Professional Documents
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LandlordTenant Ansewrs
LandlordTenant Ansewrs
Bar Note
Bar Notes
I. LANDLORD / TENANT
A. Types of Leases
1. Term of Years
a. A term of years has a:
definite start and end date
b. No notice is required to terminate a lease for a term of years.
c. If a term of more than one year is contemplated:
it must be in writing
2. Periodic Tenancy
a. A periodic tenancy has a set beginning date and continues from period to period (e.g., from month
to month) without a set termination date until proper notice is given.
b. Under the modern statutory approach, termination may take place on any date, and the notice
period is measured by:
the lease period (ex if its mo-mo, than must give one mo notice)
EXAMPLE:
In a month-to-month periodic tenancy, one month’s notice is required.
c. Under the modern approach, notice may be given by both parties.
3. Tenancy At-Will
a. An at-will lease has:
no set termination date and no notice required for brining tenancy to end
4. Tenant at Sufferance / Holdover Tenant
a. A tenancy at sufferance occurs when a tenant remains in possession of the leased premises
(holds over) after the end of the lease term.
b. A landlord has two choices when dealing with a holdover tenant:
(1) may evict tenant
(2) bind that holdover to new lease
(a) If the landlord chooses this option, the tenant will be bound to:
the same conditions that he originally agreed to prior to being held over
B. Parties’ Duties
1. Tenant’s Duties
a. Duties contained in a written lease are:
expressly contained inside the lease (aka covenants)
b. Duty to Pay Rent
(1) At common law, a tenant had a duty to pay rent:
under any circumstances (even if premises were destroyed)
(2) At modern law, in case of destruction of the premises:
tenant is relieved of liability to pay rent unless tenant is
responsible for destruction
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b. A tenant abandons the premises if she vacates the premises without intent to return and fails to
pay rent. Traditionally, if the tenant abandons the premises, the landlord may:
(1) retake the premises;
(2) ignore an abandonment and continue to hold the tenant liable for rent; or
(3) reenter and relet the premises.
(a) Under the traditional view, if the tenant abandons the premises, the landlord has no
duty to mitigate by attempting to relet the premises. However, under the modern view,
the landlord has a duty to mitigate if the tenant abandons. If mitigation is required, the
burden of proof is placed on the landlord to show that he attempted to mitigate his
losses.
c. A security deposit may be retained by a landlord only to the extent necessary to cover actual loss
that the deposit was intended to secure (e.g., unpaid rent, damage).
d. Landlords may not engage in retaliatory eviction, which is where:
the T can’t be evicted for having turned the LL in for violations of housing code
2. Tenant’s Remedies for Landlord’s Breach of Duty
a. The remedies available to the tenant include:
(1) cancellation of the lease and vacating the premises;
(2) seek retribution in form of repayment of $$ spent to fix problem
(3) withholding or abating rent.
b. A landlord is not liable to the tenant, or others on the premises with the consent of the tenant, for
injuries caused by a condition of the premises, except in the following situations:
(1) latent and dangerous conditions that LL knows about but T doesn’t know about
(2) conditions dangerous to persons outside the premises
(3) the premises are leased for admission to the public;
(4) land under LL’s control but used by T
EXAMPLE:
A swimming pool on the premises, used by all the tenants in an apartment building.
(5) the landlord has contracted to repair; or
(6) the landlord has been negligent in making repairs.
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c. Another change in personal injury and landlord-tenant law is who can sue for injuries.
(1) At common law, it was limited to:
the Tenant
(2) At modern law, it is expanded to:
tenant, family members, and any one on premises as invitee or licensee
D. Assignments and Subleases
1. If a tenant transfers his interest in a leasehold, he will be engaging in either:
an assignment or sublease
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Multiple Choice Questions
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Landlord / Tenant Answer Grid
BE SURE EACH MARK IS DARK AND COMPLETELY FILLS THE INTENDED OVAL, AS SHOWN IN A B C D
THE ILLUSTRATION AT THE RIGHT. COMPLETELY ERASE ANY MISTAKES OR STRAY MARKS.
IN THE BOXES PROVIDED BELOW, PRINT YOUR LAST NAME,
SKIP A BOX, THEN PRINT YOUR FIRST NAME, SKIP A BOX,
1 A B C D 2 A B C D 3 A B C D 4 A B C D 5 A B C D
LAST NAME, THEN FIRST NAME
THEN PRINT YOUR MIDDLE INITIAL.
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Question 1 Question 2
A married couple entered into a two-year lease. The A landowner conveyed a large estate “to my daughter,
neighborhood consisted primarily of vehicle repair her heirs and assigns, on condition that she produce an
shops and older couples. For the first year, the landlord heir with her husband, but if she dies without such an
never visited the property and the couple paid the rent as heir, then to my personal assistant.” Five years after
directed. In the second year, the couple had a child and the landowner conveyed the estate to her daughter, the
decided to use the spare room beside the master bedroom personal assistant and the landowner got into a serious
as the nursery. dispute, which resulted in the personal assistant’s
decision to set up her own rival business. At the same
Rather than leave the master bedroom each time to enter
time, the landowner’s daughter and her husband
the nursery, the couple decided to hire a local man to add
divorced. Three years later, the husband died of a stroke
a doorway in the wall between the two rooms. The man,
brought on by undiagnosed high blood pressure. The
a certified building contractor, checked the wall to make
daughter remarried to a new business protégé of her
sure it was not a “load bearing wall,” to which local
father. The estate was a heavily forested property with a
ordinances preclude any kind of alterations.
number of stands of maple trees. The daughter and her
When the lease was about to end, the landlord inspected new husband walked the property and marked stands to
the premises and noticed the doorway between the be harvested for wood. The daughter then exploited the
two rooms. He remarked that it was a nice touch, and timber on the estate for a large profit.
even conceded that it made the home more valuable,
The daughter’s act of exploiting the timber for profit was
because the neighborhood, particularly over the past
year, had begun to accommodate many younger couples (A) impermissible as affirmative waste, because the
starting families. The couple vacated the property at the daughter was only a life tenant of the estate.
expiration of the lease without restoring the wall. The
(B) impermissible as trespass, because the personal
landlord then sent the couple a bill for the estimated cost
assistant owns the estate in fee simple absolute.
to remove the doorway in the wall. The couple refused
to pay the bill, and the landlord filed suit to recover this (C) impermissible, because the daughter has not
amount. produced an heir with her first husband.
Assuming the common law applies, what is the likely (D) permissible, because the daughter holds in fee
outcome of the case? simple.
(A) The landlord will prevail, because adding a
doorway violates the lease.
(B) The landlord will prevail, because the addition
of the doorway is waste.
(C) The couple will prevail, because the addition of
the doorway increased the property value.
(D) The couple will prevail, because they were long-
term tenants.
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Multiple Choice Questions
Question 3 Question 5
A man entered into a lease for a period of five years. The owner of a two-bedroom beachfront cottage leased
Planning to open a hardware store, the man hired a the dwelling to a couple with the occupancy period
contractor who installed overhead lighting and built terminating on March 20. On March 10, the owner
wooden shelves that were nailed into the walls. The leased the property to a college student for six months.
contractor also constructed free-standing tables for According to the written lease agreement, the tenancy
displaying merchandise. In addition, the man hired would begin on April 1 and extend through September 30.
a builder who constructed a second-floor loft that
On April 1, the couple was still in possession and refuses
was structurally attached to the main building. At the
to vacate the premises despite the fact that the lease
expiration of the lease, the man decided to vacate the
had expired. As a result, the student was prevented
premises and remove the improvements that he made. He
from taking possession. Unable to take possession, the
began disassembling the loft and started removing the
student refuses to pay the owner the rent for the month of
lighting, shelving, and free-standing tables. The landlord
April. The owner has instituted a suit against the student
immediately filed suit seeking to enjoin the man from
seeking to enforce their lease agreement and recover rent
removing these items.
for the month of April.
The court will most likely allow the man to remove what
In accordance with relevant Anglo-Saxon case law,
items?
which party will most likely prevail?
(A) Everything.
(A) The owner, because the student’s only cause
(B) Everything except the loft. of action is against the couple who are the
holdover tenants.
(C) Everything except the loft and the lighting.
(B) The owner, because the landlord is under no
(D) The free-standing tables only.
obligation to deliver possession of the premises
to the tenant.
Question 4
(C) The student, because the owner cannot deliver
A landlord and a tenant signed a lease agreement for a possession at the inception of the leasehold.
one-year term. One month into the lease term, the tenant
(D) There is a split of authority, and the outcome
changed jobs and abandoned the apartment because
will depend upon which rule of law is followed
his new job was an inconvenient commute from the
in this jurisdiction.
apartment. The landlord did not find a replacement
tenant. At the end of the lease term, the landlord sent the
tenant a bill for the unpaid rent.
In determining how much tenant owes, to which of the
following would most courts give the greatest weight?
(A) How burdensome the tenant’s new commute is.
(B) Whether the lease contained a covenant of quiet
enjoyment.
(C) Whether the landlord has met his burden of
showing that he attempted to find a replacement
tenant.
(D) Whether the tenant has met his burden of
showing that the landlord failed to attempt to
find a replacement tenant.
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Landlord / Tenant Answer Key
BE SURE EACH MARK IS DARK AND COMPLETELY FILLS THE INTENDED OVAL, AS SHOWN IN A B C D
THE ILLUSTRATION AT THE RIGHT. COMPLETELY ERASE ANY MISTAKES OR STRAY MARKS.
IN THE BOXES PROVIDED BELOW, PRINT YOUR LAST NAME,
SKIP A BOX, THEN PRINT YOUR FIRST NAME, SKIP A BOX,
1 A B C D 2 A B C D 3 A B C D 4 A B C D 5 A B C D
LAST NAME, THEN FIRST NAME
THEN PRINT YOUR MIDDLE INITIAL.
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