Property law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Property law - Assignment Example One of the interesting aspects about this problem is that the nature of obligation changed from one tenant to the next. The facts indicate that my client is the tenant of a Victorian Townhouse. The facts also indicate that my client is not the original tenant, and that the lease was assigned to my client three years ago. It may be inferred that perhaps the previous client, the one who actually made the original lease with the landlord, was a residential lessee, as the structure is a home, and the character of the lease changed when the original lessee assigned his or her lease to the current lessor, who is obviously a business lessee, as they are using the space for a bookstore. Therefore, two different parts of the Landlord Tenant Act might apply in this situation. The original lessee, if the original lessee was a residential lessee, would fall under the first part of this Act, and the current lessee, who is a business, would fall under the second part of the Act. This is because th e first part of the Act is titled â€Å"Security of Tenure for Residential Tenants,† and the provisions in this part apply only to residential tenants. The second part of the Act is titled â€Å"Security of Tenure for Business, Professional and Other Tenants,† and it, of course, applies to commercial interests, such as the one in the fact pattern. Therefore, two different analysis will have to be performed – one analysis for the original tenant, and one for the current tenant, who is our client. The fact pattern indicates that, for the original lessee, the original lease was executed in 1997 and included a repair covenant, in which the original lessee was to perform the necessary repair work to keep the building in tenantable condition, and that this included decorations, wall-surfaces, window frames, glazing and casements. Moreover, in the original lease, there was provision for rent review in the 5th, 10th and 15th years of the lease and that the lease may ter minate on the 16th year, by giving six months notice, provided that the lessee materially performed the duties that were required of that tenant under this lease. Therefore, the clause that the original lessee signed with the landlord will come under the Landlord Tenant Act 1954  § 8. This provision states that when a tenant and landlord agree that the tenant is to perform certain repairs on the structure, and these repairs are not made, then the landlord may charge the tenant the reasonable value of the repairs (Landlord Tenant Act 1954  § 8). This does not seem like an overly draconian solution to the problem, if it is determined that there needs to be repairs made and the tenant refuses to make the repairs - the landlord can simply make the necessary repairs himself, which in this case would include shoring up the cracks in the ceiling, and reinforcing the floor joists so that the excess load does not cause further cracks, and could then charge the lessee the necessary charge s that the landlord would incur in getting this done. Yet there is a more draconian provision in the Landlord Tenant Act 1954 when it comes to lessees who refuse to perform the terms of the lease. In this case, the terms of the lease are that the lessee performs the repair work that ensures that the dwelling in tenantable, and, assuming that having cracks in the ceiling make the dwelling untenantable, then a refusal to deal with this issue might be cause for