appears at the beginning of the chapter
asks
evidenced by a writing only when they are for a term of more than three
years.
B. The second question asks whether the tenants’ rights were violated when they were unable
to
take possession on the first day of the lease term. One of the
landlord’s
obligations is
the
possession on the first day of the lease
term.
C. The third question asks what responsibility the landlord might have to a third-party who
was
if he/she had notice of a defect and a reasonable opportunity to make
repairs.
D. The fourth question asks whether the tenants have the right to claim constructive
eviction,
remedied by the landlord. Where the tenant can properly claim constructive eviction,
the
landlord would be obligated to return the security
deposit.
Chapter 25 – Landlord and Tenant
25-2
©
2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
This is
proprietary material solely
for
authorized instructor use.
Not
authorized
for
sale
or
distribution
in
any
manner. This document may
not be
copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed,
or
posted
on a
website,
in
whole
or
part.
E. The fifth question asks whether it would be ethical for the landlord to tell the students
he
III SUGGESTIONS FOR LECTURE
PREPARATION:
A. h1troduction
1. Introduce the topic by noting the evolving changes in landlord-tenant law over the
last
primarily rural and agricultural society to a primarily urban and industrialized
society.
tenants (who can be powerful allies for politicians), have led to increasing legal
protection for
tenants.
2. Discuss the dual nature of the lease as both contract and conveyance of property.
Discuss
used in your locality and highlight the important
provisions.
B. Types
of Tenancies
1. Explain and give examples of the various types of tenancies. Discuss how each type
of
tenancy is
terminated.
C. Landlord’s Rights and
Duties
1. Note the right of the landlord to receive rent and to receive the return of the
leased
premises in as good a condition as it was at the beginning of the lease, ordinary wear
and
however, hold such clauses unenforceable as violations of public
policy.
a. Discuss the role security deposits play with regard to unpaid rent and damage to
the
Example: Problem Case
#2
b. Note that when the tenant breaches the lease by abandoning the property and
ceasing
mitigate
damages.
Example: Problem Case
#9.
2. Discuss the landlord’s duty to comply with the Fair Housing Act. Explain the
statute’s
prohibited bases of discrimination in connection with the rental of housing. Note
the
concerns underlying the
statute.
a. Briefly note that state statutes and city ordinances sometimes prohibit landlords from
Chapter 25 – Landlord and Tenant
25-3
©
2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
This is
proprietary material solely
for
authorized instructor use.
Not
authorized
for
sale
or
distribution
in
any
manner. This document may
not be
copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed,
or
posted
on a
website,
in
whole
or
part.
3. Discuss the landlord’s traditional duties: the implied warranty (or covenant) of possession
and the implied warranty (covenant) of quiet enjoyment. Note that under traditional law,
tenant.
Sometimes, the warranty of quiet enjoyment may be breached by the
landlord’s
ability to enjoy the
property.
constructive eviction. Note that the tenant would have to have left the property after
giving the landlord a reasonable chance to repair the breach. Discuss the drawbacks
Example: Problem Cases #3 and
4.
4. Discuss how and why the landlord’s legal responsibility for the quality or condition of
leased property has changed. Note how these changes have paralleled the caveat
venditor
trend in product liability
law.
a. Discuss the development and significance
of the
implied warranty of habitability as
it
landlord must maintain it in habitable condition during the term of the
lease.
1) Explain that trivial defects do not constitute a breach of warranty. Courts look
for
2) Explain that a tenant must give a landlord notice of the defect and a reasonable
opportunity to repair the defect before taking action under the implied warranty.
4) Note that some states give this warranty a broader scope of applicability
then
other states
do.
5) Discuss the effect that housing codes have had in the development and
application of this warranty.
Brooks v. Lewin Realty III, Inc. (page 704). Where a
tenant’s
grandson was injured
as a result of his exposure to peeling, chipped and flaking lead paint and the
city’s
Chapter 25 – Landlord and Tenant
25-4
©
2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
This is
proprietary material solely
for
authorized instructor use.
Not
authorized
for
sale
or
distribution
in
any
manner. This document may
not be
copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed,
or
posted
on a
website,
in
whole
or
part.
the
view they agree
with-and
why they prefer that
view.
Examples: Problem cases #1 and
#4.
who are affected by that danger. The presence of lead-based paint is not an obvious
danger, and is one about which the landlord is likely to have greater knowledge
than
would the tenants. The presence of lead-based paint is a material fact. Knowledge
of
statute does not forbid the rental of such units, modern disclosure principles would
probably require
disclosure.
under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was discussed
fairly
extensively in Chapter
24.
tenant’s control, on the theory that the tenant had exclusive possession of
the
property. Discuss the exceptions to the no-liability rule that were developed
by
that landlords have the duty to use reasonable care to select other tenants
carefully
and to control
them.
landlord was aware of the presence of a vicious dog, a pit bull, in an apartment
where
the tenant had signed a lease agreeing, among other things, not to have any pets
on
visitor to the apartment whose son was killed by the animal because the landlord
knew of the animal’s presence and had the authority to do something about
it.
dissenter’s ire directed at the majority which, in the dissenter’s view, had not given
adequate attention to whether there was contributory negligence or a
superseding
cause that the jury should also have been allowed to consider. Ask the
students
duty in cases like this to affirmatively protect a visitor to the
premises.
Example: Problem Case
#6.
leases of residential (as opposed to commercial)
property.
likely to increase the use of the negligence per se theory as a basis of
liability
(see Chapter
7).
Chapter 25 – Landlord and Tenant
25-5
©
2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
This is
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Not
authorized
for
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or
distribution
in
any
manner. This document may
not be
copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed,
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on a
website,
in
whole
or
part.
or
this
topic.)
the landlord had violated its duty to the tenant when the tenant was attacked
by
an assailant in the parking lot of an apartment complex. The court began
by
defendant owed the plaintiff a legal duty, (2) the defendant breached the
duty,
and (3) the breach proximately or legally caused (4) the plaintiff’s damages or
third-party criminal acts is determined in part by balancing the foreseeability
of
Example: Problem Case
#7.
D. Tenants’ Rights and
Duties
rights are the flip sides of previously discussed duties of
landlords.
together and one of them moved
out.
landlord’s reversion. Note the change in the law regarding whose obligation (landlord’s
or
tenant’s) it is to make
repairs.
4. Discuss the transfer
of leasehold
interests through assignments and subleases.
Distinguish
or limit assignment or subleasing.
5. Note also that a tenant may be liable for harm suffered by a third party on leased
E. Termination of
Leaseholds
1. Discuss eviction. Note the typical procedures for eviction and the legal limits (such
as
2. Note that tenancies may end by mutual agreement (agreement to
surrender).
3. Discuss the consequences of a tenant’s abandonment of leased property before
the
due rent obligation continue to mount while the premises sit
unoccupied.
Sylva Shops Limited Partnership v. Hibbard (page 717). The court concluded that it
was
default by a
tenant.
Chapter 25 – Landlord and Tenant
25-6
©
2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
This is
proprietary material solely
for
authorized instructor use.
Not
authorized
for
sale
or
distribution
in
any
manner. This document may
not be
copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed,
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on a
website,
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whole
or
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landlords
must mitigate damages. Which arguments are stronger—those in favor of a mitigation
rule
obligation to mitigate, the landlord might want to do so for practical reasons such
as
perhaps avoiding the need for potentially expensive
litigation.
there is a duty to mitigate damages? Why or why
not?
Example: Problem Case #8.
IV. RECOMMENDED
REFERENCES:
111
edition), West,
B. Janet Portman, Every
Tenant’s
Legal Guide (3d ed.
2002).
(McGraw-Hill)
..
V. ANSWERS TO PROBLEMS AND PROBLEM
CASES:
habitability claim. Breezewood Management Co. v.Maltbie, 411 N.E.2d 670 (Ind.
App.
1980).
attempt to unilaterally change the contract later was invalid and not enforceable. Orgain
v.
Butler, 478 S.W. 2d 610 (Civ. App. Texas
1972).
liability to the complaining tenants for breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment.
Initially,
them not to interfere unreasonably with other tenants’ quiet enjoyment of the premises.
In
and Alakija. Lloyd Management, Inc. v. Ajayi, 1996 Minn. LEXIS 654 (Minn. App.
1996).
4. Yes. The lease agreement contains an implied warranty of habitability and the landlord
also
habitability is not a warranty against all discomfort and inconvenience, and a breach of
the
warranty must be so substantial as to amount to constructive eviction if it is to excuse
the
and its odor significantly affected the habitability of the apartment and resulted in
constructive eviction. Thus, Weingarden is entitled to the return of his security deposit
(less
Chapter 25 – Landlord and Tenant
25-7
©
2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
This is
proprietary material solely
for
authorized instructor use.
Not
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for
sale
or
distribution
in
any
manner. This document may
not be
copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed,
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on a
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or
part.
v. Eagle Ridge
Condominiums,
653
N.E.2d 759 (Toledo
Mun.
Ct. Ohio
1995).
5. No. The
Eighth Circuit affirmed
a
district court grant
of
summary judgment
in
favor
of the
434
(8th
Cir.
1998).
6. No. The landlord was liable for damages caused by his negligence. In a
lease
care to keep common areas reasonably safe and is liable for damages for failure
to
extent it tried to immunize the landlord from liability for his negligence
in
maintaining
1982).
7. Yes. The court noted that a landlord owes a duty of reasonable care to his
tenants,
condition. This duty was breached in this case and the negligent actions were
the
this case, Allen had a duty to protect Duncavage from the criminal acts of
third
by every criminal intruder, prior incidents similar to the one complained of and
which
care to guard against such conduct. Moreover, as here, a landlord may be held
liable
Allen, 497 N.E.2d
_
(App. Ct. Ill.
1986).
8. No. The court held that Parkin did not have the right to evict Fitzgerald. Where
the
he was not acting in retaliation or to penalize the tenant. Here, he was not able to
do
had acted in good faith. Parkin v. Fitzgerald, 240 N.W.2d 828 (Sup. Ct. Minn.
1976).
9. No. Sommer had a duty to mitigate the damages caused by the
tenant’s abandonment
of the lease. Although there is a split of authority concerning whether
landlord’s have
require a landlord to make reasonable efforts
tore-rent
the property. Sommer v.
Kridel,
378 A.2d 767 (N.J.
1977).
Chapter 25 – Landlord and Tenant
25-8
©
2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
This is
proprietary material solely
for
authorized instructor use.
Not
authorized
for
sale
or
distribution
in
any
manner. This document may
not be
copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed,
or
posted
on a
website,
in
whole
or
part.