Is my landlord liable for the upkept of a rented mobile home lot?
Full Question:
Answer:
A warranty of habitability or fitness for human occupancy is implied in all leases. This warranty generally requires the landlord to deliver livable quarters at the inception of the lease and to maintain the premises in a habitable condition throughout the term of the lease. A lease for improved lots in a mobile home park gives rise to a limited implied warranty of habitability. While the lease of a lot in a mobile home park does not necessarily oblige the landlord to provide anything more than a plot of ground, to the extent that the landlord of a mobile home park chooses to provide utilities and other housing services, and charges tenants rent in exchange for these utilities or services, the landlord impliedly warrants to maintain the services according to applicable state and local regulations.
A mobile home landlord's conduct in failing to correct defects and continuing to demand rent payments despite the landlord's knowledge that the rental premises are uninhabitable constitutes an unfair and deceptive practice. Breach of the limited implied warranty of habitability that arises from the lease of an improved lot in a mobile home park occurs where there is a defect of a nature and kind which will prevent the use of the lot for its intended purpose to provide premises fit for habitation. A mobile home park owner who fails to correct an inadequate septic system breaches the warranty of habitability. Such failure may also constitute violation of a statutory duty to provide adequate septic service.