Also known as: lessors · landlord · licensor
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A party to a lease who transfers the right to possession of property to a tenant for a term in exchange for rent or other consideration.
Landmark Realty owns a warehouse and leases it to Lucas Lee for a five-year term beginning January 1. The written lease fixes the exact start and end dates. Lee takes possession and pays monthly rent. The arrangement satisfies the requirement that a landlord-tenant relationship may endure for a fixed period.
Landmark Realty owns a warehouse and leases it to Lucas Lee for a five-year term. The lease expressly transfers the right to possession of the warehouse to Lee. Lee takes possession and pays monthly rent. The arrangement satisfies the requirement that a landlord-tenant relationship exists only if the lessor transfers the right to possession of the leased property.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Lexicon Media leases office space to Leah Lamb under a one-year lease that expires December 31. Lamb remains in possession and tenders the same monthly rent each month. Lexicon Media accepts the payments for three consecutive months without objection. The conduct creates a month-to-month periodic tenancy that continues until proper notice is given at the end of a period.
Luke Latham owns a studio apartment and tells Lila Lin she may occupy it only as long as both parties desire. Lin pays monthly rent for eighteen months. When Latham later closes his adjacent business and no longer wants the arrangement, he may terminate the tenancy upon reasonable notice because the parties expressly agreed the relationship would last only while both desired it.
Lucy Liu leases a house to Lucas Lee for residential use. On the date Lee is entitled to possession the roof leaks and the electrical system is unsafe. Lee has not caused the defects. Liu has breached her obligation to deliver property suitable for residential use, so Lee may terminate the lease before entry and recover damages.
Landmark Realty leases a designated parking space with fixed boundaries to Lillian Locke for two years. The space has a permanent location throughout the lease term. The arrangement satisfies the requirement that a landlord-tenant relationship exist only with respect to space intended to have a fixed location for the duration of the lease.
A lessor creates a periodic tenancy when the tenant remains in possession after the fixed term ends and the lessor accepts rent for successive periods without objection or reservation. The conduct demonstrates mutual assent to continue the relationship from period to period until proper notice is given.
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A lessor may terminate a tenancy at will when the parties have agreed the relationship will last only so long as both desire it. Most statutes require reasonable notice before termination even though no fixed term exists.
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A lessor must ensure that residential property is suitable for residential use on the date the tenant is entitled to possession and continuously thereafter. Breach of this obligation allows the tenant to terminate before entry or seek damages or rent abatement.
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…cognizable case or controversy. But even if lessor appellees for that reason have a personal stake, and we were to concede that landlord and tenant interests intertwine in respect of the ordinance, I cannot see, on the present record, how it can be concluded that “it would be difficult if not impossible,” Barrows v.…