Table of Contents
Rights and Responsibilities of the Tenant and Landlord
When tenants and property owners enter into an agreement, each of the parties has their rights and obligations as provided in the tenant-landlord laws. The landlord is entitled by the law to receive the rent in full amount and within the agreed period. If the contract stipulates that the rent is paid on a monthly basis, the tenant has to adhere to that provision. The landlord may charge late fees for rent that has been paid late. However, the contract has to specify the amount and the conditions under which the tenant may be obliged to pay for the charges. A tenant should maintain the premises except for major structural repairs. The landlord is also entitled to evict the tenant for reasons specified in the lease contract.
A property owner is responsible for ensuring the safety of premise for tenant habitation. The landlord is therefore responsible for making major structural repairs to ensure the premise remains habitable for the tenants (Miller, 2016). Electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning and sanitation should be taken care of by the landlord. Landlords have an obligation to allow quiet enjoyment of the property by the tenant. The landlord or the property agent should not interfere with the tenant’s right to the benefit of the property that is within the confines of the legal provision. In the event a landlord intends to enter the property, the tenant has to be given notice as stipulated in the lease agreement. Such is in line with the tenant’s lawful use of and benefit from the property.
Tenant’s Rights and Obligations
The tenant residing in or using a property also has some rights that must be respected and upheld by the owner of the property under question. One of the rights of a tenant is to obtain housing without discrimination by the landlord. This means that so long as one can pay the rent and not involved in an illegal activity, they have the right to rent a property. The tenant has a right to quiet enjoyment of the property that has rented. The landlord or managing companies should not interfere with the tenant’s utilization of the property in a manner that is not specified in the lease agreement.
The tenant of a property has the right to a habitable and safe premise (Miller et al., 2013). This means that the landlord has to ensure that there are not major structural deformations that may endanger the lives of the tenants. While residing on the premises, tenants also have some responsibilities. They are obligated to maintain the property in reasonable repair. Such means some minor repairs that may arise in the course of the tenant’s use of the property may require the tenant to mitigate. The repairs are intended to maintain the premises in their status at the time of signing the lease. As an obligation, the tenants have to remit the remit, the rent in line with the contract signed with the property owner. Further, while residing at the property, the tenant should not interfere with the other tenant’s right to quiet enjoyment. The tenant should not act in a manner that compromises the right of other renters and uphold a peaceful coexistence spirit.
Who Should Mitigate the Damages?
In the case at hand, Larry is the landlord, and the Roger is the tenant. As provided for in the landlord-tenant laws, the property owner is responsible for ensuring that the premises are habitable and safe for humans. In this regard, Larry should ensure that the house is not leaking so that it becomes habitable and safe for Roger to live. It is the full responsibility of Larry to repair the leaking roof as it falls outside minor repairs that can be undertaken by Rogers. Further, the leaking roof is not a direct consequence of Roger’s use of the property and therefore, he is not obliged to restore the roof to its original status. However, Larry is not obliged to repair the damages that resulted from the baseball. In this case, Larry can use the security deposit to make the repairs. A tenant-landlord contract stipulates that the tenants should maintain the properties to their initial status at the time of signing the agreement. Property owners are not responsible for the repair of tenant-caused damages as it compromises the provision that tenants should maintain the premises.
Legal Grounds for Eviction
In the case at hand, Larry has no legal grounds for evicting Roger from the premises. As the owner of the premise, Larry is obligated to make the necessary repairs. Roger adequately informed Larry about the leaking roof, and the latter promised to look into the matter. The notice to the landlord was subsequently done in writing, making Larry fully aware of the situation. In evicting a tenant, Larry there should be full disclosure of the reasons for the eviction to the relevant authorities. In the case, it is the tenant that has failed in his duties. The damage caused by Roger to the property is a consequence of Larry’s failure to repair the leaking roof as required by the law.
The tenant-landlord law stipulates the legal reasons under which a property owner may evict a tenant. Such include failure by the tenant to pay the rent having provided with a notice to pay within a stipulated time. Where a tenant ignores a 30/60-day notice to leave the premises, a landlord may proceed to evict a tenant. The tenant may also be evicted when they cause substantial damage to the property as well as use the premises for illegal activities. In case the contract prohibits a tenant from subletting the property, a landlord may proceed with the eviction where the tenants compromise this provision (Brown, Zacks & Freedman, 2017). In the case between Larry and Roger, the latter has not compromised the dictates of the contract, and therefore, Larry has no legal grounds of evicting the tenant.
Liability for Damages
The action of Roger to throw the baseball to the wall was a result of Larry’s failure to respond to the call to repair the leaking roof. Larry ignored Roger’s call to repair the roof, which subsequently led to the tenant’s furniture being damaged when he was not at home. Based on this, it is indisputable that had Larry repaired the roof in time as requested by Roger; the rain would not have damaged the latter’s furniture. Subsequently, Roger would not have gotten angry to the point of throwing the baseball to causing damages to the wall and electric socket. The damages caused by the baseball are therefore linked to Larry’s failure to respond. For this reason, Roger is not liable for making repairs to the wall and the electrical socket.
As required by the law, property owners are obliged to maintain their premises in safe and habitable conditions for the tenants. Based on this provision, tenants are entitled to watertight rental units that do not leak (Hallenborg & Stewart, 2003). This means that landlords have to repair leaking roofs at any given time. In the case at hand, Roger duly informed Larry of the leaking roof. Being the landlord, it is expected that Larry should repair the leaking roof forthright to make the house safe for the property of the tenant. Having ignored the call to repair the roof, Larry is liable for the damages to Roger’s furniture. If Roger were at home, he would have moved his furniture to avoid the damage. Also, the initial leak was small and all the Roger needed to do was put a trash can. However, with the subsequent rain, the leaking became intense leading to the damages.
- Brown, D, Zacks, A, & Freedman, S. (2017). The California Landlord’s Law Book: Evictions. Pleasanton: Nolo.
- Hallenborg, M. A., & Stewart, M. (2003). New York landlord’s law book. Berkeley, CA: Nolo.
- Miller, R. L. (2016). Business Law Today, Comprehensive. Boston: Cengage Learning.