Essay on Landlord Tenant Law

In this case, there is a disagreement which has arisen between the Landlord (Larry) and the tenant (Roger). Both of them want their sides to be heard and attended to according to what they believe in. This is an issue which can only be decided by the law since there are regulations which have been set to handle cases involving the landlord and the tenant. The main disagreement arose when the owner failed or took too long to respond to the cries of the resident whose house had been leaking whenever heavy rains poured. The tenant ended up damaging some of the house parts and now wants to go free and still have the landlord held liable for not taking action.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

First, we look at some of the rights and responsibilities of landlord according to the Landlord Tenant Law in Chapters 29 and 30. The first one states that the tenant is given protection based on invasion of privacy, discrimination, and theft. Regardless of all this, the landlord is still the owner of the building and pays the mortgage with what he or she gets from the monthly payments (Andrew). A landlord is only allowed to evict a tenant when the tenant fails to pay rent at the right time, violates some of the provisions or has violated the law in terms of making noise or disturbing peace. The landlord is not allowed to evict the tenant if he or she is the one who has violated the tenants rights. A landlord is also required to give the tenant an eviction notice if he or she does not change behavior

The tenants too, have their rights and responsibilities which they need to uphold and abide by. Landlords are required to give tenants notice before they enter their house, even if they own them. Tenants are also not allowed to keep pets or animals unless they have been allowed to do so by the lease agreement which they sign before renting the house. Tenants are protected from harassment by their characteristics, and a discrimination reasons should not evict them. Unless the lease states otherwise, the leasee is assumed to have the duty of paying rent and is also allowed to make any reports that have a thing with the habitation of the house.

The question that comes in here is whether or not the landlord and or the tenant had a legal duty to mitigate damages. The damage here was caused by the leaking roof which made Rogers clothes to soak. These are garments, which he treasured as he had been given by his family members. At first or rather during the signing of the contract, Larry told Rogers in the word of mouth that his house was not leaking and he had not heard of any case of a leaking roof. This gave Rogers an assurance that all was well and he went ahead to sign the contract.

According to the Landlord Repairs: Tenants Rights Tenants have the right to live in a habitable rental property (Andrew). This means that it has to be free of safety threats, vermin infestations, and problems to do with plumbing. Typically, the law does not allow the landlord to repair such damages unless it is stated by the local building codes. Although some landlords may oblige themselves to repair them if need be and this is proved by signing it in the agreement or saying it by word of mouth. This means that Roger (tenant) was supposed to repair the leak by himself. Its only that the Larry had offered to fix it. In this case, the leaking roof is used as an evidence of the damage which needs to be handled by the court of law. If at all Roger wanted the landlord to repair the damage, then he should have asked him to put that in righting while signing the contract. This means Larry has no obligation, but can only offer a helping hand.

Roger got frustrated and ended up breaking the electrical socket and the drywall using a baseball. This means that he had made a damage by himself even though it was the landlord's delay to respond. The house belongs to Larry and anything wrong done to it makes gives him the right to carry on with an eviction. In this case, he is not allowed to evict the tenant as the Landlord Tenant Law states that, A landlord is not allowed to evict a tenant in retaliation for action the tenant took in regards to enforcing a provision of the lease or applicable law (Margaret). Roger broke the drywall and the electrical socket since the landlord had taken longer to repair his house. Roger had been patient for a long time, and his property was getting damaged daily. This means that what Larry could have done is only being responsible for repairing the damaged.

Still, the case can be looked at from the part of the law which states that Even if it is not in the rental agreement or lease, he or she is required to keep the building and unit in a habitable condition (Margaret). He should ensure that the roof is not leaking and all plumbing and electrical parts are in the right condition. The only case where the landlord is not responsible is when the tenant had caused the leak. This means that Larry is in charge of taking care of the damage and should ensure it is in the right condition.

This case still has a situation where Roger caused damage to the wall and electrical sockets. First, he should not have damaged them because the law of repair and deduction allows him to repair it and deduct the amount of money that he used in the repair while paying rent. This means that he has to pay less rent when the payment time comes. Now he caused the damage and claimed that he did it out of frustration. Since there were no witnesses, this claim will not be considered as it might be true or false. The law states that The tenant is obligated to pay for any damages caused in the building unless restrictions are stipulated in the state law or lease agreement (Andrew).

Roger is obligated to pay for the damaged he caused. Larry was not liable for the damage even though Roger did it because of him. The law needs Larry to handle the damage which is the leaking roof. The only thing that the Larry can pay for is the damage which came as a result of the leaking roof. This is an action which will be taken only if it is indicated and signed the contract which was signed before renting the house. Larry is the owner of the house and deals with only parts which are not in good conditions in the building and not those which have been caused by the tenant.

The entire case will lean on both the landlord and tenant since they both have rights and provisions that cover them in one way or the other. The landlord might end up being convicted for having failed to repair the leaking roof in time hence leading to the damage of Rogers property. Roger will be convicted he refuses to pay for the damage that he caused using the baseball in the name of being frustrated.

References

Francis, Andrew. Landlord and Tenant Law. Journal of Building Appraisal 3.3 (2007): 237

Wilkie, Margaret, et al. Landlord and Tenant Law. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006