Special to the Legal
Back in the early 1970s, when the band Genesis, a progressive/art-rock band at the time, still had musical credibility, they released one of their more theatrical songs called “Get ‘em Out by Friday” on their classic album Foxtrot. It is one of my favorite albums, and every time I hear the song, with many of the lyrics being dialogue between landlord and tenants, it quickly brings to mind my own landlord-tenant cases. In the song, despite the desperate pleas of the pathetic tenants to stay – even offering to pay double the rent – Peter Gabriel, playing the role of the landlord, bellows “Get ‘em out by Friday!”
Many of my tenant-clients are struck by what they think is an inherent injustice in landlord-tenant law in two ways. First, tenant-clients obviously view their possession of a rented space with a certain amount of ownership interest. Even if they don’t own their place, it is still their home. Further, they also believe that being a “good tenant” (i.e., remaining current on rent and taking care of the property) should be rewarded with a certain amount of loyalty to them from the landlord. Unfortunately for tenants, neither of these is the case. Landlords have no obligation to reward and/or have loyalty for and/or give allowances to tenants who are so-called “good tenants.” As long as the terms of the lease are met, a landlord can request a tenant to vacate at any time at his or her own discretion. Additionally, regardless of whether the tenant pays rent timely and consistently, if the lease is a month-to-month lease, the landlord can request the tenant to vacate the premises within 30 days at the landlord’s discretion, or even less if the lease so permits.
Second, there are times where a landlord can be terrible, whether that means he or she is slow to maintain the property, has license and inspections violations, or is generally nonresponsive. Unfortunately for tenants, however, if the outstanding maintenance (and/or other) issues are cleared up and/or not raised by the tenant in court, the landlord again can request the tenant to vacate the property at any time (presuming he or she is in compliance with the terms of the lease). Indeed, many tenants believe an eviction action against them is often a form of retaliation for, say, reporting the landlord to Philadelphia Licenses and Inspections. They may be right, but unfortunately, contrary to popular belief, a tenant of a less-than-good landlord does not acquire additional rights, defenses and/or some sort of immunity from eviction. As long as there is compliance with the lease and the law, a landlord can pursue the eviction of a tenant at any time even when the landlord’s performance has historically been rather poor.
When counseling tenant-clients, it is important to impress upon them that landlords can pursue them at any time – within the bounds of the lease – regardless of how good of a tenant they are and how poor of a landlord they have. It is important to advise tenants to always be prepared for a landlord to request them to vacate the premises. More importantly, it is important to advise tenants that while they may win the initial battles against landlords for various maintenance and/or licenses and inspections issues, as soon as they are resolved, they should be prepared for an eviction action against them that will likely be successful. So, despite being a good tenant or being subjected to a bad landlord, at some point a landlord can – and likely will – loudly and successfully bellow “get ‘em out by Friday!”
James W. Cushing is an associate at the Law Office of Faye Riva Cohen and research attorney for Legal Research Inc. He is licensed to practice law in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The Attorney General's role in "Landlord-Tenant" disputes is limited. We are not authorized by law to provide legal advice or private legal services to individual citizens. We can, however, offer you general information which may help you to help yourself.
The California Department of Consumer Affairs offers a California Tenant Guide. The California Courts also provides information on landlord/tenant issues, including frequently asked questions, legal service programs in your county and help with the return of a security deposit.
Landlord and Tenant
Posted by: Landlord and tenant | Monday, January 07, 2013 at 09:05 PM