Quote:
Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
ok - lease expired Nov 30. Tenant was out (himself) but left some possessions to pick up later, on Nov 22. Painters showed up on Nov 23. Tenant doesn't feel that he should be paying rent for days that he was not able to stay in the apartment because of the presence of painters (regardless of the fact that he had taken possession of another apartment). He wants a refund of that week's rent. (and I get half if he gets it, so I want the refund too).
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This is more a question of the keys. This may not be the answer your friend wants, but until he handed over the keys (or the landlord changed the locks, rendering his keys inoperable), the apartment was still his.
But to advocate for your friend, if there was a virtual handing over of the keys, in the sense of the landlord asking if it could go ahead and paint, and he saying "sure, I'm not going to be there anymore, do you want the keys back?" And the landlord saying "Drop them off when convenient before December 1," then he's turned over possession well enough.
If there was no such discussion, and the painters just showed up without warning, I'd start bandying about the term "constructive eviction."
I am not a real estate lawyer.
