Copyright by, and republished with permission of, Apartment Law Insider.
When landlords take tenants to court over nonpayment of rent, tenants often claim as a defense that the landlord breached the warranty of habitability. But, as a recent case illustrates, a tenant may preemptively claim such a breach before a landlord acts to evict—and argue not only that that the breach was aggravated by the pandemic, but that it amounted to harassment for which the tenant should be awarded a civil penalty.
In evaluating the merits of the breach of warranty claim, the court in this case considered the inconvenience to the tenant due to the pandemic as an aggravating factor. And then it conducted a detailed analysis in determining whether a civil penalty was in order.
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