Section 45-1561

Citation: Section 45-1561
Parent Document: Habib v. Thurston, 517 A.2d 1 (1986)
Jurisdiction: DC (municipal)
Effective Date: 1986-10-30
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1995493/habib-v-thurston/ ↗

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In most instances where a tenant will elect to assert a Javins defense as to disbursements from the registry, the code violations allegedly will have existed for some time before the landlord filed suit for possession. Rarely will the tenant’s concern about code violations be limited to the period after the return date. Accordingly, if this were a nonpayment case, a tenant who desired a jury trial on a Javins defense and/or counterclaim presumably would file a jury demand at the time of the answer so that the possessory action itself, not merely the disbursements under a protective order, would be certified to the Civil Assignment Office for trial. Except for the rare case in which code violations occur for the first time during the litigation period, we anticipate few cases in which a tenant in a nonpayment case would want a bench trial for the possessory action but a jury trial for the protective order disbursement proceeding. This is especially so since code violations during the period of alleged nonpayment, if proved, typically are reasserted for the litigation period and, purely as a practical matter, are likely to be proved more easily in light of the demonstrated violations earlier.

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