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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

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

Other Sections in This Document (163)

Full Text

1,111 chars
The implied warranty of habitability remedy developed, in measure, as response to a chronic and prolonged housing shortage, particularly for those of low income. Javins v. First National Realty Corporation, supra, 428 F.2d l. c. 1079. Common law constructive eviction, (based upon a fiction which the implied warranty remedy discards) could be claimed only by a tenant who abandoned the premises within a reasonable time. Abandonment was required to maintain the fiction of an eviction and thus the breach of the dependent covenant of quiet enjoyment. The effect of the abandonment requirement was to prevent a tenant from remaining in possession without paying rent. Dolph v. Barry, supra, 148 S.W. l. c. 198-200 [4]. Constructive eviction has proved an insufficient remedy for those most likely to have resort to it, low income tenants. The dilemma it raises for them is that they must continue to pay rent and endure the conditions of untenantability or abandon the premises and hope to find another dwelling which, in *77 these times of severe housing shortage, is likely to be as uninhabitable as the last.