Non-Freehold Estates Cases Flashcards
Paradine: “War Rent”
Old Landlord: The obligation to pay rent is based on a contract and unless the contract provides for contingencies such as herein, the obligation to pay rent is not suspended.
Dyett: “Loudest Lil’ Whorehouse”
Old Landlord: If the landlord physically ousts one from all or a part of the property, the right to pay rent ceases. This analogy extends to a breach of covenant of quiet enjoyment in a lease.
Jacobs: “Can’t Bug Out”
Old Landlord: Lessor is only responsible for fulfilling the requirements of the lease and for complying with statutory duties.
Tuttle: “Can’t Set it Off”
Old Landlord: A “set-off” for rent is NOT a defense to a tenant’s non-payment of rent because of independence of covenants
Mahoney: “A wall pancaked Ma-honey!”
Landlord Duties: A landlord is not liable for defects occurring after the lease has been executed absent a duty imposed by the lease. Absent any statutory or contractual duty, the lessor is not responsible for any injury resulting from a defect which developed during the term.
Whetzel: “Ceiling Cave-in”
Landlord Duties: Housing code regulations impose a statutory duty upon landlords for injuries sustained by tenants, which result from defects in the premises that developed during the term of the lease.
Brown: “Building-Code Breaks Brown”
Landlord Duties: A lease entered into in violation of the building code is void and unenforceable, and as a result, no duty to pay rent accrues.
–“Ab initio” – (from the beginning) the contract was void from the start so there was never a compensable occupancy
Javins: “Unlivable Conditions”
Landlord Duties: Leases of real property contain an implied warranty of habitability for the breach of which the payment of rent may be suspended. 2 STEP TEST
Brune: “Who needs plumbing, anyway?”
Landlord Duties: Tenants were all on welfare or social security and were choosing (not really about choice because they have no other option) to pay minimum rent in return for incomplete facilities
Masszonia: “LL Ain’t a Sponge”
Landlord Duties: Unless you want to subsidize housing, you cannot make the landlord absorb all the costs. Landlord abandons the buildings, may burn them down.
Diamond v. Robinson: “Habitability v. Retaliation”
Landlord Duties v. Tenant Remedies: When it is established that a lease is void and unenforceable under the Brown v. Southall ruling, the tenant becomes a tenant at sufferance and the tenancy, like any other tenancy at sufferance, may be terminated at 30 days notice.
Robinson v. Diamond: “Eviction v. Anti-Retaliation”
Landlord Remedies v. Tenant Duties: A retaliatory motive of the landlord can be used as a defense to an otherwise valid eviction. After a tenant has successfully asserted his legal rights against a landlord, an unexplained subsequent action for eviction is presumed to be retaliatory and is a valid defense to that action. It is the burden of the landlord to explain his motivations, thus dispelling the presumption. The rebuttal must establish a valid business purpose not involving the assertion by the tenant of her legal rights. A tenant may not be punished for the assertion of rights as given by the Housing Code Statutes.
