Tort Actions By Tenants Against Landlords

Although a tenant may be entitled to a breach of contract action against a landlord if the landlord violates a condition of the tenant's lease, the tenant may also be entitled to certain tort actions against the landlord. Such tort actions include actions for wrongful eviction, actions for interruption of utilities, actions for wrongful interference or conversion of personal property, or trespass actions

If a landlord wrongfully evicts a tenant from leased premises, the tenant may be entitled to an action for wrongful eviction. The elements for an action for wrongful eviction include:

1. the existence of an unexpired lease or rental agreement;
2. the tenant's occupancy of the leased premises;
3. the landlord's eviction or dispossession of the tenant; and
4. damages that have occurred as a result of the wrongful eviction.

A landlord's eviction of a tenant may be actual or constructive for purposes of an action for wrongful eviction. Actual eviction is when the landlord has begun eviction proceedings or has physically removed the tenant from the leased premises. Constructive eviction occurs when the landlord commits an act that substantially interferes with the tenant's use and enjoyment of the leased premises. Examples of constructive eviction include when the landlord changes the locks, fails to repair heating or air conditioning systems as required by a lease, eliminates a parking area, or allows trash to block the tenant's entrance to a building.

A tenant's vacating the leased premises after receiving a notice to quit from a landlord is not constructive eviction. However, the landlord's demand for possession followed by the landlord's substantial interference with the tenant's use and enjoyment of the premises may constitute constructive eviction.

A landlord's eviction of a tenant may also be retaliatory. If the tenant is evicted because he or she reported violations of housing, building, or health codes, the eviction is considered to be retaliatory.

A tenant who has been wrongfully evicted by a landlord is entitled to damages for any loss or injury that is a foreseeable consequence of the eviction. The damages may include the difference between the fair market value of the unexpired term of a lease and the actual rent under the lease, moving expenses, or lost profits.

If a landlord interrupts or causes the interruption of utilities that are paid by a tenant to a utility company, the tenant may be entitled to an action for interruption of utilities. However, if the interruption occurs as a result of repairs, construction, or an emergency, the action will not apply. Also, the action will not apply if the landlord pays the utility company and if the tenant has failed to pay the landlord for his or her portion of the utility bill. A tenant whose utilities have been wrongfully interrupted by a landlord is entitled to recover possession of the premises, to terminate the lease, or to damages from the landlord.

A landlord is generally not entitled to remove certain personal property from residential leased premises, even if the tenant is delinquent in his or her rental payments to the landlord. Such personal property includes wearing apparel, tools or books of the tenant's trade or possession, schoolbooks, family portraits and pictures, designated pieces of furniture, and medicines. If the landlord seizes personal property from the tenant, the landlord is required to post a written list of the property that was removed. The notice must include the amount of rent that is owed by the tenant and must state that the property will be returned to the tenant upon payment of the rent. However, if the tenant has abandoned the leased premises, the landlord is entitled to remove the tenant's personal property from the leased premises without notice to the tenant.

If a landlord willfully removes a tenant's personal property from leased premises, the tenant may be entitled to an action for wrongful interference with personal property. The landlord's actions are considered to be willful if the landlord did not have reasonable grounds to believe that his or her actions were lawful. If the landlord believed that his or her actions were lawful, the tenant may be entitled to a conversion action against the landlord. If the landlord wrongfully interferes with the tenant's personal property, the tenant may be entitled to damages, to the return of the seized property or the proceeds of the sale of the seized property, and to one month's rent. If the landlord wrongfully converts the tenant's personal property, the tenant may be entitled to the fair market value of the property if the property has been sold or to damages for the loss of use of the property if it can be returned to the tenant.

If a landlord wrongfully evicts a tenant or wrongfully interferes with the tenant's personal property, the tenant may also be entitled to a trespass action against the landlord. Trespass is defined as the wrongful interference with a person's use or possession of property. A landlord who has been found guilty of trespass may be liable for the tenant's actual damages, for the tenant's loss of use of the property, or for the tenant's economic damages, such as lost profits.