What is meant by constructive eviction?
A landlord has a legal duty under the implied warranty of habitability to provide fit and sanitary housing during the term of the lease. A landlord breaches this duty if he fails to provide essential services, fails to respond and resolve serious repair problems, fails to respond and correct environmental health hazards or substantially interferes with the tenant’s right to use and enjoy the rental premises. When the landlord by his acts or omissions causes the housing to become uninhabitable, the tenant is deemed to have been constructively evicted. The tenant can use constructive eviction to vacate the premises, terminate the lease, end rent obligations, and file a lawsuit against the landlord for damages resulting from the landlord’s breach of his duty to provide and maintain habitable housing. The tenant has the burden of proof to show that the unit became uninhabitable as a result of the landlord’s negligence, and that the landlord was unresponsive to the tenant’s requests for repairs.