Chester is renting an apartment, and he has a problem. All night he hears the scurrying of rodents, and each morning he finds ce
real boxes and other cardboard food containers gnawed. He has also noticed droppings all over the apartment, including in the children's nursery. He has complained to the landlord, who simply replies, "Hey, this is center city—everybody has a rat problem." The landlord is breaching Chester's right to
When someone becomes a landlord, they are taking on a lot of responsibilities when it comes to the law. This is due to the fact that a tenant should be able to hold a landlord accountable. One of the most important duties that a tenant needs to fulfill is that of providing a livable, safe, clean place to live. This is called "warranty of habitability." This includes the public areas of the building a tenant is renting. In this case, Chester's landlord is breaching Chester's right to habitability by not ensuring that the place is clean and safe to live in.
The Supreme Court of the United States decides cases almost exclusively under its appellate jurisdiction. It can review most decisions of federal courts as well as the decisions of state courts involving questions of constitutionality or statutory law.
