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Real Property • Landlord-Tenant
PROP#085
Legal Definition
The implied warranty of habitability requires the landlord to keep property in a condition fit for human beings to live in. It applies to residential leases and is non-waivable. If breached, the tenant may: (1) terminate the lease; (2) make repairs and offset the cost against future rent; (3) abate the rent; or (4) remain in possession, pay full rent, and sue for damages.
Plain English Explanation
Imagine how silly it would be if before a tenant rented a property, the law made them ask, "Hey, Ms. Landlord, is this property safe to live in? Is it suitable for human beings?" Likewise, it'd be silly for a landlord to rent a property to a tenant that had no heat, gas, electricity, or functioning toilet and then, later when the tenant asks, "What the fuck?" The landlord replies, "Hey, you never asked if it was habitable."
Thus, the implied warranty of habitability is an implied warranty that if a property is being rented for humans to live in, then it is suitable for humans to live in.
It applies to residential leases (not commercial), and it is not waivable, which means even if a tenant signs away their right to a habitable property, it doesn't matter -- they are still legally owed a habitable property.
When the implied warranty of habitability is breached, a tenant is given a few options on how to react:
(1) The tenant can simply terminate the lease.
(2) If the breach of habitability can be repaired, then the tenant can make those repairs (or hire someone to do it) and then reduce their rent future rent by whatever the cost was to fix the problem.
(3) If it's possible to figure out the difference in value of the defective property, then the tenant can opt to "abate the rent," which simply means "lower the rent to its new market rate." For example, imagine an apartment in the middle of Florida during a heat wave had its air conditioning fail. An apartment with no air conditioning in that market may only be worth 50% of what the rent is supposed to be, which means the tenant can reduce how much they pay by 50%. Usually, this is something figured out by the courts.
(4) The last option is simply that the tenant can opt to stay in possession, pay full rent, but sue for whatever damages they have incurred due to the problem.
Thus, the implied warranty of habitability is an implied warranty that if a property is being rented for humans to live in, then it is suitable for humans to live in.
It applies to residential leases (not commercial), and it is not waivable, which means even if a tenant signs away their right to a habitable property, it doesn't matter -- they are still legally owed a habitable property.
When the implied warranty of habitability is breached, a tenant is given a few options on how to react:
(1) The tenant can simply terminate the lease.
(2) If the breach of habitability can be repaired, then the tenant can make those repairs (or hire someone to do it) and then reduce their rent future rent by whatever the cost was to fix the problem.
(3) If it's possible to figure out the difference in value of the defective property, then the tenant can opt to "abate the rent," which simply means "lower the rent to its new market rate." For example, imagine an apartment in the middle of Florida during a heat wave had its air conditioning fail. An apartment with no air conditioning in that market may only be worth 50% of what the rent is supposed to be, which means the tenant can reduce how much they pay by 50%. Usually, this is something figured out by the courts.
(4) The last option is simply that the tenant can opt to stay in possession, pay full rent, but sue for whatever damages they have incurred due to the problem.
Hypothetical
Hypo 1: Amy rents an apartment from Bob and signs a 6 month lease at $500 per month. After 2 months, a pipe explodes in Amy's apartment, leaving her without water. Amy asks Bob to fix it, but Bob is unresponsive. Amy calls a plumber who says they can fix the pipe for $1,000. Result: Amy's implied warranty of habitability has been breached, because an apartment with no water is not suitable for human beings to live in. Thus, Amy has a few options:
Option 1: Amy can simply terminate her lease early and not owe her remaining 4 months.
Option 2: Amy can pay a plumber $1,000 to fix the pipe, then not pay Bob for 2 months in order to recover the $1,000 she spent.
Option 3: Amy can pay the plumber $1,000 to fix the pipe, continue to pay Bob $500 per month for rent, but sue him to recover the $1,000 spent fixing the problem.
Note that I left out the option to "abate the rent." It's super hard to calculate in circumstances like this, since the house likely doesn't have a market value if it has no functioning water. But, if Amy did want to go this route, in most circumstances she would simply not pay any rent, save her rent money, then go to court and have the court figure out how much rent she does owe under the circumstances.
Option 1: Amy can simply terminate her lease early and not owe her remaining 4 months.
Option 2: Amy can pay a plumber $1,000 to fix the pipe, then not pay Bob for 2 months in order to recover the $1,000 she spent.
Option 3: Amy can pay the plumber $1,000 to fix the pipe, continue to pay Bob $500 per month for rent, but sue him to recover the $1,000 spent fixing the problem.
Note that I left out the option to "abate the rent." It's super hard to calculate in circumstances like this, since the house likely doesn't have a market value if it has no functioning water. But, if Amy did want to go this route, in most circumstances she would simply not pay any rent, save her rent money, then go to court and have the court figure out how much rent she does owe under the circumstances.
Visual Aids
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