Chapter 52 Leases

1. Chapter 52Leases Twomey, Business Law and the Regulatory Environment (14th Ed.)

2. Classification of Tenancies[52-1] 1. Tenancy for years (Fixed term) 2. Periodic tenancy (Indefinite length; runs period to period) 3. Tenancy at will (Indefinite length; terminable by either party at any time) 4. Tenancy at sufferance (Holdover tenant) (Can remain only if landlord permits) Chapter 52

3. Termination of Lease[52-2] Termination by Notice Notice in a Tenancy from Year to Year Expiration of Term in a Tenancy for Years Merger (Tenant obtains title to land) Surrender (Must be accepted by landlord) Release Transfer of Tenant (By employer or military/If lease so provides) Forfeiture (Due to tenant’s misconduct or breach) Destruction of Property Fraud Chapter 52

4. Chapter 52 Summary The agreement between a lessor and a lessee by which the latter holds possession of real property owned by the former is a lease. Statutes in many states prohibit discrimination by an owner who rents property. Statutes in some states require that the lease not be unconscionable. Tenancies are classified according to duration as tenancies for years, from year to year, at will, and at sufferance. Chapter 52

5. Chapter 52 Summary [2] A lease is generally not terminated by the death, insanity, or bankruptcy of either party except for a tenancy at will. Leases are usually terminated by the expiration of the specified term, notice, surrender, forfeiture, or destruction of the property or because of fraud. Chapter 52

6. Chapter 52 Summary [3] A tenant has the right to acquire possession at the beginning of the lease and has the right to retain possession until the lease is ended. Evictions may be either actual or constructive. The tenant is under a duty to pay rent as compensation to the landlord. An assignment of a lease by the tenant is a transfer of the tenant’s entire interest in the property to a third person; a sublease is a transfer of less than an entire interest—in either space or time. Chapter 52

7. Chapter 52 Summary [4] A lease may prohibit both an assignment and a sublease. If the lease is assigned, the assignee is liable to the landlord for the rent. Such an assignment, however, does not discharge the tenant from the duty to pay rent. In a sublease, the sublessee is not liable to the original lessor for rent unless that liability has been assumed or is imposed by statute. Chapter 52

8. Chapter 52 Summary [5] The tenant need not make repairs to the premises, absent an agreement to the contrary. A warranty of habitability was not implied at common law, but most states now reject this view and imply in residential leases a warranty that the premises are fit for habitation. A landlord is usually liable to the tenant only for injuries caused by latent defects or by defects that are not apparent but of which the landlord had knowledge. Chapter 52

9. Chapter 52 Summary [6] Some states apply a strict tort liability, holding the landlord liable to a tenant or a child or guest of the tenant when there is a defect that makes the premises dangerously defective even if the landlord does not have any knowledge of the defect. The landlord is not liable to the tenant for crimes of third persons unless they are reasonably foreseeable. Chapter 52