§521-74 Retaliatory evictions and rent
increases prohibited. (a) Notwithstanding that the tenant has no written
rental agreement or that it has expired, so long as the tenant continues to
tender the usual rent to the landlord or proceeds to tender receipts for rent
lawfully withheld, no action or proceeding to recover possession of the
dwelling unit may be maintained against the tenant, nor shall the landlord
otherwise cause the tenant to quit the dwelling unit involuntarily, nor demand
an increase in rent from the tenant; nor decrease the services to which the tenant
has been entitled, after:
(1) The tenant has complained in good faith to the
department of health, landlord, building department, office of consumer
protection, or any other governmental agency concerned with landlord-tenant
disputes of conditions in or affecting the tenant's dwelling unit which
constitutes a violation of a health law or regulation or of any provision of
this chapter; or
(2) The department of health or other governmental
agency has filed a notice or complaint of a violation of a health law or
regulation or any provision of this chapter; or
(3) The tenant has in good faith requested repairs
under section 521-63 or 521-64.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), the
landlord may recover possession of the dwelling unit if:
(1) The tenant is committing waste, or a nuisance, or
is using the dwelling unit for an illegal purpose or for other than living or
dwelling purposes in violation of the tenant's rental agreement;
(2) The landlord seeks in good faith to recover
possession of the dwelling unit for immediate use as the landlord's own abode
or that of the landlord's immediate family;