The tenant vacated his apartment before the lease expired and stopped paying rent. The landlord unsuccessfully tried re-renting the apartment and decided to sell the unit, keeping it vacant to make it more marketable. The landlord later sued the tenant for the unpaid rent for the entire lease term.
Landlords no longer have a duty to re-rent residential properties if the tenant breaks the lease, ruled the New York Appellate Division, Second Department. In Rios v Carrillo the court extended to residential tenancies a prior decision by the New York Court of Appeals, holding that commercial landlords did not have to mitigate damages — unless the lease stated otherwise. When a commercial tenant defaulted, the landlord had no duty to try to re-let the property, but could sue the defaulting tenant for the total rents due under the lease term.
ADVICE TO TENANTS: If you plan to vacate your apartment before the end of the lease term, you should attempt to find subtenants or ask your landlord to help you find a new tenant. Landlords of buildings with four or more units can not unreasonably withhold their consent to subletting or assignment of the lease.
ADVICE TO LANDLORDS: It’s still advisable to include a provision in residential and commercial leases that the landlord has no duty to mitigate and a defaulting tenant will be held liable for the rent for the entire term of the lease. Even though landlords do not have an obligation to mitigate, they should still attempt to re-rent the apartment because most judgments against tenants for unpaid rent are uncollectible.
Other states, such as Connecticut and New Jersey impose a duty to mitigate on residential landlords.
Archive for November, 2008
LANDLORD HAS NO DUTY TO MITIGATE
Sunday, November 30th, 2008NURSING HOME VERDICTS
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008These are recent verdicts for residents against nursing homes for deaths and injuries:
Undetected gastrointestinal bleeding led to resident death (Bernalillo County, New Mexico District Court, $54,000,000). 93-year-old resident choked to death after nurse’s aide gave him the wrong meal (Waterbury County, Connecticut Superior Court, $3,400,000). Resident suffering from dementia drank lye that was left on kitchen counter and sustained burns of his airways (Kings County, New York Supreme Court, $3,000,000).
Alzheimer’s patient was hit and killed by car after wandering out of nursing home due to negligent supervision (Los Angeles County, California Superior Court, $1,480,000). Nursing home did not prevent resident’s pressure ulcers and did not yield to hospital’s care when it could no longer treat the ulcers (Harnett County, North Carolina Superior Court, $638,000). Resident escaped and died of hypothermia because she was not checked hourly (Dutchess County, New York Supreme Court, $350,000).
Arthritic resident drowned during unsupervised time in the facility’s hot tub (Clark County, Washington Superior Court, ($350,000). Resident at risk for aspiration choked to death after being fed a hot dog ( Norfolk County, Massachusetts Superior Court, $112,500).
NEW LEAD PAINT RULES FOR RENOVATIONS
Saturday, November 8th, 2008Contractors or landlords are required to have tenants sign a PRE-RENOVATION DISCLOSURE FORM beginning December 22, 2008 which indicates that the tenant has received the EPA’s RENOVATE RIGHT: IMPORTANT LEAD HAZARD INFORMATION FOR FAMILIES, CHILD CARE PROVIDERS, AND SCHOOLS lead hazard information pamphlet before starting renovation of residential buildings built before 1978.
This pamphlet must also be given to owners and administrators of pre-1978 child care facilities and schools where children under age six are present. The pamphlet and renovation information must be made available to the parents or guardians of children that attend these schools by either mail, hand delivery or posting informational signs.
The requirements apply to renovation, repair or painting activities including window replacement. The rule does not apply to minor maintenance or repair activities where less than six square feet of lead-based paint is disturbed in an interior room or where less then twenty square feet of lead-based paint is disturbed on the exterior.
The new rule affects paid renovators including renovation contractors, maintenance workers in multi-family housing, painters and other specialty trades. To obtain the disclosure form and pamphlet, see www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/pre-renovationform.pdf and www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovaterightbrochure.pdf
