Landlord–tenant law is the field of law that deals with the rights and duties of landlords and tenants.
In common law legal systems such as Irish law, landlord–tenant law includes elements of the common law of real property and contract. In modern times, however, it is frequently governed by statute. Generally, leases must include a few certain provisions to be valid.
A residential lease must include the parties, the premises (the address or relevant space), and the term of the lease. The lease term can be indefinite but must be stipulated as such in the document. Typically, leases will also include the price of rent per month or per term, but this is not legally required.
A commercial lease must include details about which fixtures are included. It also must outline the cost of rent leases (unlike residential leases), which often comes with a contingent percentage of gross sales, revenue, etc.
In civil law traditions such as German law, the landlord–tenant relationship is governed entirely by statute, derived historically from Roman law and the ius commune.
History
The landlord-tenant relationship is defined by existence of a leasehold estate. Traditionally, the only obligation of the landlord in the United States was to grant the estate to the tenant, although in England and Wales, it has been clear since 1829 that a Landlord must put a tenant into possession. Modern landlord-tenant law includes a number of other rights and duties held by both landlords and tenants.
The modern interpretation of the tenant-landlord relationship has hinged on the view that leases include many elements of contract law in addition to a simple conveyancing. In American landlord-tenant law, many of these rights and duties have been codified in the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.
Residential and commercial leases
Landlord–tenant law generally recognizes differences between residential and commercial leases on the assumption that residential leases present much more of a risk of unequal bargaining power than commercial leases.
Residential leases are contracts that are designed for individuals or groups to live, or reside, in the leased space. Most governmental entities have "recognized the sanctity of the home." Therefore, lessees of residential spaces are generally afforded more rights and protections than commercial leases. It is also because of the presumption of unequal bargaining power that residential spaces are afforded more protections. States, counties, and cities have different laws, and likewise, varying levels of protections for the tenants and landlords of commercial spaces.
Commercial leases are leases for spaces that are for business uses, such as industrial, office, retail, and manufacturing. Commercial leases generally have fewer consumer protections than residential leases because they are subject to much more negotiation.
Landlord duties
The modern concept of landlord-tenant law includes duties beyond simple conveyancing of the lease. These duties legally cannot be waived in a lease with the exception of the duty to deliver possession. Clauses that waive these duties are void for reasons of public policy:
Duty to deliver possession
In England and according to the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act in India, the landlord has a duty to deliver actual possession to the tenant at the beginning of a lease. The justification for placing this burden on the landlord is the idea that the landlord has more resources than the new tenants to pursue legal remedies against wrongful holdovers (former tenants that will not give up possession of the lease).
Covenant of quiet enjoyment
By virtue of the contractual aspects of a lease, modern leases in America include an implied covenant of quiet enjoyment. This means that the landlord will not interfere with the tenant's possessory rights to the lease. Though a landlord may forcibly enter without required notice during an emergency, generally a mere necessity for quick action does not constitute an emergency within the doctrine of imminent peril, where the situation calling for the action is one which should reasonably have been anticipated and which the person whose action is called for should have been prepared to meet; the doctrine of imminent peril does not excuse one who has brought about the peril by his own negligence.