Non-Freehold / Leashold Estates

Question 1

A rental contract is unenforceable when the property rented does not meet government safety and habitability regulations and the landlord is aware of the violations at the time the lease is executed.

Answer 1

The rule in Brown v. Southall Realty

Question 2

To enter into an enforceable lease agreement, both parties must have the legal capacity …

Answer 2

… to enter into a contract

Question 3

Unless there is some agreement to the contrary, the lessor has a duty to deliver to the lessee both actual and legal possession of the demised premises at the beginning of the term.

Answer 3

The rule in Adrian v. Rabinowitz

Question 4

The landlord or lessor has a duty to make sure all prior tenants have evacuated the premises before the beginning of a new lease term.

Answer 4

Explaining the English common law standard for possession beginning at a new lease term

Question 5

the landlord has no duty to deliver actual possession and thus the lessee is on his or her own (to evict the wrongful holdover with an ejectment action) if there is a problem.

Answer 5

Explaining the “American” standard for possession beginning at a new lease term

Question 6

A holdover tenant may be held to be a tenant for another term when either his actions are such that the landlord may rightfully assume that he intends to create a second tenancy, or when the action of the tenant is such that the court, as a matter of law and in the interest of justice, holds him liable for a second lease under the principle of quasi contract.

Answer 6

The rule in Commonwealth Building Corp. v. Hirschfield

Question 7

Definition of “tenancy at suffrance”

Answer 7

The type of tenancy created when a tenant holds over past the termination of the original lease; the duration of a tenancy at sufferance depends on the terms of the original lease and local law.

Question 8

A commercial lease agreement which provides that the tenant’s use of the premises is not limited to the purpose for which it is leased, but can be assigned without the consent of the landlord or used for any other lawful business, does not create an implied covenant of continuous operation.

Answer 8

The rule in Piggly Wiggly Southern, Inc. v. Heard

Question 9

Definition of “implied covenant of continuous operation”

Answer 9

A covenant or promise made by a party to a commercial lease that it will operate a business in the leased premises for the duration of the lease.

Question 10

Covenants of implied continuous operation will not be implied in a lease agreement when …

Answer 10

… when the contract as a whole suggests that no covenant of implied continuous use was intended

Question 11

A tenant is permitted to remove whatever he has erected or installed on the rental premises for the purpose of carrying on a trade or business so long as it can be severed from the estate before the lease expires and without causing material injury to the premises.

Answer 11

The rule in Handler v. Horns

Question 12

Under the doctrine of accessions, if a person builds or installs a permanent fixture onto the land of another, and certain conditions are met …

Answer 12

… the fixture becomes the property of the landowner

Question 13

Explaining the “doctrine of accessions”

Answer 13

Doctrine under which a fixture built or installed on the land of another becomes the property of the landowner.

Question 14

Explaining the “trade-fixture doctrine”

Answer 14

Doctrine under which a tenant is permitted to remove trade fixtures that he or she has affixed to the land for the purpose of carrying on a trade or business (if they can be removed prior to the expiration of the lease and without damaging the premises)

Question 15

The trade-fixture doctrine is an exception to …

Answer 15

… an exception to the Doctrine of Accessions

Question 16

Quicquid plantaur solo, solo cedit

Answer 16

Latin phrase meaning whatsoever is fixed to the land is part of the land.

Question 17

Where a landlord has made no affirmative attempt to provide security for her tenants and is not responsible for any physical defect that enhances the risk that a crime may be committed, she cannot be held liable for a criminal attack upon a tenant.

Answer 17

The rule in Walls v. Oxford Management Co.

Question 18

a landlord who, either gratuitously or by contract, to provide security will …

Answer 18

… thereafter have a duty to act with reasonable care

Question 19

Some courts have held landlords to a duty to protect tenants from criminal attacks that were …

Answer 19

… clearly foreseeable, even if not causally related to physical defects on the premises

Question 20

Landlord-tenant relationships are not “special relationships” …

Answer 20

… that would invoke a duty to protect tenants from a criminal attack––unlike innkeeper-guest or carrier-passenger relationships

Question 21

When a tenant abandons a leased premises prior to the expiration of the lease, the landlord has a duty to mitigate damages by attempting to rerent the premises prior to the end of the abandoning tenant’s term so as to minimize losses attributable to the abandoning tenant’s actions.

Answer 21

The rule in United States National Bank of Oregon v. Homeland, Inc.

Question 22

Landlords have a duty to mitigate damages even when …

Answer 22

… even when the tenant violates the lease agreement

Question 23

In the case of an abandoning tenant, the landlord must make a reasonable attempt …

Answer 23

… to re-let the premises, and must do so within a reasonable period of time.

Question 24

The warranty of habitability implied in residential lease agreements protects tenants against structural defects, but …

Answer 24

… does not require landlords to take affirmative measures to provide security against criminal attack.

Question 25

once the premises is re-let, the landlord cannot seek monthly rent from the abandoning tenant, but only …

Answer 25

… but only the appropriate amount of damages

Question 26

Courts should look to the intention of the parties when determining whether an instrument is an assignment or a sublease.

Answer 26

The rule in Jaber v. Miller

Question 27

Definition of “assignment”

Answer 27

A transfer of the right of possession of a leasehold for the entirety of the time remaining on the lease.

Question 28

Definition of “sublease”

Answer 28

A transfer of the right of possession for a time less than the full duration of the lease (even just one day less).

Question 29

Under which (majority/minority) view is a subtenant is not liable to the head landlord for rent because the subtenant, having less than the full tenancy, has no privity of estate or privity of contract with the head landlord?

Answer 29

The majority rule for subtenant liability to the head landlord for rent

Question 30

When a lease contains a clause that prohibits assignment of the lease without the permission of the lessor, the lessor’s consent to one assignment does not waive the need to obtain lessor permission for any subsequent assignments, and does not waive the lessor’s ability to object to a proposed second assignment.

Answer 30

The rule in Childs v. Warner Brothers Southern Theatres

Question 31

Explaining “The Rule in Dumpor’s Case”

Answer 31

Holds that once a lessor who has the power to reject assignments consents to an assignment of the tenant’s leasehold, he or she thereafter has no ability to reject any further assignments of the lease.

Question 32

Definition of “multiple covenant”

Answer 32

A covenant in a lease that operates upon both the lessee and the lessee’s heirs and assigns.

Question 33

Definition of “single covenant”

Answer 33

A covenant in a lease that operates only upon the lessee and does not extend to the lessee’s assigns and heirs.

Question 34

A clause in a commercial lease which require the tenant to obtain the landlord’s permission before assigning or otherwise transferring the lease does not imply, as a matter of law, an obligation on the part of the landlord to act reasonably in withholding consent.

Answer 34

The rule in 21 Merchants Row Corp. v. Merchants Row, Inc.

Question 35

Clauses in lease agreements that require landlord permission prior to a transfer or sublease are …

Answer 35

… not read to include a reasonableness requirement