Landlord Tenant Laws Flashcards
(25 cards)
4 Leasehold Estates
tenancy 4 years
peridoci tenancyt
tenancy at will
tenancy at suffereance
tenancy for years
AKA term of years, estate for years
it is a lease for fixed determined period of time (as short as a week, as attenuated as 50 yrs)
termination automatic upon end date
notice not needed to terminate bc termination automatic
tenancy for years must be in writing to be enforceable bc statute of frauds.
periodic tenancy
continues for successive intervals until properly terminated by either landlord or tenant
creation: express “To Tenant from year-to-year, month-to-month, week-to-week” or implied (payment of rent at set intervals, but doesn’t explicitly mention the duration) or (oral term of years) or (landlord hold over of tenant who overstayed original lease)
termination: requires proper notice. notice required at common law must be equal or greater to length of given interval (month notice required for month-to-month tenancy) except a year-to-year periodic tenancy requires six months notice under CL and 1 month under the Restatement. Bar examiners prefer 1 month notice.
By private agreement, parties can always modify CL proscribed notice provisions
Usually notice must be timed to terminate lease at end of lease period.
tenancy at will
A tenancy at will is a leasehold estate for no fixed duration that is terminable at the will of either the landlord or the tenant.
creation: expressly terminable at any time. unless parties explicitly agree to tenancy at will, regular rent payments = implied periodic tenancy
termination: theoretical termination at any time. But, most state statutes require reasonable notice/demand to vacate
Such a tenancy terminates by operation of law if: 1. Either party dies; 2. The tenant commits waste; 3. The tenant attempts to assign his tenancy; 4. The landlord transfers her interest in the property; or 5. The landlord executes a term lease to a third person.
tenancy at sufferance
Creation: tenant wrongfully holds over past expiration of lease. landlord can recover rent.
termination: endures only until landlord properly evicts or holds tenant to new tenancy
Tenant’s Duties
Tenants have several key duties under landlord-tenant law. These include: (1) the duty to repair and avoid waste, (2) the duty to pay rent, and (3) issues relating to security deposits. Obligations may vary depending on whether the lease is silent or contains express covenants. Rules also differ when tenants vacate early or when property is damaged without fault.
Landlord Duties (Overview)
Landlords owe tenants key duties: (1) to deliver possession, (2) to uphold the implied covenant of quiet enjoyment, (3) to maintain the implied warranty of habitability (residential only), and (4) to disclose known, latent defects. Landlord liability arises from wrongful interference, failure to maintain safe and livable conditions, or failing to warn of hidden dangers.
Doctrine of Retaliatory Eviction
Doctrine protecting tenants.
L cannot retaliate against T who reports L’s housing code violations.
Many statutes assume retaliatory motive if L acts within 3-6 months after report.
L has burden of proving good faith reason for any actions against reporting tenant
Anti-Discrimination Legislation***
Civil Rights Act - bars racial or ethnic Civil Rights Act of 1866: Bars racial or ethnic discrimination in the sale or rental of any property—no exceptions.
Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968): Prohibits housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin.
Covers tenants and prospective tenants.
Requires landlords to make reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities.
Exemptions:
Owner-occupied buildings with 4 or fewer units
Single-family housing sold or rented without a broker, if the owner owns no more than three such homes
Religious organizations and private clubs may give preference to their own members (if not discriminatory on other grounds)
Tenant’s Duty To Repair (Lease Silent)
If the lease is silent, the tenant must maintain the premises and make routine repairs, but is not responsible for damage due to ordinary wear and tear.
Tenants must not commit waste:
Voluntary waste – intentional damage
Permissive waste – neglect/failure to upkeep
Ameliorative waste – unauthorized improvements (modern view allows long-term tenants to enhance value with improvements)
Tenant’s Duty to Repair (Express Covenant in Lease)
If the lease expressly states tenant’s duty to repair:
Common Law (CL): Tenant is liable for restoration, even if damage is due to force of nature (e.g., lightning).
Modern/Majority Rule: Tenant may terminate the lease if the premises are destroyed without tenant’s fault.
Tenant’s Duty to Pay Rent (Tenant in Possession)
If the tenant fails to pay rent but remains on the property, the landlord can:
Evict through the courts (no self-help—changing locks or tossing belongings is illegal)
Continue the lease and sue for unpaid rent
Tenant’s Duty to Pay Rent (Tenant in Possession)
If the tenant vacates before lease ends, the landlord may:
Surrender: Accept tenant’s implied offer to end the lease
Ignore: Hold tenant liable for rent (minority rule)
Relet: Try to find a new tenant and hold old tenant liable for any deficiency (majority rule)
Rent Deposits
Most states limit security deposits (often to one month’s rent).
Some states require:
Depositing the funds in an interest-bearing account
Notice to the tenant about where it’s held
Landlords may retain the deposit only for actual damages.
Any lease clause that waives these protections is void as against public policy.
Landlord’s Duty to Deliver Possession
Under the majority rule, the landlord must deliver physical possession of the premises. If a holdover tenant is still occupying the space when the new tenant arrives, the landlord is in breach and may be liable to the new tenant.
Implied Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment – Overview
Every lease contains an implied covenant of quiet enjoyment, even if not stated. It protects the tenant’s right to use and enjoy the premises without interference by the landlord or one holding paramount title.
Quiet Enjoyment – Actual Eviction
Total actual eviction occurs when the tenant is excluded from the entire premises—this terminates the lease.
Partial actual eviction by the landlord (e.g., blocking off part of the unit) excuses the tenant from paying rent entirely, even if they remain in possession of the rest.
Partial eviction by someone with paramount title (not the landlord) results in apportionment of rent—tenant pays only for the portion they still occupy.
Quiet Enjoyment – Constructive Eviction
A tenant can vacate, terminate the lease, and sue for damages under constructive eviction if all conditions are met (SING):
Substantial Interference: with use and enjoyment (e.g., repeated flooding, no heat in winter).
Notice – tenant must inform the landlord and give a reasonable time to repair.
Goodbye – tenant must vacate within a reasonable time after landlord fails to fix.
Landlord action or omission – the breach must stem from the landlord or someone acting on their behalf.
🚫 A tenant cannot claim constructive eviction unless and until they vacate the premises. Tenant may not stay and withhold rent or sue for damages unless they move out.
Implied Warranty of Habitability
Warranty of Habitability
Applies to residential leases only, and is non-waivable. Premises must be fit for basic human habitation, judged by housing code or case law (e.g., no heat, no water, unsafe conditions).
Tenant remedies (MRRRR):
Move out
Repair and deduct
Reduce or withhold rent
Remain in possession and sue for damages
➡ Unlike constructive eviction, the tenant need not vacate to assert this claim.
Landlord Duty to Disclose Dangerous Conditions
At lease signing, landlord must disclose latent defects known to them that the tenant could not discover on reasonable inspection. Failure to warn makes the landlord liable for injuries resulting from the condition.
Transfer of Leaseholds
Assignment: A complete transfer of the entire remaining lease term constitutes an assignment of the lease. L and second tenant are in privity of estate (because T2 has possession). This means L and T2 are liable to each other for all covenants in OG lease that run with land. L and T2 are not in privity of contract because L and T2 never exchanged words creating lease. L and T1 are in privity of contract (bc they exchanged words creating contract in first place) but not privity of estate (bc T1 no longer has possession). Privity of contract means L and T1 are secondarily liable to each other (liable for og lease obligations. T1 is liable if T2 breaches and doesn’t pay).
by the slight majority view, T’s reservation of a right of reentry does not result in a sublease, but rather is still an assignment if otherwise transfers all of remaining interest in the lease.
Sublease: T transfers interest in part. If the tenant retains any part of the remaining lease term, other than a right of reentry for breach of the original lease terms (slight majority rule), the transfer is a sublease.
Prior written approval from L may be required
-Once L consents to one transfer, L is deemed to waive the right to object to future transfer by that tenant unless L explicitly reserves that right (often tested on bar) ***
Landlord Assignment: A landlord may assign the rents and reversion interest that he owns. The assignee is liable to the tenants for performance of all covenants made by the original landlord in the lease, provided that those covenants run with the land. The original landlord also remains liable on all of the covenants he made in the lease.
Liability of multiple assignees
Original T is always liable to L because it has privity of contract with L. The most recent (current) assignee also is liable to L because it has privity of contract (possession). If there are intermediate tenants (T1 assigns to T2 assigns to T3), only T1 and T3 would be liable because they have privty of contract and privty of estate, respectively, T2 never had privity of contract and T2 lost privity of estate when it ceded possession to T3, so T2 cannot be held liable
Sublease
There are two ways for a tenant to transfer the right to possession under a lease: assignment (transferring the entire period of time remaining under the lease) and sublease (transferring only a portion of the time remaining under the lease). Sublease is when OG tenant transfers less than his entire interest to T2.
Effect: Landlord and sublessee share no privity (estate or contract). If sublessee betrays essential responsibilities, L sues sublessor and sublessor sues sublessee (and vice-versa).
Restraints on alienation are traditionally strictly construed. Thus, a covenant prohibiting assignment does not prohibit subleasing and vice versa.
Relationship bw L and T1 remains entirely intact.
Landlord’s Tort Liability
Tenant injured in tort.
CL: “caveat lessee” aka “tenant beware” - landlord has no duty to make premises safe, with 5 exceptions (CLAPS): (1) Common Areas (e.g., hallways, stairwells, elevators), Latent Defects (just duty to warn, not to repair), Assumption of repairs undertaken (L liable if negligent in repairs), Public use rule (short lease where T doesn’t have time to repair, significant defect), Short term lease of furnished dwelling (L responsible for any defective condition). i am not sure how public use rule and short term lease of furnished dwelling are different.
Bar examiners will test on 2-3 of the L tort liability exceptions.
