Landlord-Tenant Law · claim
Retaliatory eviction involves a landlord taking adverse action, such as terminating a lease or evicting a tenant, in retaliation for the tenant exercising their rights. Such rights may include reporting health code violations or alleging discrimination, and retaliatory eviction is illegal under many housing statutes.
The tenant must have engaged in a legally protected activity that prompted the landlord's retaliatory actions.
What to prove: It must be shown that the tenant exercised a right or engaged in conduct that is protected by law, such as filing a complaint or requesting repairs.
The landlord must have taken an adverse action against the tenant, such as eviction or lease termination.
What to prove: Evidence must demonstrate that the landlord's actions resulted in a significant negative impact on the tenant's living situation.
There must be a causal link between the protected activity and the landlord's adverse action.
What to prove: It must be illustrated that the eviction or adverse action was substantially motivated by the tenant's engagement in the protected activity.
The burden is on the tenant to prove their case by a preponderance of the evidence that the eviction was retaliatory.
Be prepared to analyze fact patterns where a tenant's complaint is followed by eviction actions, as this is a common test scenario.