5.4.1 List of Defenses

5.4.1 List of Defenses aetrahan Tue, 05/02/2023 - 10:44
  • Landlord cannot evict for “no cause” during the fixed term of the lease.1
  • Good cause is required for non-renewal of public housing, low-income tax credit housing, project-based voucher and Section 8 project-based rental assistance housing, rural development housing, and some other subsidized housing leases.2
  • Lease is recorded or assumed by new owner. A new owner who purchases the leased property is typically not subject to the lease between the tenant and the old owner. However, if the tenant recorded the lease agreement in the conveyance records before the sale, the new owner is bound by the lease.3  A new owner who accepts rent and follows the other lease terms has arguably assumed the lease, such that it remains in effect under its original terms.
  • Eviction was an abuse of right/retaliatory.4
  • Tenant cannot be evicted for “force majeure” where the unit is only partially destroyed.5
  • If a lease with indeterminate term obligates tenant to make repairs but the landlord delivered the leased premises in deplorable condition, the lease should not be terminated until the lessee has been adequately compensated for repair work the lessee performed.6
  • 1La. C.C. arts. 1983, 2728; Shell Oil, Co. v. Siddiqui Grp. Enters., Inc., 98-CA-496 (La. App. 5 Cir. 12/16/98), 722 So. 2d 1197.
  • 2For discussion of the unique requirements of these leases, see this manual’s chapter on federally subsidized housing.
  • 3See La. C.C. arts. 2711–2712.
  • 4See section 5.4.2 for further discussion of abuse of right doctrine in eviction defense.
  • 5La. C.C. art. 2714­–2715; Chivleatto v. Family Furniture & Appliance Ctr., 196 So. 2d 298, 301 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1967) (“[W]here a building is only partially destroyed, . . . it is the lessee and not the lessor that is given the exclusive right to demand revocation of the lease.”); Treigle Sash Factory, Inc. v. Saladino, 31 So. 2d 172, 175 (1947) (holding that where building was only partially destroyed in fire, and could be restored, the lessor was not entitled to possession).
  • 6Wolf v. Walker, 342 So. 2d 1122 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1976).