I want to talk about a situation that is rarely talked about by Landlords and tenants. I am talking about what is called a Constructive eviction. Now this is not a normal landlord-tenant conviction which requires a court order.
A constructive eviction is where the landlord creates a breach of contract by either failing to uphold the terms of the contract, or by taking an action which makes the leased property unusable by the tenant.
In the case my friend is dealing with, involves the Landlord not enforcing the therms of their contract on another tenant, who is making my friends leased space, unusable.
My friend has packed up his stuff and left the property, breaking the lease, claiming "constructive eviction by reason of failure of landlord to enforce the terms of its lease, of another client, whose actions have made my leased space, unusable".
To be exact, A tenant is smoking dope in the building. The smell is stinking up the hallways (public areas) and is seeping into my friends apartment. He cannot risk being exposed to the stuff. He has asked the property management to act. They have failed to so so and claim the problem is out of their hands as there is nothing they feel they can do. As of today, smoking pot is illegal in Michigan unless you have a valid medical Marijuana card, and even then under the law, landlords have the right to refuse to allow you to smoke it on their property. This is the case here. Everyone has to sign a page as part of their lease that informs them it is not allowed anywhere on the property. Yet the Apt management will not enforce the terms of that agreement. So why have it?
My friend will be suing this apartment complex for damages under the law, once he gets settled into his new location.
