Section 1942

Citation: Section 1942
Parent Document: Knight v. Hallsthammar, 623 P.2d 268 (1981)
Jurisdiction: California (state)
Effective Date: 1981-02-13
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1241155/knight-v-hallsthammar/ ↗

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In the present case, the trial court instructed the jury that a tenant may not defend an unlawful detainer action upon the basis of a landlord’s breach of the implied warranty of habitability unless “[t]he defective condition was unknown to the tenant at the time of the occupancy of his or her apartment.” However, the fact that a tenant was or was not aware of specific defects is not determinative of the duty of a landlord to maintain premises which are habitable. The same reasons which imply the existence of the warranty of habitability-—the inequality of bargaining power, the shortage of housing, and the impracticability of imposing upon tenants a duty of inspection—also compel the conclusion that a tenant’s lack of knowledge of defects is not a prerequisite to the landlord’s breach of the warranty. (See Green v. Superior Court, supra, 10 Cal.3d at pp. 624-625.)5 Therefore, the trial court erred in giving this instruction.

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