PC-SIG: Essential Home & Business/PC-SIG - Essential Home and Business Collection.iso/25/3/9/LHARC1.EXE/LANDTENT.STB

Text File | 1991-04-22 | 15KB | 352 lines

/* Home and Business Legal Guide: Residential Landlord and Tenant
Act- Full text with annotations-- This Act has been adopted in
the following states, although in many cases with amendments:

Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia

As usual, each state has "improved" on the basic model. We do not
document the changes state by state. This law represents the
"progressive" atest legal views on what a landlord tenant
relationship should be. It is likely to be adopted by many more
states in the future. We provide it as an example of what to
expect for those not living in the uniform states.*/

Section 1.101 Short Title

This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Uniform
Residential Landlord and Tenant Act."

Section 1.102 Purposes; Rules of Construction

(a) This Act shall be liberally construed and applied to promote
its underlying purposes and policies.

(b) Underlying purposes and policies of this Act are

     (1) to simplify, clarify, modernize, and revise the law
governing the rental of dwelling units and the rights and
obligations of landlords and tenants;

     (2) to encourage landlords and tenants to maintain and
improve the quality of housing; and

     (3) to make uniform the law with respect to the subject of
this Act among those states which enact it.

Section 1.103 Supplementary Principles of Law Applicable

     Unless displaced by the provisions of this Act, the
principles of law and equity, including the law relating to
capacity to contract, mutuality of obligations, principal and
agent, real property, public health, safety and fire prevention,
estoppel, fraud, misrepresentation, duress coercion, mistake,
bankruptcy, or other validating or invalidating clause supplement
its provisions.

Section 1.104 Construction against Implicit Repeal

     This Act being a general act intended as unified coverage of
its subject matter, no part of it is to be construed as impliedly
repealed by subsequent legislation if that construction can
reasonably be avoided.

Section 1.105 Administration

     (a) The remedies provided by this Act shall be so
administered that an aggrieved party may recover appropriate
damages. The aggrieved party has a duty to mitigate damages.

/* That is a fascinating section. Mitigation of damages are steps
taken to lessen losses. At common law, a landlord is not required
to mitigate damages. In fact at common law, if a tenant leaves,
the landlord is allowed to simply leave the premises vacant and
bill the tenant for rent. Maybe not any more........ */

Section 1.106 Settlement of disputed Claim or Right

     A claim or right arising under this Act or on a rental
agreement, if disputed in good faith, may be settled by
agreement.

Section 1.201 Territorial application

     This Act applies to and regulates, and determines rights,
obligations, and remedies under a rental agreement, wherever
made, for a dwelling unit within this state.

Section 1.202 Exclusions for Application of Act

     Unless created to avoid the application of this Act, the
following arrangements are not governed by this Act:

     (11) residence at an institution, public or private, if
incidental to detention or the provision of medical, geriatric,
educational, counseling, religious or similar service;

     (2) occupancy under a contract of sale of a dwelling unit or
the property of which it is a part, if the occupant is the
purchaser or a person who succeeds to his interest;

     (3) occupancy by a member of a fraternal or social
organization in the portion of a structure operated for the
benefit of the organization;

     (4) transient occupancy in a hotel, or motel or lodgings
subject to cite state transient lodgings or room occupancy sales
tax act;

     (5) occupancy by an employee of a landlord whose right to
occupancy is conditional upon employment in and about the
premises;

     (6) occupancy by an owner of a condominium unit or a holder
of a proprietary lease in a cooperative;

     (7) occupancy under a rental agreement covering premises
used by the occupant primarily for agricultural purposes.

1.203 Jurisdiction and Service of Process

     (a) The _____ court of this state may exercise jurisdiction
over any landlord with respect to any conduct in this state
governed by this Act or with respect to any claim arising from a
transaction subject to this Act. In addition to any other method
provided by rule or by statute, personal jurisdiction over a
landlord may be acquired in a civil action or proceeding
instituted in the court by the service of process in the manner
provided by this section.

     (b) If a landlord is not a resident of this state or is a
corporation not authorized to do business in this state and
engaged in any conduct in this state governed by this Act, or
engages in a transaction subject to this Act, he may designate an
agent upon whom service of process may be made in this state. The
agent shall be a resident of this state or a corporation
authorized to do business in this state. This designation shall
be in writing and filed with ________. If no designation is made
and filed or if process cannot be served in this state upon the
designated agent, process may be served upon the _______, but
service upon him is not effective unless the plaintiff or
petitioner forthwith mails a copy of the process and pleading by
registered or certified mail to the defendant or respondent at
his last reasonably ascertainable address. An affidavit of
compliance with this section shall be filed with the clerk of the
court on or before the return day of the process if any, or
within any further time as the court allows.

Section 1.301 General Definitions

Subject to additional definitions contained in subsequent
Articles of this Act which apply to specific Articles or Parts
thereof, and unless the context otherwise requires, in this Act

     (1) "action" includes recoupment, counterclaim, set-off,
suit in equity, and any other proceeding in which rights are
determined, including an action for possession;

     (2) "building and housing codes" includes any law,
ordinance, or governmental regulation concerning fitness for
habitation, or the construction, maintenance, operation,
occupancy, use, or appearance of any premises, or dwelling unit;

     (3) "dwelling unit" means a structure or the part of a
structure that is used as a home, residence, or sleeping place by
one person who maintains a household, or by 2 or more persons who
maintain a common household;

     (4) "good faith" means honesty in fact in the conduct of the
transaction concerned;

     (5) "landlord" means the owner, lessor, or sublessor of the
dwelling unit or the building of which it is a part, and it also
means a manager of the premises who fails to disclose as required
by Section 2.102;

/* Review this section for an interesting idea. Often Joe Jones
Ltd. an off-shore partnership actually owns an apartment complex
or hoe, but "Gold star Management" runs the show. The Management
Company looks like the landlord (even the rent is made out to it)
and acts like it, but isnt. This act places an obligation of
disclosure on the management company to disclose that fact. */

    (6) "organization" includes a corporation, government,
governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate,
trust, partnership or association, 2 or more persons having a
joint or common interest, and any other legal or commercial
entity;

/* As drafted this means that this code also applies to
government funded housing. */

    (7) "owner" means one or more persons, jointly or severally,
in whom is vested (i) all or part of the legal title to property
or (ii) all or part of the beneficial ownership and a right to
present use and enjoyment of the premises. The term also includes
a mortgagee in possession;

/* A "mortgagee in possession" refers to an organization who
holds a lien on the property, like a bank, that under the
mortgage takes over the property pending foreclosure. */

    (8) "person" includes an individual or organization;

    (9) "premises" means a dwelling unit and the structure of
which it is a part and facilities and appurtenances therein and
grounds, areas, and facilities held out for the use of tenant
generally or whose use is promised to the tenant;

    (10) "rent means all payments to be made to the landlord
under the rental agreement;

    (11) "rental agreement" means all agreements, written or
oral, and valid rules and regulations adopted under Section 3.102
embodying the terms and conditions concerning the use and
occupancy of a dwelling unit and premises;

    (12) "roomer" means a person occupying a dwelling unit that
does not include a toilet and either a bath tub or shower and a
refrigerator, stove, and kitchen sink, all provided by the
landlord, and where one or more of these facilities are used in
common by occupants in the structure;

    (13) "single family residence" means a structure maintained
and used as a single family dwelling. Notwithstanding that a
dwelling unit shares one or more walls with another dwelling
unit, it is a single family residence if it has direct access to
a street or thoroughfare and shares neither heating facilities,
hot water equipment, nor any other essential facility or service
with any other dwelling unit;

    (14) "renter" means a person entitled under a rental
agreement to occupy dwelling unit to the exclusion of others.

Section 1.302 Obligation of Good Faith

    Every duty under this Act and every act which must be
performed as a condition precedent to the exercise of a right or
remedy under this Act imposes an obligation of good faith in its
performance or enforcement.

Section 1.303 Unconscionability

    (a) If the court, as a matter of law, finds

         (1) a rental agreement or any provision thereof was
unconscionable when made, the court may refuse to enforce the
agreement, enforce the remainder of the agreement without the
unconscionable provision, or limit the application of any
unconscionable provision to avoid an unconscionable result; or

         (2) a settlement in which a part waives or agrees to
forego a claim or right under this Act or under a rental
agreement was unconscionable when made, the court may refuse to
enforce the settlement, enforce the remainder of the settlement
without the unconscionable provision, or limit the application of
any unconscionable provision to avoid an unconscionable result.

    (b) If unconscionablity is put into issue by a party or by
the court upon its own motion the parties shall be afforded a
reasonable opportunity to present evidence as to the setting,
purpose, and effect of the rental agreement or settlement to aid
the court in making the determination.

Section 1.304 NOTICE

    (a) A person has notice of a fact if

         (1) he has actual knowledge of it,

         (2) he has received a notice or notification of it, or

         (3) from all the facts and circumstances known to him at
the time in question he has reason to know that it exists.

    A person "knows" or "has knowledge" of a fact if he has
actual knowledge of it.

    (b) A person notifies or gives a notice or notification to
another person by taking steps reasonably calculated to inform
the other in ordinary course whether or not the other actually
comes to know if it. A person "receives" a notice or notification
when

         (1) it comes to his attention;

         (2) in the case of the landlord, it is delivered at the
place of business of the landlord through which the rental
agreement was made or at any place held out by him as the place
for receipt of communication; or

         (3) in the case of the tenant, it is delivered in hand
to the tenant or mailed by registered or certified mail to him at
the place held out by him as the place for receipt of the
communication, or in the absence of such designation, to his last
known place of residence.

    (c) "Notice," knowledge of a notice or notification received
by an organization is effective for a particular transaction from
the time it is brought to the attention of the individual
conducting that transaction, and in any event from the time it
would have been brought to his attention if the organization had
exercised reasonable diligence.

Section 1.401 Terms and Conditions of Rental Agreement

    (a) A landlord and tenant may include in a rental agreement
terms and conditions not prohibited by this Act or other rule of
law, including rent, term of the agreement, and other provisions
governing the rights and obligations of the parties.

    (b) In absence of agreement, the tenant shall pay as rent the
fair rental value for the use and occupancy of the dwelling unit.

    (c) Rent is payable without demand or notice at the time and
place agreed upon by the parties. Unless otherwise agreed, rent
is payable at the dwelling unit and periodic rent is payable at
the beginning of any term of one month or less and otherwise in
equal month installments at the beginning of each month. Unless
otherwise agreed, rent is uniformly apportionable from day to
day.

    (d) Unless the rental agreement fixes a definite term, the
tenancy is week to week in case of a roomer who pays weekly rent,
and in all other cases month to month.

Section 1.402 Effect of Unsigned or Undelivered Rental Agreement

    (a) If the landlord does not sign and deliver a written
rental agreement signed and delivered to him by the tenant,
acceptance of rent without reservation by the landlord gives the
rental agreement the same effect as if it had been signed and
delivered by the landlord.

/* The point here is that if the landlord or tenant "forgets" to
sign the lease that they are nevertheless bound. /

    (b) If the tenant does not sign and deliver a written rental
agreement signed and delivered to him by the landlord, acceptance
of possession and payment of rent without reservation gives the
rental agreement the same effect as if it had been signed and
delivered by the tenant.

    (c) If a rental agreement given effect by the operation of
this section provides for a term longer than one year, it is
effective for only one year.

Section 1.403 Prohibited Provisions in Rental Agreements

    (a) A rental agreement may not provide that the tenant:

         (1) agrees to waive or forego rights or remedies under
this Act;

         (2) authorizes any person to confess a judgment on a
claim arising out of the rental agreement;

         (3) agree to pay the landlord's attorney's fees; or

         (4) agrees to the exclupation or limitation of any
/* We continue this statute in Section 2, Uniform Landlord Tenant
Act. */