Section 1942

Citation: Section 1942 (1)
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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(1) 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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