Property Unit 5 Landlord/Tenant Law

The Term of Years Lease

Lease for a fixed period. As long as you know the end date from the start.

No notice is needed to terminate.

A term of years for greater than one year must be in writing to be enforceable because of the statute of frauds. (if it violates the SOF, periodic tenancy arises by implication)

Periodic Tenancy

a lease that continues for successive intervals until the landlord or tenant gives proper notice to terminate.

Notice needed to terminate: sinsult the lease; Conoon law says equal to the length of the interval

A periodic tenancy can arise by implication

Where a Periodic Tenancy arises by implication

1. Land is leased without mention of a duration, ut provision is made for payment of rent at set intervals

2. an oral term of years in violation of statute of frauds

3. if a landlord elects to holdover a tenant who has stayed on past the conclusion of the original lease, an implied periodic tenancy arises, measured by the way rent is now tendered.

Tenancy at Will

this is a lease for no fixed duration; it endures at the will of either the landlord or tenant and can be terminated at the will or whimsy of either party at anytime.

Tenancy at Sufferance

this lease arises when a tenant has wrongfully held over after the end of the lease or has ebtrayed a term in the lease.

The Duty to Deliver Possession

the landlord must deliver both (i) actual possession and (ii) legal possession to the tenant.

Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment

in every residential and commercial lease, the landlord has an implied duty to assure tenant’s quiet use and enjoyment of the premises without interference from the landlord.

Breaches of Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment

1. When the landlord actually and wrongfully excludes the tenant from possession of the whole or any part of the premises. (Actual Eviction)

2. the landlord breaches by committing constructive eviction

Requirements for constructive eviction

1. Substantial Interference - from landlord’s actions or failure to act

2. Notice - aggrieved tenant must give notice of the problem to the landlord and the landlord must fail to remediate it

3. Goodbye - tenant must vacate within a reasonable time after the landlord fails to remedy the issue

tenant cannot remain in possession and still plead successfully that she has been constructively forced out

Actual Eviction

when the landlord physically excludes the tenant from possession of all or part of the premises. Even a partial eviction relieves the tenant from the obligation to pay rent.

Implied Warranty of Habitability

guarantees that the basic essentials for human dwelling are met. Problems like no hear in winter, no running water, infestation, mold, and structural infirmities violate it.

if breached, T’s remedies are T’s remedies are MRRR: Move out, repair (and deduct), reduce (rent), or remain (and sue).

Landlord Duties in Tort

Common areas must be maintained

Landlord must warn tenant of latent defects of which landlord has knowledge or reason to know

Assumption of repairs: a landlord who volunteers to make repairs must complete them with reasonable care. If as a volunteer a landlord repairs negligently, and tenant is personally injured as a proximate cause, landlord is liable.

Public use rule: landlord who leases public space must provide safety and is liable in tort for on-site defects.

Short-term lease of furnished dwelling: landlord is responsible for on-site defects in a short-term lease

A tenant must not commit waste

Affirmative waste, voluntary waste, permissive waste

the Law of Fixtures

when a tenant removes a fixture, she commits voluntary waste

Fixture

A fixture is a once movable chattel, that by virtue of its attachment to realty, objectively shows the intent to permanently improve the realty.

If a tenant does not pay rent an is in possession, LL may:

1. they can evict properly through the courts, by filing an eviction action, in which case the tenant is turned into a tenant by sufferance until she vacates

2. they can sue the tenant for the rent owed

if tenant does not pay rent and is not in possession, LL may:

Surrender – treat tenant’s vacating the premises as an implicit offer of surrender, which landlord accepts.

Ignore – hold tenant responsible for unpaid rent.

Re-let on tenant’s behalf, and hold tenant liable for any deficiency. (Mitigate the damages of breached lease)

The Assignment

When T1 transfers ALL time left on the lease to T2.

In an assignment, landlord and T2 have privity of estate, but not privity of contract.

The Sublease

Where T1 transfers LESS THAN all the time left to T2.

Landlord and T2 share no privity. Landlord and T1 have privity of estate and privity of contract.

LL can sue T1 for rent due.