Real Property and Landlord-Tenant Law - Case Study Example

Table of contents Introduction 2 An overview of the landlord tenant law in the US 2 Time Limit 3 Exceptions to the rule 3 No Pet Policy 3 Housing discrimination according to marital status and sex orientation 4 Discriminatory conducts 4 Marital Status Discrimination 5 Discrimination on people with disabilities, Sec.504 8 Duties of Tenants 9 Conclusion 9 List of references 10 The real property and tenant laws in the US Introduction Everybody has a dream to own a house, or if not, to be able to rent a decent apartment to live in. Some find it difficult to achieve these dreams because of lack of understanding of their rights. When one is rejected to rent or own a home or an apartment, they have to right to know why. Fortunately, there is a tenant-landlord law in the United States that specifies the rights and responsibilities of the tenants and landlords. Purpose of this research is to have an insight of rights of both tenants and landlords by virtue of this law. An overview of the landlord tenant law in the US The Landlord tenant law is directed to oversee the rentals of residential and commercial properties. It is basically composed of common law and statutory laws. According to the Legal Information Institute, a number of states in the US have based their statutory laws under the prescribed Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and becomes an important factor during calamities and emergency situations and to prevent discriminations. Under the Federal Statutory Law, no one can be denied of its rights to rent an apartment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex and age. One cannot be discriminated upon on the basis of familial status, that includes not allowing children, and pregnant women. This also includes physical disability, mental disability. Similar housing laws in states also prohibit discrimination against marital status and sexual orientation. This uniform law is being prescribed to all 50 states of the US. A particular state that upheld the landlord and tenant law is the California government that prohibits unlawful discrimination against any person on the basis of above cited factors. Under the California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act And Unruh Civil Rights, landlords cannot refuse to sell, rent or lease, or refuse to negotiate for a sale, rental or lease to persons on the basis of factors cited by law. Thus, a landlord cannot refuse a person simply because he is colored, or he belongs to an ethnic group. Landlords cannot just deny to these people housing accommodations, or to provide them inferior accommodations, services, facilities and services. Inferior accommodations may be considered as those housing that are with unsafe condition like falling roof or infested by mice or cockroaches. The law also advocates that rental spaces or housing be advertised in newspapers published by ethnic groups to avoid discrimination (CA.Gov.California Dept of Consumer Affairs 2010). Time limit A time limit of one year is set within which one may file complaint from the time the discriminatory act is committed. Complainant should state their formal charges, state how it happened and the names of those involved in the case. Exceptions to the rule However there is an exception to every rule, that the statutory rules does not apply to owner- occupied buildings that has only four or fewer rental units like duplex, or to the housing designated to senior citizens , and those offered by religious groups to their members only. No pet policy In California, a tenant cannot be refused if he owns a pet; most especially if it is a dog that serves as an eye seeing dog or helps him navigate in his disability situation. For instance, a landlord cannot refuse a disabled tenant simply because he owns a dog that helps him. If the landlord does so, he is violating the federal law as well as the American Disabilities Act. Citing a case of violation, the jury from Minneapolis, Minnesota concluded that the no pet policy of the landlord is a form of discrimination when he enforced this policy to a man who was grief stricken after the murder of his son. At the suggestion of the therapist, the man started taking care of his son’s dog. Before he started taking care of the dog he was severely depressed and not functioning normally.(C.A. GOV.California Dept. of Consumer Affairs. 2010) Housing discrimination according to marital status and sex orientation According to the law, one cannot be denied to rent or own an apartment because of marital status and sex orientation. However, Burgess, 2011, stated in her article that housing discrimination is a reality. According to her findings, the federal law does not protect gay, lesbians or transgender renters from discrimination of landlords and only a handful of states prohibit sexual discrimination. These are California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. If one happens to live outside the protected states, the renter has no legal protection and the landlord can break the lease contract because of sexual orientation. Discriminatory conducts The federal housing law prohibits the following discriminatory conducts of landlords such as: A landlord cannot use different set of rules in assessing applicants, or provide different services to the protected class, require larger deposits, or harass tenants. A landlord cannot refuse to rent to the protected class. A landlord cannot end a tenancy for a discriminatory reason. A landlord cannot hide availability of vacant apartments to prospective tenants; he cannot say it is not available when in fact it is available. In advertising vacant apartments, landlord cannot state limitations or preferences that are against prescribed factors. (C.A.Gov. California Dept. of Consumer Affairs.2010) To protect tenants from unscrupulous landlords, several organizations have been set up in California for their protection. They can look at the listings from the database of local fair organization or the California Apartment Association that maintains an apartment listing. If a person feels he is discriminated upon based on any one of the reasons cited, they can either turn to the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, or to the California Department of Fair Employment or Housing, who in turn investigates any complaints raised against them. A victim of housing discrimination have several legal remedies that includes “recovery of out-of-pocket losses; an injunction prohibiting the unlawful practice, access to housing that the landlord denied you damages for emotional distress, civil penalties or punitive damages and Attorneys fees.” (C.A.Gov. California Dept. Of Consumer Affairs.2010) A month to month agreement is one way of circumventing the law, because landlord is allowed to terminate a lease contract agreement within a 30 days notice and landlord is not needed to give specific reasons for termination. Marital Status Discrimination As stated before, landlords commit housing discriminations in different forms. One of these is the violation of the law discriminating tenants on the basis of familial status. According to the study done by Alternatives to Marriage Project, (ATMP) housing discrimination on the basis of marital status is widespread and legal, and unfair. Because of this, this group is asking the congress to repeal laws concerning cohabitation and enforce the laws on marital discrimination. Cohabitation is defined in the Free Dictionary as a living arrangement in which an unmarried couple lives together in a long term relationship that resembles that of a marriage. People cohabit because they want to test their compatibility before going into marriage. According to this site, people living in together outside of marriage as of 1990 are 3 million. ATMP states that the Federal Fair Housing Act prohibits marital status discrimination but half of the states are silent on this. On this basis, landlords can legally refuse unmarried couples, because in these states, a town can decree that unmarried families cannot live in certain neighborhoods. In these states cohabiting is illegal and can be fined and imprisoned.(ATMP) A true to life example of housing discrimination has been cited by ATMP stating that in Missouri town, a family was prevented from eviction. ATMP cited: In 2006, Olivia Shelltrack, Fondrey Loving and their three children were denied an an occupancy permit when they moved into a five-bedroom house because Ms. Shelltrack and Mr. Loving are not married. In Black Jack, anyone moving into a single- family home must apply for an occupancy permit.  The city prohibits more than three people from living together unless they are related by "blood, marriage or adoption." The city threatened to evict the Shelltrack-Loving family.  After several months, under media spotlights and facing a lawsuit by the ACLU, the city amended its zoning law. (ATMP) Another example is stated: In 2004, shortly after starting her job as a sheriffs dispatcher in North Carolina, Debora Hobbs was given this unfair ultimatum: either marry her partner, or move out of the house he lived in, or lose her job.  The ACLU took her case to court.  The good news is that, in 2006, the court finally found the states cohabitation ban to be unconstitutional.  The bad news is that, by the end of 2007, no legislative action has yet been taken to repeal the law ( ATMP) Among the states that need to change their laws about cohabitation for reason that it is unfair and outmoded, as outlined in ATMP are Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia . In the meantime renters can look at the following states that do not prohibit marital status discrimination in housing: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming. Discrimination on people with disabilities, Sec. 504 Sec. 504 of the rehabilitation act is a law that prohibits discrimination to person with disabilities and it is important that persons with disabilities review their rights under this law. An individual with a disability as defined in Sec. 504 as: “Any person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. The term physical or mental impairment may include, but is not limited to, conditions such as visual or hearing impairment, mobility impairment, HIV infection, mental retardation, drug addiction (except current illegal use of or addiction to drugs), or mental illness. The term major life activity may include seeing, hearing, walking, breathing, performing manual tasks, caring for ones self, learning, speaking, or working. Section 504 also protects persons who have a record of such impairment, or are regarded as having such an impairment.(HUD.gov) This means with respect to housing, landlord will be violating the law if he/she refuses to sell or rent to a disabled person, or enforce a criteria or rental fees or services different from those required to persons who are not disabled. It is also illegal to segregate disabled tenants and require them to live only on a certain floor and limit them to access to recreational areas of the building, or to other services provided to other residents. They should also be evaluated in accordance with the same criteria of persons without disability. Under Sec 504, applicants may be rejected with or without disability, if they have a record of destroying property, disturbing neighbors and failing to pay rentals on time. Landlords should base their judgments on evidence and not on speculations and rumors such a generalized suspicion that the prospective tenant cannot pay the monthly rental. (HUD gov.) Duties of Tenants Along with the rights we now describe the responsibilities of tenants. . The tenant has the responsibility to keep the property clean. Tenant should not damage the property or tamper with smoke alarms. And at the end of the rental agreement must be able to return the property to the landlord in the same condition when it was received except for the ordinary wear and tear. It is also the obligation of the tenant to behave in a manner not disturbing to neighbors. The rent should not be more than 7 days overdue, and in case there is a month to month rental agreement the landlord may require tenant to pay rent within 72 hours or leave the premises. When tenant has caused serious harm to the landlord’s property, or to other people living in the building, the landlord is allowed to evict tenant within a 24 hour notice. The landlord has the right to get a court order to evict the tenant if tenant does not comply after receiving a proper notice of termination. The landlord cannot force the tenant and cannot evict the tenant unless he has a court order for eviction. Landlord cannot lock out the tenant; force him to leave by removing his belongings. Tenant can defend himself in court trials, but if he fails, the sheriff can remove tenant from the unit, and tenant will be required to pay the landlord’s court case fees and other legal fees. Conclusion There are so many violations in the tenant law and the only thing the people can do to protect their right is be informed. Find out the constitutional rights and participate and take note of the actions in congress about the matter. The law is there to guaranty one’s rights against the unscrupulous landlords and it is up to the tenants to use it for their protection. This research has provided some of the insights on what is the right of the tenants as well as landlords. Understanding these basic rights is important for long and lasting landlord-tenancy relations. List of references ATMP. Alternatives to Marriage Project. Housing. Retrieved 17 January 2012 from http://www.unmarried.org/housing.html#examples Burgess, Nancy. 19 December 2011. Facing housing discrimination due to sexual orientation, Here’s what you can do. Retrieved 17 December 2012 from http://ohmyapt.apartmentratings.com/facing-housing-discrimination-due-to-sexual- orientation-here’s-w hat-you-can-do. C.A.Gov. California Dept. of Consumer Affairs, 2010. Unlawful discriminations. Retrieved 16 January 2012 fromhttp://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/discrimination.shtml Cohabitation. Definition. Free dictionary. Retrieved 17 January 17, 2012 thefreedictionary.com/cohabitation HG Legal Directories,Org.(n.d.)Landlord And Tenant Law – U.S. Retrieved 17 January 2012 http://www.hg.org/landlord.html HUD. US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. People with Disabilities. Retrieved 17 January 2012 from http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/disa bilities/sect504faq Johnson, Edward. October 2011. Oregon State Bar. Rights and duties of tenants. Retrieved 17 . http://www.osbar.org/public/legalinfo/1246_RightsDutiesTenants.htm Legal information institute (no date). Landlord-tenant law . retrieved 17 January 2012 from http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/landlord-tenant_law Read More