Leaseholds

Sexual harassment of tenant by property manager violates Fair Housing Act

The Eleventh Circuit joins other courts that have held that sexual harassment by a landlord (or an agent of the landlord) can constitute sex discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §3601 to §3613 if the behavior would not have occurred but for the tenant's sex.

This formulation has been adopted by other courts, see United States v. Hurt, 676 F.3d 649 (9th Cir. 2012), Quigley v. Winter, 598 F.3d 938 (8th Cir. 2010), and suggests that a landlord that sexually harasses both men and women would not be liable for engaging in sex discrimination — a result that...

Damages awarded tenant when landlord threatens to engage in illegal self-help eviction

The Maryland Supreme Court held that residential tenants can sue for damages if the landlord posts a notice telling them that they are being evicted. This constitutes a form of "nonjudicial self-help eviction" prohibited by state law, which requires landlords to use court eviction procedures to recover possession of the premises. State law would have allowed self...

Commercial lease disclaimer of liability for negligence held to be enforceable

A California appeals court has found a disclaimer of liability for negligence in a commercial lease to be enforceable and not to violate public policy even though a state statute made them invalid as to cases involving fraud, willful injuries, gross negligence, or violations of law. Garcia v. D/AQ Corp., 271 Cal. Rptr. 3d 861 (Ct. App. 2020). This case did not fit in...

Tenant not entitled to damages under the implied warranty of habitability for injuries from slipping on an icy driveway

The Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts held, in Goreham v. Martins, 147 N.E.3d 478 (Mass. 2020), that a landlord is not liable for injuries to a tenant who slips on ice in the driveway under the implied warranty of habitability because such claims are, in effect, strict liability claims and injuries to the body in the context of landlord-...

Two court reject impossibility defense to tenant rent obligations under government shutdown orders while one abates rent under the wording of the force majeure clause

When Governor Cuomo ordered most businesses to stop serving the public during the COVID-19 pandemic, some could not generate the income needed to pay rent. Some have argued that the impossibility of earning profits to pay rents should constitute a defense to the contractual obligation to pay rent. Two courts in New York have now rejected that argument, including the federal Southern District and a state supreme court.

Short-term rentals consistent with covenant limiting land to “residence purposes” and prohibiting motels and hotels

The Arkansas Supreme Court has held that short-term rentals (like Airbnb) are residential uses and are neither “commercial” uses nor “hotels.” Vera Lee Angel Revocable Trust v. Jim O'Bryant Joint Revocable Trust, 537 S.W.3d 254 (Ark. 2018)

Tenants have the right to receive guests

Affirming a traditional rule of law, the D.C. Court of Appeals held that tenants have the right to receive guests even over the objections of the landlord. Odumn v. United States, 227 A.3d 1099 (D.C. 2020). Defendant was charged with criminal trespass for violating a no-trespass order by the landlord but because he was on the property at the invitation of his aunt, who was a tenant...

Texas statute terminates tenancy on death of tenant

Texas law now provides that a lease terminates when a tenant dies, if the tenant's estate gives notice to the landlord of the death and removes the deceased tenant's belongings within 30 days. 2019 Tex. H.B. 69, codified at Tex. Prop. Code §92.0162.

New York finally imposes a duty to mitigate damages on residential landlords

After years of conflicting case law, the New York legislature has formally codified the obligation of landlords to mitigate damages when a tenant breaches lease obligations by abandoning the premises. 2019 N.Y. Laws 36, §4, codified at N.Y. Real Prop. Law§227-e....

Rules governing court-ordered rental payments while eviction litigation is pending

When a landlord sued to evict a tenant for failure to pay rent, the court ordered to make rental payments (for "use and occupancy") during trial. The Massachusetts Appeals Court held that before ordering such payments, the trial judge must hold a hearing to determine whether the payments should be reduced because of defective conditions in the property....

Joseph William Singer

Bussey Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

Leaseholds

Sexual harassment of tenant by property manager violates Fair Housing Act

Damages awarded tenant when landlord threatens to engage in illegal self-help eviction

Commercial lease disclaimer of liability for negligence held to be enforceable

Tenant not entitled to damages under the implied warranty of habitability for injuries from slipping on an icy driveway

Two court reject impossibility defense to tenant rent obligations under government shutdown orders while one abates rent under the wording of the force majeure clause

Short-term rentals consistent with covenant limiting land to “residence purposes” and prohibiting motels and hotels

Tenants have the right to receive guests

Texas statute terminates tenancy on death of tenant

New York finally imposes a duty to mitigate damages on residential landlords

Rules governing court-ordered rental payments while eviction litigation is pending

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