RENT, Law of. Rent being the sum, duty or return levied on the occupants, lessee or user of land, buildings, apartments, rooms, machin ery, tools, power, heat, artificial light, etc., for the benefit of the owner it follows that a rela tion is thereby instituted from which many legal complications may arise. The relation estab lished that of landlord and tenant. A sub tenant is one who rents all or part of the prem ises from the original tenant. A lease is a legal instrument by which the relation of landlord and tenant is formally established and which to a very great extent defines the privileges duties and obligations of the parties subscril; ing it. The relation is often less formally established and may arise by implication if the acts of the parties are consistent with it. A tenant is bound to pay the stipulated rent at the time stated in his lease or contract or otherwise agreed upon. Should he fail to do so, however, his status of tenant is not affected, but the landlord acquires a right to institute a civil action to recover the amount in default and further may levy a distress. A tenant who occupies the premises beyond the term of his lease or contract becomes liable for the rent of the next ensuing period, week, month, etc., as the case may be. He becomes in such a case a tenant at will and his tenancy may be ter minated at the will of the landlord. Statutes in some jurisdictions hold that a tenancy not governed by a lease is a tenancy at will. Such a tenancy may be terminated in various ways, i.e., by the lease of the property to a third person, by the death of either the landlord or tenant, by the sale of the property, or by any act on the part of the landlord amounting to a demand for possession or showing such in tention. A lease once signed, the lessee or tenant is ordinarily liable for the rent agreed upon whether or not he takes possession, ex cept in the case where the premises are de stroyed before the beginning of the term. A lease is terminated by the sale of the property under foreclosure proceedings. Unless con tained in the agreement a landlord is not com pelled to make repairs, nor is he liable for them, and seldom for any injury caused by the condi tion of the premises. A landlord is generally
liable to tenants for injuries due to accidental defects, and for any negligence on his part. In modern states increasing liabilities are being placed upon property-owners, property being held in less divine regard than formerly and persons proportionally higher. Thus in modern cities, the landlord is often obliged to keep passageways and approaches lighted, to pre vent any obstruction of a passageway, which would render it dangerous. The duty of re moving ice and snow in many cases devolves upon the tenant. Where heat, light, power, etc., are included in the agreement, failure of the landlord to supply same creates a right of the tenant to damages. The owner is obliged to maintain the premises in a habitable condi tion. Disputes and suits at law over repairs have been so numerous as to cause very many landlords to insert in their leases a clause that all repairs shall be made by the tenant. Of course this involves a reduced rental. An ac tion at law at any time can be maintained by the landlord, or his assignee, to recover rent, and under ordinary circumstances no prior demand is necessary; in few jurisdictions, however, is the landlord authorized to attach the property of a tenant, but never the household goods, trade tools, etc. Courts have held that the right to collect rent was a species of real property that might be delegated, held in fee, or willed to posterity. Every State has its own laws and many municipalities have ordinances that tend to complicate greatly the relations of landlords and tenants. It is impossible, therefore, within the limits of the present article to give details of the statutes obtaining in the several juris dictions. See FEE; LANDLORD AND TENANT; LEASE; PROPERTY, LAWS OF. Consult Kent, J., 'Commentary on American Law> (14th ed., 4 vols., Boston 1896) ; Maine, H. J. S., 'Lectures in the Early History of Institutions> (7th ed., London 1897) ; 'Corpus Juris' (New York 1915 et seq.) ; Tiffany, H. T., 'The Law of Landlord and Tenant' (New York 1913) ; Williams, T. C., 'Principles of the Law of Real Property> (19th ed., London 1901).