ABA Family Legal Guide

Renting Residential Property

Maintaining Rental Property

Lease Termination for Code Violations

What is an illegal lease?

If the landlord has been cited by the municipality for serious violations of the housing code, the tenant can argue the illegal lease concept--basically, that the lease is illegal because the code makes it against the law for the landlord to rent the premises in defective condition. This theory holds that the landlord should not benefit economically from the illegal act.