King v. Moorehead, 495 S.W.2d 65 (1973)

Citation: King v. Moorehead, 495 S.W.2d 65 (1973)
Parent Document: King v. Moorehead, 495 S.W.2d 65 (1973)
Jurisdiction: Missouri (state)
Effective Date: 1973-04-02
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1683367/king-v-moorehead/ ↗

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While the law denies the landlord who has leased premises in substantial violation of the housing code the consideration of his illegal bargain, sound public policy dictates that such a landlord may recover the reasonable value of the premises in its condition during occupancy. The same public policy which recognizes the implied warranty of habitability as a means of preserving housing for the rental market will deny a tenant the use and occupancy at no cost of a sub-habitable dwelling and thus deprive a landlord of his basic, and perhaps only, resource for restoration of the premises to habitability. The only court which has considered the question has allowed, as we do, recovery to a landlord for the reasonable value of the premises during occupancy by a tenant who entered into possession under a lease void and illegal because the premises were in substantial violation of the housing regulations. William J. Davis, Inc. v. Slade, 271 A.2d 412 (D.C.App.1970). This result proceeded from the “generally accepted view . . . that entry upon a premises under a void and unenforceable lease creates a tenancy at will” (Diamond Housing Corporation v. Robinson, 257 A.2d 492, 495 [7, 8] (D.C.App.1969), and since the law has accorded such a status, “[t]his tenancy, unlike the tenancy attempted by the lease, is legal” and the landlord is entitled to its reasonable value. Davis v. Slade, supra, 271 A.2d 1. c. 416 [6], The unenforceable lease which gives rise to a tenancy at will under the “generally accepted view”, however, is one which is made void by a formal defect — such as noncompliance with the requirements of the Statute of Frauds —and not where the consideration for the lease, the performance itself, is illegal and prohibited. Thompson on Real Property, § 1018; 6 A.L.R.2d 685, Annotation, Tenancy Under Void Lease. We prefer to base our decision openly on the hard reality that if, under existing conditions, landlords were deprived of all rents because of noncompliance with housing codes there would be far fewer low income housing units available — landlords would find it to their economic advantage to abandon their properties rather than spend their separate resources to restore them to habitability. See, Samuelson v. Quinones, 119 N.J.Super. 338, 291 A.2d 580, 583 (1972).

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