Q: Landlord's dog attacks tentant's dog and gives tenant a month to find another home and verbally breaks lease. Illegal?
Curious if landlord would pay for moving costs and rent of new home for the duration of the original lease.
A: It depends on what kind of lease you currently half. If you signed a lease for 12 months and your landlord is now trying to verbally throw you out, he/she cannot do that. He/she would have to start eviction proceedings against you to have you evicted. He/she would have to give you notice in writing that he/she is starting eviction proceedings. Without more details, it is a little difficult to fully advise you, so it would be in your best interest to speak to an attorney to go over your options.
A:
To add a few points:
1. oral statements do NOT qualify as valid notice.
2. Early termination of a written lease can only occur via: (a) mutual consent of both the landlord AND tenant or (b) eviction.
3. ALL evictions require court approval - which means that the landlord must show cause (typically in the form of serious violation(s) of a lease agreement, such as significant damage to the property or long-term non-payment of rent) for a court to authorize an eviction.
4. Failure by the landlord to evict with proper notice and court authorization invalidates the "eviction" and creates a separate cause of action that the tenant can pursue against the landlord.
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