😀
Real Property • Landlord-Tenant
PROP#086
Legal Definition
Landlords are prohibited from performing retaliatory evictions, which occur when a landlord terminates a lease or penalizes a tenant for exercising his rights. There is often a presumption of retaliatory eviction if the landlord acts within 90 or 180 days.
Plain English Explanation
Landlords are obligated to follow various laws and codes in maintaining the property they rent to tenants. If a tenant reports a landlord for violating one of these rules, a landlord is not allowed to evict the tenant out of revenge or spite. Generally speaking, if an eviction occurs within 90 to 180 days of a tenant reporting an landlord, then it is presumed that the eviction is retaliatory, even if it was not, which forces a burden on the landlord to prove the eviction is not retaliatory.
Hypothetical
Hypo 1: Amy rents an apartment from Bob and signs a 6 month lease. After 2 months, Amy stops paying rent. She becomes a horrible tenant. Bob tries to give her another chance, but she harasses other tenants and causes problems. Bob plans on evicting her at the end of the week on Friday. On Thursday, Amy notifies the local housing authority that she has experienced rodents in her apartment. On Friday, Bob begins eviction proceeding. Result: Here, Amy is a horrible tenant who deserves to be evicted. However, due to the circumstances, there is a presumption that Bob is evicting her in retaliation for reporting the rodent problem. Thus, Bob will have to bring sufficient evidence to prove his eviction is not motivated by Amy exercising her right to report rodents.
Visual Aids
Related Concepts
How do lease covenants affect a landlord-tenant relationship where one party breaches?
How may a landlord waive a covenant prohibiting assignment?
If a leasehold is condemned or taken via eminent domain, what is the effect on a tenant's duty to pay rent?
If an assignment occurs, what is the relationship between the assignee and the landlord?
If a tenant breaches one or more of their duties, what remedies are available to the landlord?
If a tenant violates a covenant against assignment or sublease, what remedies are available to the landlord?
In a landlord-tenant relationship, who has a duty of restoration when the premises being leased are destroyed due to no fault of either party?
In assessing a landlord's tort liability, what six duties does a landlord have to make the premises safe?
In assessing a landlord-tenant issue, what is an assignment?
In assessing a landlord-tenant relationship, what are the landlord's duties?
In assessing a landlord-tenant relationship, what are the tenant's duties?
In assessing a landlord-tenant relationship, what is the result of a tenant's covenant to repair?
What are the exceptions to the hold-over doctrine?
What constitutes a constructive eviction?
What constitutes an actual eviction?
What constitutes a partial eviction?
What is a landlord's duty to deliver possession?
What is a landlord's duty to provide quiet enjoyment?
What is a landlord's duty to repair?
What is a leasehold estate?
What is a periodic tenancy and how does it terminate?
What is a sublease?
What is a tenancy at sufferance and how does it terminate?
What is a tenancy at will and how does it terminate?
What is a tenancy for years and how does it terminate?
What is a tenant's duty to not use the premises for an illegal purpose?
What is a tenant's duty to pay rent, and how does it affect their security deposit?
What is a tenant's duty to repair?
What is the hold-over doctrine?
What is the implied warranty of habitability, and what remedies are available to the tenant if breached?
When does a covenant run with the land?
When does a tenant cause ameliorative waste?
When does a tenant cause permissive waste?
When does a tenant cause voluntary waste?
