tenant law worth 220 points hint B u s i n e s s F i n a n c e

Reference/Textbook: Introduction to Business Law

Authors: Beatty/Samuelson (Fifth Edition)

Landlord-Tenant Law
Worth 220 points

HINT: See Chapters 29
and 30 of the text to help understand some of the legal issues covered in this assignment.

Larry Landlord has
recently renovated an apartment and has put it on the market to be rented for
$800.00 a month. Larry Landlord has been in business for approximately five (5)
years and has had both positive and negative experiences with tenants. Larry
Landlord is hoping to find a good, long-term tenant for his apartment. Roger
Renter saw Larry’s sign for the apartment for rent and thought the location and
the apartment would be perfect. Roger met Larry to look at the apartment and
Roger fell in love with it. All of the interior fixtures had been replaced and
the unit had a nice large closet. Roger noticed that although newly painted,
the exterior of the apartment did show a little bit of wear. Because of the
condition of the exterior of the building, Roger asked Larry about any roof
leaks. Larry stated that he had never had a leak and was not aware of any
leaks.

Roger and Larry
entered into a valid contract for the rental of the apartment. (Note: The issue
of whether or not a contract exists is NOT part of this question. For purposes
of this question assume the contract is valid and there are no issues with the
contract.)  

Roger Renter was very
happy in his new location; the apartment was quiet and the neighbors were
friendly. Larry Landlord was also very happy because Roger Renter was a model
tenant. Roger Renter paid on time and was quiet and respectful to other
tenants.

The part of the
country where Roger rented was rainy in the summertime. Roger rented and moved
into the apartment in October. In June, a tremendous rainstorm occurred and
Roger’s roof began to leak. The leak was minor at first and Roger merely put a
trash can under the leak and had no other issues that month. When handing over
his monthly rent check, Roger told Larry about the small leak. Larry thanked
Roger for letting him know about the leak and told Roger he would have it
fixed. 

The next month the
rains came again and the leak grew larger in Roger’s apartment. Roger was not
home at the time of the rain and therefore the leak damaged some of Roger’s
furniture. Roger called Larry to let him know that there was a leak and asked
when it might be fixed. Roger also stated that he thought Larry had fixed the
roof. Larry curtly stated, “When it rains, sometimes it pours. When it pours,
sometimes it leaks.” Roger did not like Larry’s tone or response and called
back to ask when the roof might be fixed. Larry stated, “When I get to it.” The
following day, Roger sent Larry a note about the roof leak and asked Larry to
please address the issue.

The week before the
rent was due, another rainstorm occurred and the leak was even larger. This
time the leak damaged Roger’s clothing, furniture, and some precious items he
had inherited from family members. Roger called Larry and asked Larry to fix
roof immediately. Larry responded in a similar and condescending manner. Roger
hung up the phone and threw his baseball bat against the wall, damaging the
drywall and knocking out an electrical socket.  

Since it was the rainy
season, Roger knew it would rain again and therefore simply moved his items
away from the leak and did nothing to help mitigate the damage from the leaking
roof.

Larry came into the
apartment to investigate the leak and found damage from not only the leak but
also from the thrown baseball bat. Roger states that the baseball bat damage
was a direct result of Larry’s inability to fix the leak based on his anger
from Larry’s curt response.

Suppose you are a
mediator. In seven (7) pages discuss the rights and responsibilities
of the landlord and the tenant in which you:

1.  Explore the
legal rights and responsibilities of the tenant and the landlord. 

2.  Decide whether
or not the landlord and / or the tenant had a legal duty to mitigate
damages. 

3.  Determine
whether or not Larry has legal grounds to evict Roger. Explain why or why not.
 

4.  Describe
whether or not Roger has a legal obligation to pay for the damage he caused and
determine whether or not Larry would be liable for any direct damage. 

5.  Support each
response with facts presented in the scenario.

6.  Use proper
legal terminology throughout your responses. 

7.  Use at least four (4) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify
as quality academic resources.

8.  Format your
assignment according to the following formatting requirements:

o 
Typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with
one-inch margins on all sides.

o 
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the
student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover
page is not included in the required page length.

o 
Include a reference page. Citations and references must follow
APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.

Grading for this
assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper,
and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.