Mr. & Mrs. Johnson rented a residential property from New St…
Mr. & Mrs. Johnson rented a residential property from New State Properties, Inc. from July 2024 to July 2025. Assume State law requires a 7-day notice from tenant to landlord for notice requirements, in writing by certified mail, of any lease violations. One month into the lease, the property had a rat and bug infestation. The Johnsons repeatedly told New State Properties, Inc. about the infestations. After two months of enduring the rodents, Mrs. Johnson gave the landlord a 7-day notice to cure via certified mail. The lease terms called for the landlord to keep the property “free of rodents and insects.” Even after the 7-day notice, the landlord did nothing. The Johnsons, who have come to you for help, explain that they felt the property was uninhabitable by them and their children due to the rats and bugs. After two months following the notice and of no response from the landlord, the Johnsons reported the landlord to the local housing authority in October 2024. The Johnsons also began withholding rent for the failure to cure. The landlord, after receiving the housing complaint, took action and eradicated the infestation. Lenny from New State Properties, Inc. told the Johnsons that he would “get them” for causing trouble with the housing authority and threatened to file an action for eviction of the Johnsons for failure to pay rent and also told the Johnson’s he would report them to immigration authorities, even though they are here legally. Assume State law requires a 3-day notice to quit from landlord to tenant for failure to pay rent prior to filing an action for eviction. Assume also that State law has a 180-day look back period for actions of retaliatory eviction. Three months after they filed the housing complaint, Mrs. Johnson forgot to mail the rent check until the 11th, when it was due on the 10th. The landlord called Mrs. Johnson on the 11th and said your lease is terminated, “we got you now, told you we would, get out!” A day later on the 12th, the landlord filed for eviction proceedings and sought all future rent due until the end of the lease term – July 2025. The landlord also sent a written notice to immigration reporting the Johnsons and sent them a copy, saying “See the enclosed.” In court, the landlord argued the Johnsons materially breached the lease, the Johnsons owed all remaining rent to the end of the lease term, they (the landlord) had no duty to rent the apartment to anyone else, and the apartment would not rent anyway as rent had doubled. Discuss the legal issues, legal obligations, any possible defenses and possible damage claims available.