MARCH 5TH PROPERTY Tenant Duties o 1) Pay rent o 2) Waste not o 3) Repairs Landlord Duties o 1) Deliver Possession o 2) Covenant

ant of quiet enjoyment o 3) Implied Warranty of Habitability o 4) Injuries **Have main topic, and put common law rule vs. majority rulemost m.c. questions will address the diff rules 4 types of leases o Leaseholds LL who maintains ownership of property and T who has been granted temporary possessions o 4 types of leaseholdsonly 1 has to be in writinglease for a term of years o TPAStypes of leases Taketerm of years Peterperiodic tenancy Andtenancy at will Susantenancy at sufferance Term of years lease o Must be in writing b/c of statute of frauds o Has definite beginning date and definite end date o Not necessary to give notice b/c notice already been given Periodic Tenancy o Has definite beginning date but no definite end date o Ex: month to month lease o Can be in writing but dont have to be o How do you bring it to an end? Either party (LL or T) must give 1 periods notice of intent not to renew Ex: month to month lease, must give 30 days notice; week to week lease, must give 1 week notice Tenancy at will o At the will of the LL and at the will of the T o Has no fixed duration and can go on indefinitely o No notice is required to break it o Why would you ever use this? This is what you get what you cant get anything else, and your credit rating is shit Tenancy at Sufferance o Not really type of tenancy, more of an interim period o Means tenant is there through the sufferance of the LL o Pops up only when theres a hold over tenanttenant had other type of tenancy, but T decided to hold over and squat, hes not leaving

o LL has 2 choices: Go to court and have T evicted Have T remain and bind him over to new tenancy (the T required to make same rental payments that he would before lease expired) Now becomes periodic tenancymonth to month tenancy Has to pay same rent payment unless LL gave notice of rent increase occurring at certain date Knowing tenancies is important b/c of notice requirementno notice for tenancy at will, but is for periodic tenancy CLidea of tenancy was a conveyance of an estate and therefore covenant made in a written lease were said to be independent of one another o Lease covenants were independentmeans breach by 1 party doesnt excuse or condone breach by the other party Modern lawleases no longer seen as conveyances, instead seen as contractual agreements o So covenants are seen as dependent of one another and therefore breach by 1 party allows for a corresponding breach by the other aprty CLTs obligation to pay rent is absolutelyeven if premises have been destroyed (ex: hurricane) the rent is not excused Modern lawno rent due by T if premises have been destroyed o 1 Exceptionif T caused destruction In this case, LL has these rights: 1) LL has right to evict him 2) LL has right to sue for monetary damages **LL can do both if he wants 3) LL can place acceleration clause in leaseif you wanna stay here, have to pay out remainder of lease What happens if T prematurely abandons w/o paying rent? LL 2 choices o 1) CLIgnore abandonment and hold T liable for rent o 2) MLLL may reenter his premises and hold T liable if and only if LL makes good faith effort to mitigate his damages (aka get another tenant) it is LL burden of proof as to that good faith effort LL can only evict T by court orderno self-help now In most cases, LL are allowed to evict by any breach of the lease o If no written lease, and its a tenancy at will, LL can evict for any reason, any time ExceptionLL cant evict in retaliation (no retaliatory eviction)if the T has turned in LL for breach of housing regs, LL cant turn around and evict in retaliation

TENANT DUTY #2: WASTE NOT

Doctrine of waste comes up in 2 circumstancesLL/T, and estates & future interests No waste allowed by the tenant 3 types of waste: o Vvoluntary waste o Ppermissive waste o Aameliorative waste Voluntary waste o T does something recklessly or intentionally that causes destruction to the premises o Ex: punching a wall o T is responsible and has to pay Permissive waste o This waste is doing dumb o T failed to take reasonable precautions to avoid destruction or damage to premises o Dumbass, if you knew window was broken and storm coming, you should have replaced it dont bitch b/c carpet is damaged now. Tenant, you permitted it to happen and didnt do anything Ameliorative waste o Ts arent supposed to do it, but ironically, damages for ameliorative waste can be tripled o T is improving premises w/o permission from LL o Ex: removing gross light fixture and replacing it w/ better lighting; by the time you leave you have to take it down o Why wouldnt LL want you to make improvements? Increases LLs costs and liabilities Duty to repair o CLT always responsible for any repairs, to prevent permissive waste. But T and LL responsible for rebuilding in case of loss of premises, primarily act of god occurrences let them both off the hook o MLwhatever covenants are in the lease cover repairs; if nothing specific in lease, T responsible for general covenant to repair meaning repairs fall on the T Exceptionnormal wear and tear Ex: time to repaint, recarpet, replace faucetsall LL responsibility But if T caused the damage, he has to payif not, T can deduct reasonable cost of repairs from his rent

LL DUTIES Ll

LL first has to deliver possessiondiff meaning depending on American vs. English jurisdiction o English rulemajority rule in this countryas of first day of lease, LL must turn over legal possession and actual possession of premises If you have holdover T, LL has responsibility to get him out and new T doesnt have to pay rent until holdover is gone o American ruleminority ruleLL must only turn over legal possession Legal possessionjust means here is your signed lease, you have right to occupy apt 202. So its Ts responsibility to get rid of holdover tenant Rule developed from LL who dont live near the leased premises

LL DUTY #2 Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment LL cant get around this duty, even at CL Even if not written into lease, LL still has duty Covenant of quiet enjoymentthere can be no disturbance of Ts use and enjoyment of premises by LL or an agent of the LL o No peeping toms, no hidden cameras, no unwarranted intrusion (no repairman showing up w/ no notice) etc. Nothing says LL has to protect T from 3rd party actions o Cannot hold LL accountable if somebody attacks you in parking lot and steals your wallet UNLESS LL had reason to know and didnt take sufficient steps to prevent crime o We dont hold LL accountable b/c actions by 3rd parties cant even be prevented by police What happens if LL breaches? T can treat lease as terminated and withhold rent o T can remain where he is, repair whatever quiet enjoyment has been ruptured, and deduct that from his rent How can T claim termination based on cov. Of quiet enjoyment o Must be able to show unwarranted intrusion or actual or constructive eviction o Actual evictioncan be complete or partialhappens when LL prevents T from using the premises Ex: locking him out, bolting door to spare room o Constructive evictionsome form of material and permanent interference w/ Ts use of his facilities Ex: permanent loss of heat, hot water, clean water, maybe AC if necessary to make place livable in hot places REMEMBERT cannot use constructive eviction as a defense for breaching the lease unless he moves out

He cant stay in apt and say hes been constructively evicted but will just stay and live there for free; so if hes going to terminate, it has to be bad enough that he moves out o Partial constructive evictionis he entitled to terminate if only 1 of 2 bathrooms isnt functioning? Nobut he can abate rent (reduce it accordingly Are there other ways for LL to constructively evict? Yes, occurs when: o 1) Latent defects on premises that LL knows about and doesnt disclose o 2) LL fails to maintain the common areas (lobby, stairwell, elevators) o 3) If LL is a liarhe makes fraudulent misrepresentations about the premises o In some jurisdictions 4) Aiding and abetting nuisances Ex: LL owns 2 unit piece of property (duplex)1/2 first rented to family w/ small kids, then other rented to country western bar; noise is so great, family cant have quiet enjoyment in their house T can sue to get money damages, can terminate his lease o If partially constructively evictedcan abate rent, can make repairs and deduct from rent

LL DUTY #3IMPLIED WARRANTY OF HABITABILITY Implied by law even if nothing is said in lease Has to do if premises is up to speed w/ housing code In most jurisdictions, violation of housing code is immediately breach of implied warranty Ts remedies can then vacate, remain and withhold or abate rent, or seek monetary damages for his own repairs Even if there is not housing code in jurisdictions, defects will be subject to reasonableness standard There must be a material breach o Repainting when he said he would is not a material breach o Material breachinvolves heat, hot water, infestation, etc. If there is material defect, T must do 2 things before vacate: o 1) Give LL notification (preferably in writing) o 2) Give LL reasonable time to cure Look at surrounding circumstances to see what constitutes reasonable period of time LL DUTY #4-- INJURIES Involve injuries to the T and Ts guest/family members; anyone who is legally on propertywhat is LLs liability for injuries There is no liability for the LL except for:

o 1) Latent dangerous conditionsconditions T wouldnt know about from observation o 2) Premises are open to the public (ex: movie theater, casino, amusement park) o 3) Injuries that occur after LL has contracted for repairs (LL calls plumber and plumber screws up, LL will be liable to tenant) o 4) If repairs involved are repairs the LL himself voluntarily undertook and then negligently repairs whatever was broken and then someone is hurt as a result **(will be on bar!) TRANSFERS OF INTERESTS INVOLVED Any LL is fully entitled to transfer his interest to someone else, and T will owe same duties to LL #2 as LL #1 Tenant transferringcan do 1 of 2 things: o 1) Can assign interest to another tenant LL rents to T1, partway through lease term, T1 assigns lease term to T2; with 3 months left on lease, T2 stops payingwho can LL sue? He can sue EITHER ONET1 or T2but he can only get 1 recovery o 2) Can sublease to another tenant LL rents to T1, T1 sublets to T2; if rent isnt maintained (T2 stops paying), LL can ONLY sue T1 T2 has no privity of estate w/ LL b/c T2 pays T1, and T1 pays LL If LL sues T1, T1 can bring action again T2 for payment How to tell apart1) who is paying who 2) see below o ** exam tipon bar they will try to trick you o If T1 transfers to T2 the rest of the entire lease term, the its an assignment; sublease can occur however, for only a portion of remaining lease term LL may assert no assignment clauses in leasesthese clauses are heavily disfavored by courts b/c law favors free alienability of land w/ no restrictions o Many jurisdictions say LL must use reasonableness standard if he refuses no assignabilityhe must have good faith reason for refusal Dumpers Lawmajority rule in USsays if LL has no assignment clause and then he waives that clause by allowing an assignment, once that clause is waived it is forever waived and he cannot object to 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. assignment o Minority ruleeach waiver applies only to that particular assignment and nothing else FIXTURES Ex: personal property that is permanently affixed to real estate in such a way that it uses its true identity

Whether its residential or commercial fixtureT CAN take fixture with him if: o Theory is if T doesnt improve place for LL benefit, so we allow T to remove their fixtures if 2 things are true: Can remove if: o 1) Do it prior to the end of your lease o 2) Removal will not do any material damage to the structure