Landlord-Tenant Law
The Case
Larry Landlord vs. Roger the Tenant
This case involves Larry Landlord, who refurbished his rental house and rented it to Roger, the tenant. The area where Larry’s rental premises is located experiences heavy rain, and therefore, Roger did not know whether the roof of the Larry’s House leaked, even Larry was not aware of the leaking roof by the time he was renting the house. Immediately after occupation, the roof of the house began leaking after rainfall. Roger after noticing the problem, Roger informed Larry so that he could repair the roof, but Larry did not take fast action to prevent further damages to his tenant’s property. The leakage caused damages to Roger’s property, which was after informing the landlord; getting no help, just a promise to action. Time passed, and Larry never made any repair, after experiencing this problem for some time, Roger called Larry and requested for immediate action on the leaking roof. Larry gave him a rude response, which made hang up the phone, out of anger; Roger threw his baseball which damaged the drywall and also knocked out the electrical socket. When Larry came to his premises and noticed the damage was not only caused to by the leakage from the roof but also by Roger’s negligence, and therefore, conflict arises.
Rights of the Tenants
Residents are entitled to fundamental rights like; the right to have access to rent book. They have right of being issued with proper quit notice; that is, the notice to vacate the house should be published at the considerable time and with enough explanation as to why they are being evicted (Aid., 2011). This implies that landlord cannot evict the tenants without prior notice. In our case, Larry cannot evict Rogers without issuing him with a notice to, and also, the advice must come days before eviction is done, so as Rogers can be well prepared to vacate. Larry began to investigate the magnitude of the damage caused to Roger’s property, and after noticing other damages, he cannot go just through Roger out of his premises, since he had not issued him with a request to vacate. The right to freedom of nuisance and improper eviction; tenants have a right to stay in a serene environment without problem and disturbances. Before renting a house, the landlord should inform the residents any form of disturbances which they are likely to experience (Rhodes, 2009).
For natural disturbances like thunderstorms and lightening may be acceptable since they are beyond landlord’s control. But if the area experiences adverse lightening and stormy weather, the owner should take an initiative of installing lightening arresters to protect the tenants’ welfare. Roger as a tenant was entitled to live in a house which is free from leakages, and it was Larry’s obligation to ensure the house was free from leakage, by repairing it in time. Roger took the right step by informing the landlord about the roof, and it was his right to demand immediate action as a tenant. …
