Blackettv. Olanoff

Facts:The landlords of a residential apartment complex rented their neighboring property to be opened as a lounge.The noise from the late-night music prevented the tenants from enjoying their rented apartments and they complained to the landlords on many occasions.The landlords made attempts to address the noise issue with thelounge,but the situation was not remedied.

Issue:Ifa landlord rents to a tenant who would be likely to cause a nuisance which makes other apartments uninhabitable do the affected tenants have the right to terminate the lease without payment?

Rule:A landlord is not responsible for policing the activities of individualtenants,but the landlord is responsible for helping to ensure that the rented property is inhabitable as rented.

Analysis-Arguments:The landlords argue that the lounge is part of a neighboring but separate property.They have addressed the noise issue with the lounge on many occasions but it is not their duty to police the noise level of the lounge so the residential tenants must uphold their leases.

Thetenants argue that the landlords knowingly rented the space to be opened as a lounge which would most likely cause a nuisance due to the loud music that is commonly played at such establishments.The landlords could not provide inhabitable space and so the tenants were forced to self-evict on the account of the lack of enjoyment of peacefulness and quiet surroundings.

Conclusion-Holdings:The court finds that the landlords should have known the likely outcome of renting to a lounge.Theclose proximityto the residential tenants would very likely cause a nuisance due to noise levels and the tenants were forced out of the apartments so as to seek more inhabitable spaces.The tenants rightfully should not have to pay for the change in the environment of the apartments.

Do you think this is a fair verdict for the tenants?For the landlord?Explain.

What if the landlord notified the tenants of his intentions for the neighboring property at the time of the signing of each lease?