Constructive eviction

The legal term describing a situation in which a lessor's breach of a lease contract causes the lessee (tenant) to cancel the contract and vacate.
Example: Evelyn's landlord keeps coming into her apartment unannounced, in violation of the lease, which requires 24-hour notice. Eventually Evelyn vacates and refuses to pay rent any further, claiming constructive eviction, in that the landlord's instrusions violated the lease and her right of Quiet Enjoyment.

The disturbance, by a landlord, of a tenant's possession of premises that the landlord makes uninhabitable and unsuitable for the purposes for which they were leased, causing the tenant to surrender possession.

Constructive eviction arises when a landlord does not actually evict but does something that renders the premises untenantable. This might occur, for example, where a tenant vacates an apartment because a landlord turns off the heat or water.

The term is also used to mean the breach of a covenant of warranty and quiet enjoyment of real property, which prevents a purchaser from obtaining possession of property due to the existence of a paramount claim of title.

See: landlord and tenant.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: action by a landlord that compels a tenant to leave the premises (as by rendering the premises unfit for occupancy); no physical expulsion or legal process is involved
  Synonym: eviction

Property law

Part of the common law series

Acquisition

Gift · Adverse possession · Deed Conquest · Discovery · Accession Lost, mislaid, and abandoned property Treasure trove  · Bailment · License Alienation

Estates in land

Allodial title · Fee simple · Fee tail Life estate · Defeasible estate Future interest · Concurrent estate Leasehold estate · Condominiums

Conveyancing

Bona fide purchaser Torrens title · Strata title Estoppel by deed · Quitclaim deed Mortgage · Equitable conversion Action to quiet title · Escheat

Future use control

Restraint on alienation Rule against perpetuities Rule in Shelley's Case Doctrine of worthier title

Nonpossessory interest

Easement · Profit Covenant running with the land Equitable servitude

Related topics

Fixtures · Waste · Partition Riparian water rights Lateral and subjacent support Assignment · Nemo dat Property and conflict of laws

Other common law areas

Contract law · Tort law Wills, trusts and estates Criminal law · Evidence

v • d • e

Constructive eviction is a term used in the law of real property to describe a circumstance in which a landlord either does something or fails to do something that he has a legal duty to provide (e.g. the landlord refuses to provide heat or water to the apartment), rendering the property uninhabitable. A tenant who is constructively evicted may terminate the lease and seek damages.

To maintain an action for damages, the tenant must show that:

• the uninhabitable conditions (substantial interferences) were a result of the landlord's actions (not the actions of some third party) and
• that the tenant vacated the premises in a reasonable time.

A tenant who suffers from a constructive eviction can claim all of the legal remedies available to a tenant who was actually told to leave.

See also

Implied warranty of habitability

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