Landlord–tenant

Question 1

Tenancy at sufferance

Answer 1

Created when a tenant holds over after the end of a lease, it exists until the landlord evicts or re-rents to the prior tenant.

The tenant owes reasonable value of daily use as well as reasonably foreseeable special damages.

Question 2

Tenant’s duties

Answer 2

A tenant must:

(1) Pay rent, unless:
(a) The premises have destroyed, and not by the tenant;
(b) There has been complete or partial eviction; or
(c) There has been a material breach by landlord—e.g, breach of implied warranties;
(2) Avoid waste, both affirmative or permissive.

A tenant may make ameliorative waste, although it usually requires a landlord’s permission.

Question 3

Surrender of a leasehold

Answer 3

Surrender terminates a lease if the landlord accepts a surrender.

Many courts require the surrender to be in writing if the original lease was so required.

Question 4

Attornment

Answer 4

The tenant is bound to honor any covenant in his lease that has been assigned by the landlord to a third party if the covenant touches and concerns the land.

Question 5

Condemnation of a leased property

Answer 5

If the condemnation of a leased property is partial, meaning that only a portion of the leased property is condemned or the property is temporarily condemned, then the tenant must continue to make his rent payments.

The tenant is entitled to compensation for the portion of the property that was condemned or the time that he was dispossessed from the leased property.

Question 6

Partial eviction

Answer 6

The tenant must pay the reasonable rental value of the premises occupied if the partial eviction is by a third party with a superior claim to the property, e.g., the government.

Question 7

Fixtures

Answer 7

Absent an agreement to the contrary, a non-freehold tenant can remove a fixture that the tenant has attached to the leased property if:

(i) the leased property can be and is restored to its former condition after the removal, and
(ii) the removal and restoration is made within a reasonable time.

Question 8

Fixtures: holdover tenant

Answer 8

At common law, a trespasser such as a holdover tenant is prohibited from removing a fixture attached to the land.

Question 9

Doctrine of retaliatory eviction

Answer 9

Under the doctrine of retaliatory eviction, a landlord may not evict a residential tenant as retaliation for:

• the tenant’s reporting a housing code violation to the appropriate authorities; or
• refusing to pay rent when the landlord breaches the warranty of habitability.

Question 10

Surrender of a leasehold: abandonment

Answer 10

Abandonment by the tenant:

• may constitute an offer of surrender and
• likewise can be accepted by the landlord’s retaking of the premises.

But abandonment constitutes anticipatory repudiation if the landlord does not accept it as surrender.