Landlord Tenant Law Flashcards
As a general rule, landlords have a strong right to exclude and may refuse to rent to a person based on a good faith reason, a frivolous reason, or no reason at all
BUT the right to exclude is limited by:
Federal and state statutes and local ordinances that prohibit certain types of discrimination (example: Fair Housing Act)
Eviction for retaliatory purposes
State statutes requiring “good faith” for eviction
Applies only to the sale or rental of “dwellings”
It is unlawful to:
Refuse to sell or rent a dwelling to any person based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin
Discriminate against any person in the terms and conditions of a sale or rental of a dwelling based on the protected categories
Make, publish or advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on the protected categories
Discriminate in the sale or rental because of a handicap of the buyer or tenant
Refuse to make reasonable modifications to the premises to accommodate a handicapped tenant
FHA
does not apply to any single-family house sold or rented by the owner provided the owner:
Does not hold title to more than 3 single-family houses, and
Does not use in any manner the rental facilities or rental services of a real estate broker
Also exempt under the FHA:
Religious organizations
Dormitories, fraternities, and sororities
Senior housing
“Rooming houses”: rooms or units in dwellings which contain living quarters occupied or intended to be occupied by no more than 4 families living independently of each other, if the owner actually resides in one of the living quarters
FHA Exemptions
All citizens of the United States shall have the same right, in every State and Territory, as is enjoyed by white citizens thereof to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property.
Civil Rights Act
Fair Housing Act covers 7 types of discrimination but only applies to
selling, renting, or advertising a dwelling
_______ ______ ____ covers only racial discrimination but is not limited to dwellings
Applies to more types of conduct (including inheriting, holding, and conveying property, but not advertising)
Applies to all types of property (“real and personal property”)
Civil Rights Act
that he is a member of a protected class and Defendants knew or suspected that he was;
that he applied for and was qualified to rent the property in question;
that Defendants rejected his application; and
that the property remained available thereafter.
Proving Discrimination Elements
Plaintiff only needs to present enough evidence to show that there is a ________ _____.
disputed fact
Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in renting based on
race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin
Fixed duration which is agreed upon in advance
Does not have to be for years; can be for a number of months
Once the term ends, the right of possession automatically terminates
Frequently used in commercial leases and residential leases
Tenancy for years (a/k/a term of years tenancy)
Automatically renewed for successive periods unless the landlord or tenant terminates by giving advance notice
State statutes govern how much notice must be given
Can be year-to-year, month-to-month, week-to-week
Frequently used in residential leases
Periodic tenancy
No fixed end
The tenancy continues until one party terminates
State statutes govern how much notice must be given; it is usually equal to the frequency of rent payments (monthly, yearly, etc.)
Automatically terminates upon either party’s death, tenant’s abandonment, or landlord’s sale of the property
Usually arises when there is no written lease
Tenancy at will
Label given to a holdover tenant who remains in the premises beyond the term of his lease
Created when a tenant who rightfully took possession of the premises continues beyond the term of his lease
State statutes govern how the estate is terminated and whether rent may be increased
Tenancy at sufferance
If a lease does not meet the criteria of a term of years or a periodic tenancy, and if the tenant is not a “holdover”, the lease MUST be a _____ __ ______
Tenancy at will
Where a deed is not ambiguous, __________ evidence may not be used to show the intent of the parties
extrinsic
T has sufficient legal and equitable remedies (T can sue to evict the former tenant)
LL should not be held accountable for the wrongful act of a third party
English rule might prevent LL from leasing the premises until the prior tenant has moved out
this would lead to increased rent to all tenants to account for the lost rent for the “downtime” between tenants
American Rule
Landlord Obligation to Deliver
Serves the reasonable expectations of the parties
LL is in a better position to know if the prior tenant is vacating on time
LL has access to the evidence needed to determine and prove that the prior tenant should be evicted
T bargained for space, not for a lawsuit to evict the prior tenant
If T has to evict the prior tenant, it is an increased cost to T that T did not factor into the amount T was willing to pay in rent
English Rule
Landlord Obligation to Deliver
Promise by LL that LL will not wrongfully interfere with T’s possession of the premises Actual eviction (obviously) violates the covenant Actions short of actual eviction can also substantially interfere with T’s possession
Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment
In the absence of an express clause, the covenant of quiet enjoyment is ________ in every lease
implied
