1. Knight purchased an apartment building that was occupied by tenants Hallsthammer, Decaprio, and Breit. The day after acquiring the building, Knight informed the tenants that their rent was being increased. A week later, Breit, on behalf of himself and other tenants, informed Knight that the tenants intended to withhold their rent because of the state of disrepair of the building. In their complaint, the tenants cited wall cracks, peeling paint, water leaks, heating and electrical fixture problems, broken or inoperable windows, rodents and cockroaches, and lack of sufficient heat. The tenants accused Knight of a breach of his warranty of habitability, and for this reason they withheld rent payments. Knight defended his actions, stating that the tenants had not given him time to remedy the problems. Does it seem likely that the court would support the actions of the tenants?
2. An intruder entered through a window and raped McCutchen in her apartment. McCutchen sued the landlord, Ten Associates, for failure to provide adequate security and failure to warn her of the risk of intrusion through a window. Ten Associates claimed that they had no way of anticipating an intruder. Evidence was introduced that revealed the landlord knew or should have known of a prior rape and numerous intrusions through apartment windows. Does it appear that Ten Associates was negligent in providing for the security of tenants?
3. Harmon, the owner of a suburban house, rented it for one year to Wagner and his wife, who had just moved into the city from another state. Two months after moving into the house, the Wagners divorced, and both husband and wife moved to smaller facilities. The house remained vacant for 10 months. At the end of one year, Harmon brought suit to collect the rent for these 10 months. Harmon protested, claiming that the landlord should have tried to rent to someone else. The landlord said that it was Harmon’s responsibility to sublease the house. Is it likely that Harmon would be successful in his suit?