Professor Green Comments for Sacramento Bee on Landlord-Tenant Dispute
Professor Lawrence Green commented for the Sacramento Bee on the case of a Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency tenant who has stopped paying rent and requested that the agency move her to another house due to a rodent infestation at her current residence. The SHRA has responded with an eviction notice.
Professor Green explains the legal responsibilities of landlords to ensure that rental homes are habitable and notes that under some circumstances tenants may withhold rent in order to perform repairs necessary for habitability. But a court must decide on a case-by-case basis what makes a home unfit for occupation, and it's rarely a good idea to simply stop paying rent, he said.
"It's unclear when a pest problem might require a landlord to take action," he said, adding that "if a local health official finds a rodent infestation, it may result in a building being designated as substandard under health and safety laws."
Professor Green, a Legal Research and Writing professor at King Hall, was formerly counsel for the California Land Title Association (CLTA) where he represented the title insurance industry in California. He is a member of the Real Property Law Section of the State Bar and a previous contributor the California Real Property Journal.