§ 15

Citation: § 15
Parent Document: Beltway Management Co. v. Lexington-Landmark Insurance, 746 F. Supp. 1145 (1990)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 1990-09-19
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1757119/beltway-management-co-v-lexingt... ↗

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Although the meaning of the phrase “other invasion of the right of private occupancy” may not be plain from the language taken in isolation, once other tools of interpretation are applied it becomes clear that the phrase includes breaches of the implied warranty of habitability. Read in context, section 11(D)(2) refers to claims against landlords and “other invasions] of the right of private occupancy” to a broad cate- ' gory of those claims, a category separate from intrusions upon possessory rights like wrongful entry or eviction. Based on the contemporary understanding of the nature of the leasehold interest, that category must include breaches of the implied warranty of habitability. Judged against other judicial interpretations of the same language, this reading is not only reasonable; it is rather conservative. By contrast, Landmark’s interpretation finds little support in the actual language or in precedent. In fact, under Landmark’s own reasoning the rights of private occupancy must include the warranty of habitability. For these reasons, Landmark has a duty to defend Beltway against allegations of breach of the warranty of habitability. V. REMAINING CONTENTIONS

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