Tenant and Landlord Exam Essay

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1. Assume you are the attorney for the Landlord.

List the legal grounds under which you would sue the Tenants and list the arguments you would use to

persuade the Judge to rule in your favor. Also list the defenses you would raise to the counterclaim

brought by Tenants. Support your answers with legal reasoning and conclusions.

2. Assume you are the attorney for Tenants.

List the grounds for bringing the counterclaim and the arguments you would use to persuade the Judge

to rule in your favor. Also list the defenses you would raise to the original suit. Support your answers

with legal reasoning and conclusions.

3. Now act as Judge and after weighing the evidence make your ruling and list your reasons for that

ruling.

As the attorney for the Landlord, after reading over the Lease Agreement, there are quite a few

things that the tenant voided in the agreement. In order according to the lease, first, the “NUMBER OF

OCCUPANTS” section of the Lease, it states that no more than two persons can occupy the apartment

without consent of the lessor. However, Charlie allows Sally, Schroder, and Pigpen to occupy to

apartment, which is well over the two persons in the lease.

Second, the “ASSIGNMENT AND SUBLETTING” section of the lease states that without prior consent of

the lessor, there shall not be a sublet. Charlie sublets his apartment during his trip to Florida for a spring

training to the Little Red Riding Hood Girl along with three of her friends while he is gone. The sublet

goes against the signed lease, but Charlie has expectations that Red (Little Red Riding Hood) is going to

pay the utilities, which is neglected to get paid for two months.

Third, the “REPAIRS, REDECORATION, OR ALTERATION” it states that the lessor is responsible for the

repairs to the interior and exterior of the building unless damaged by the lessee in which will be charged

back to the lessee. No alterations or improvements can be done in the apartment without consent of

the lessor. Yet without consent, Charlie makes renovations to the bedroom by putting up a diving wall

for an office for an unapproved business. During the renovations, a hole is knocked into the wall with a

hammer. Another mishap with decorations causes a fire which causes the carpet and wall to be burned.

Fourth, the “ANIMALS” section states no animals shall be kept on the premises without consent of the

lessor. A month after signing the lease, Charlie moved in with his dog, Snoopy and his bird, Woodstock

without consent of Lucy.

Fifth, the WASTE, NUISANCE OR UNLAWFUL USE” section states that the lessee will not commit waste

on the property, maintain a nuisance, or be used in an unlawful manned. Pigpen leaves the apartment in

a mess from being messy. Schroeder brings a piano to the apartment and disturbs the neighbors with his

constant playing, causing him to be a nuisance.

Sixth and finally, the “DEFAULT” section states if the lessee defaults on payment and any other part of

this agreement, the lessee shall be given a 30-day notice of any default or breach. While Charlie was in

Florida, Red was supposed to be paying the rent along with the utilities. While Lucy tried for 6 weeks to

collect payment, there was no payment made during that time.

The defenses in these claims brought to the attention by the Tenant are arguable. In the

mention of showing the apartment without prior a 24-hour notification, there is no evidence that states

that Lucy did not reach out to Charlie, in fact, when she was trying to contact Charlie in regards to rent,

he did not answer the phone for six weeks, which makes it likely that the same situation happened in

this situation as well. In response to the neglect of the repairs in the apartment and common area, it

was during the holiday season, which causes an influx of renters needing different repairs. Depending on

when Charlie put his notification in with Lucy, he could have been further on the list, causing her to not

be able to get to his apartment in what he deemed as an appropriate amount of time. “In every

leasehold estate, the tenant has a qualified right to exclusive possession. It is qualified because the

landlord has a right to enter onto the premises to ensure that no waste is being committed. In addition,

the tenant can use the land—for instance, by harvesting crops—but cannot injure it by such activities as

cutting down timber to sell or extracting oil.” (Clarkson, Miller, & Cross, 2018, p. 943) Records need to

be pulled to be able to justify this accusation. In response to the 30-day written notice claim, Lucy had

tried multiple times to get in contact with Charlie for six weeks with no response. How was Lucy to know

if Charlie had moved without prior notification and no idea of his new address? In the dispute, there is

no mention if Charlie checked his mailbox to see if there was mail or a 30-day notice waiting for him –

which would give Lucy the authority to move the tenants items out of the home.

As the attorney for the tenants, after reading over the Lease Agreement and talking with my

client, there a couple major issues to bring up. First, the “SHOWING APARTMENT FOR RENTAL” section

states the lessee grants the permission of the lessor to show the apartment during reasonable hours if a

24-hour notice is given. While Charlie is out and Sally is the only one home, Lucy used her passkey to

open the apartment door to show the apartment, without the Lease Agreement term of the 24-hour

notice of showing the apartment, which scared his little sister, Sally.

Secondly, the “REPAIRS, REDECORATION, OR ALTERATION” section states that the lessor is responsible

for repairs to the interior and exterior of the building. Before signing the lease, Charlie was never shown

his actual apartment in which he would be living. Once he went to his apartment, Charlie notified Lucy

of several issues he noticed, and Lucy assured that they would be taken care of right away. The repairs

go the entire length of the stay without being fixed and get worse as Charlie stayed there. In addition,

the hallway lights are mostly burnt out, one broke stair, and a loose handrail in the common area, which

is a requirement for Lucy to provide to her tenants. The broken stair caused Charlie’s book publisher to

all down the stairs and intends to sue.

Third and final, the “DEFAULT” section states that the lessee will be given a 30-day written notice if

there is a breach in the lease. Instead, Lucy did not give Charlie a 30-day written notice and decided to

remove all Charlie’s property from the apartment, sold Snoopy’s computer, and threw away the rest of

the possessions in the apartment. In addition, she also retained the security deposit and changed the

locks on the door, so Charlie no longer has access to the apartment in which he lived.

The defenses in these claims brought to the attention by the Landlord are arguable. As

mentioned in the lease having more people, animals, and a sublet are to have the consent of the lessee.

However, after multiple attempts to contact Lucy about the repairs needed in his home, how was he

supposed to be confident that she would not just ignore those as well? The Lease states that she is

responsible for the repairs in the apartment but when it was brought to her attention, it was promised

to be done and ultimately never was which lead to Charlie having to do home repairs himself. There

could have been better ways for Charlie to get all these things accomplished but with the lack of

cooperation from Lucy, there was no other choice in the matter for Charlie. Charlie was never contacted

by Lucy in regard to the termination, which clearly is stated in the Lease that a written 30-day notice is

to be provided. “Under the common law, to terminate a periodic tenancy, the landlord or tenant must

give at least one period's notice to the other party. If the tenancy is month to month, for instance, one

month's notice must be given prior to the last month's rent payment. Today, however, state statutes

often require a different period of notice before the termination of a tenancy.” (Clarkson, Miller, &

Cross, 2018, p. 943)

As the judge, after reviewing the evidence from both the Landlord and Tenants, I find it in the

favor of the tenant, Charlie. “A constructive eviction occurs when the landlord wrongfully performs or

fails to perform any of the duties the lease requires, thereby making the tenant's further use and

enjoyment of the property exceedingly difficult or impossible.” (Clarkson, Miller, & Cross, 2018, p. 956)

If Lucy would have followed the “DEFAULT” section on the lease agreement where it specifically states

she was to give the tenant a 30-day notice to move, file court proceedings, court costs, and damage to

the apartment, it would have been in her favor. Instead of acting on the legal basis of her contract, she

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1. Assume you are the attorney for the Landlord. List the legal grounds under which you would sue the Tenants and list the arguments you would use to persuade the Judge to rule in your favor. Also list the defenses you would raise to the counterclaim brought by Tenants. Support your answers with legal reasoning and conclusions. 2. Assume you are the attorney for Tenants. List the grounds for bringing the counterclaim and the arguments you would use to persuade the Judge to rule in your favor. Also list the defenses you would raise to the original suit. Support your answers with legal reasoning and conclusions. 3. Now act as Judge and after weighing the evidence make your ruling and list your reasons for that ruling. As the attorney for the Landlord, after reading over the Lease Agreement, there are quite a few things that the tenant voided in the agreement. In order according to the leas ...
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