A tenant signs a written lease for a downtown apartment. The lease is silent about the condition of plumbing, heating, electrical, and structural systems. Two months in, the apartment's hot water heater fails. The tenant reports the failure, and applicable state law requires the landlord to repair the heater regardless of any lease silence — because residential leases automatically carry an obligation to keep the premises fit for ordinary residential living, an obligation the law treats as built into every such lease whether written into the contract or not. Which legal doctrine obligates the landlord to make the repair despite the lease's silence?
Correct Answer
B) Implied warranty of habitability
The tenant's right to a working heater rests on a duty the law treats as automatically built into every residential lease, regardless of contract silence. That doctrine — making the landlord responsible for keeping residential premises fit for ordinary living — is the implied warranty of habitability.
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A residential tenant complains that there is no functioning heat, water, or safe electrical service in the unit. Which doctrine most directly protects the tenant?
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A residential tenant stops paying rent after the landlord ignores two months of written requests to repair a furnace that failed in mid-winter. The tenant stays in the unit and defends the landlord's suit for the unpaid rent. Which doctrine most directly supports the tenant's defense?