Full question:
Termination of 3 year lease by tenant due to harassment from landlord and forms to use.
- Category: Landlord Tenant
- Subcategory: Lease Termination
- Date:
- State: California
Answer:
A tenant has an implied right to the peaceful and quiet enjoyment of the premises. It would be a matter of subjective determination for the court to determine whether the landlord's actions are disturbing enough to be considered to be depriving the tenant of the intended use of the premises or constitutes harassment that undermines the security of the tenant and constitutes a breach of the lease. If written lease terms prohibit pets, it may be a matter of one person's word against the other's that the pet restriction was orally waived.
The terms of the lease should be read carefully to determine if there are provisions allowing for early termination. If a tenant wishes to terminate a lease before the lease expires and it's not due to any fault on the landlord's part, the tenant may be held liable for the full term of the lease and the security deposit may be used for rent due. However, the landlord has a duty to mitigate, or minimize, damages by making a resonable attempt to relet the premised to another tenant, such as by advertising the property and showing it to prospective tenants. It is possible in some cases for a tenant to negotiate to terminate a lease early, usually! by offe ring some form of compensation to the landlord.
The following are relevant excerpts from the statutes of California:
§ 1940.2 Civ.
(a) It is unlawful for a landlord to do any of the
following for the purpose of influencing a tenant to vacate
a dwelling:
(1) Engage in conduct that violates subdivision (a)
of Section 484 of the Penal Code.
(2) Engage in conduct that violates Section 518 of the
Penal Code.
(3) Use, or threaten to use, force, willful threats,
or menacing conduct constituting a course of conduct that
interferes with the tenant's quiet enjoyment of the
premises in violation of Section 1927 that would create an
apprehension of harm in a reasonable person. Nothing in
this paragraph requires a tenant to be actually
or constructively evicted in order to obtain relief.
(4) Commit a significant and intentional violation
of Section 1954.
(b) A tenant who prevails in a civil action, including an
action in small claims court, to enforce his or her rights
under this section is entitled to a civil penalty in an
amount not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000) for each
violation.
(c) An oral or written warning notice, given in good faith,
regarding conduct by a tenant, occupant, or guest that
violates, may violate, or violated the applicable rental
agreement, rules, regulations, lease, or laws, is not a
violation of this section. An oral or written explanation
of the rental agreement, rules, regulations, lease, or laws
given in the normal course of business is not a violation
of this section.
(d) Nothing in this section shall enlarge or diminish a
landlord's right to terminate a tenancy pursuant to
existing state or local law; nor shall this section enlarge
or diminish any ability of local government to regulate
or enforce a prohibition against a landlord's harassment of a
tenant.
(Added by Stats. 2003, c. 542, § 1.)
§ 1942 Civ.
(a) If within a reasonable time after written or oral notice to the
landlord or his agent, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1962,
of dilapidations rendering the premises untenantable which the landlord
ought to repair, the landlord neglects to do so, the tenant may repair
the same himself where the cost of such repairs does not require an
expenditure more than one month's rent of the premises and deduct the
expenses of such repairs from the rent when due, or the tenant may vacate
the premises, in which case the tenant shall be discharged from further
payment of rent, or performance of other conditions as of the date
of vacating the premises. This remedy shall not be available to the tenant
more than twice in any 12-month period.
(b) For the purposes of this section, if a tenant acts to repair and
deduct after the 30th day following notice, he is presumed to have acted
after a reasonable time. The presumption established by this
subdivision is a rebuttable presumption affecting the burden of producing evidence
and shall not be construed to prevent a tenant from repairing and
deducting after a shorter notice if all the circumstances require shorter
notice.
(c) The tenant's remedy under subdivision (a) shall not be available if
the condition was caused by the violation of Section 1929 or
1941.2
(d) The remedy provided by this section is in addition to any other
remedy provided by this chapter, the rental agreement, or other
applicable statutory or common law.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.
