Knight v. Hallsthammar

29 Cal. 3d 46 (1981)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Knight (P) became the owner of a 30-unit apartment building in Venice California. The management company hired by P set letters to the current tenants informing them of a substantial rent increase. A representative of the tenants responded that all future rent payments would be withheld because of the state of disrepair. Neither the management nor Ps carried the matter any further. In early June, the tenants were sent three-day notices to pay or face eviction. P then sued for unlawful detainer against all the tenants. Ds introduced evidence that P had breached the implied warranty of habitability. P testified about his efforts to fix problems, and a health officer testified that all code violations that were reported were fixed and that none of them rendered the building uninhabitable. The jury was unable to reach a verdict against three tenants but gave P a verdict against four of them. Appeals followed relating to the jury instructions given by the trial judge.