Landlord-tenant law - Next Generation Bar Exam
- What is the implied warranty of habitability?
- A landlord's nonwaivable duty to keep residential premises fit for human habitation. Most jurisdictions recognize it for residential leases.
- What notice is required at common law to terminate a month-to-month periodic tenancy?
- One full period's notice, ending on the last day of a period. A year-to-year tenancy requires six months' notice at common law.
- What is the original tenant's liability for rent after assigning the lease?
- The tenant remains liable on the contract unless the landlord releases the tenant. Privity of contract survives assignment.
- What remedies are available to a residential tenant for breach of the implied warranty of habitability?
- Withholding rent, repairing and deducting the cost, terminating the lease, or recovering damages. Statutes may require notice to the landlord and a reasonable time to repair.
- What is the difference between an assignment and a sublease?
- An assignment transfers the entire remaining term; a sublease transfers less than the entire term. The landlord and assignee are in privity of estate, but the landlord and subtenant are not.
- A tenant's lease is assigned to an assignee who fails to pay rent. From whom may the landlord recover the rent?
- From either the original tenant or the assignee. The original tenant is liable in contract and the assignee in privity of estate.
- What are the elements of constructive eviction?
- Substantial interference by the landlord, notice and failure to cure, and vacating within a reasonable time. A tenant who remains in possession cannot claim constructive eviction.
- What is the general rule on a landlord's tort liability for injuries on leased premises?
- The landlord is generally not liable, subject to exceptions such as common areas, latent defects, and negligent repairs. Many jurisdictions now apply a general duty of reasonable care.
- What is a tenancy at sufferance?
- A tenancy arising when a tenant holds over after the lease ends without the landlord's consent. The landlord may evict the holdover tenant or elect to hold the tenant to a new periodic tenancy.
- Under the modern majority view, what is the landlord's duty when a tenant abandons the premises before the lease ends?
- To make reasonable efforts to mitigate damages by reletting. At common law, the landlord could let the premises sit vacant and recover rent.
- What is retaliatory eviction?
- An eviction motivated by the tenant's exercise of legal rights, such as reporting code violations. Statutes in most jurisdictions bar it and often presume retaliation within a set period after the complaint.
- What is the covenant of quiet enjoyment?
- The landlord's implied promise not to interfere with the tenant's possession. Actual or constructive eviction breaches the covenant.
- What are the four types of tenancies?
- Tenancy for years, periodic tenancy, tenancy at will, and tenancy at sufferance. Each differs in duration and how it terminates.
- A tenant subleases to a subtenant for half of the remaining term. The subtenant fails to pay rent. From whom may the landlord recover rent directly?
- Only from the original tenant. The landlord lacks privity of estate and contract with a subtenant absent an assumption.