Employer provided living accommodations may or may not create a landlord-tenant relationship. In many jurisdictions courts have held that housing provided incidental to employment does not create a landlord-tenant relationship.[1]
An employee residing in employer providing living accommodations can be a tenant. If there is a lease with a term that differs from the duration of the employment this may indicate an intent to create a landlord-tenant relationship separate and distinct from the employment relationship.[2] A landlord-tenant relationship may also be found where there was such a relationship prior to employment[3] or where rent is paid or is deducted from employment payments.[4]
The Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant has been adopted, with significant amendment, in twenty-one states.[5] The Act excludes from its provisions “occupancy by an employee of a landlord whose right to occupancy is conditional upon employment in and about the premises”. The Comments state that the Act “is not intended to apply where residence is incidental to another primary purpose such as…residence by a landlord’s employee such as a custodian, janitor, guard or caretaker rendering service in or about the demised premises.”[6] Presumably where the court would otherwise hold the parties intended to create a landlord-tenant relationship, a landlord-tenant relationship exists albeit one to which the Act does not apply.
However, some courts have held that where employee possession of premises is incident to the employer’s service or required for job performance, such as a janitor or caretaker, the possession may be for the employer’s benefit and no landlord-tenant relationship exists.[7]
Avoiding the finding that a landlord-tenant relationship exists may not be advantageous to the owner in some jurisdictions, as it deprives the owner of the right to pursue summary dispossession actions.[8]
This is not a substitute for legal advice. For advice about your circumstances consult with a landlord-tenant attorney.
Further Reading
Robert S. Schonshinski, American Law of Landlord and Tenant, §1:6 (1980) and Cumulative Supplement (2008).
Friedman, Milton Friedman on Leases §2:1.7 at 2-12 (Fifth Ed. 2008).
[1] See, for example, Moreno v. Stahmann Farms, Inc., 693 F.2d 106 (10th Cir. 1982); Anderson v. William J. Davis, Inc., 553 A.2d 648 (D.C. 1989); Chan v. Antepenko, 203 Cal. App.3d Supp. 21, 250 Cal. Rptr. 851 (App. Dep’t Super. Ct. 1988).
[2] Walton v. Darby Town Houses, Inc., (E.D. Pa. 1975);
[3] Dobson Factors, Inc., Dattory, 80 misc.2d 1054, 364 NYS2d 723 (1975); Bigelow v. Bullard, 111 Nev. 1178, 901 P.2d 630 (1995); Kearny Court Associates v. Spence, 262 N.J. Super. 241, 620 A.2d 1056 (App. Div. 1993).
[4] Tremont Lumber Co. v. Lacas, 62 So.2d 665 (1953); Tatro v. Lehouiller, 147 Vt. 151, 513 A.2d 610 (1986).
[5] See National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws Legislative Fact Sheet at http://www.nccusl.org/Update/uniformact_factsheets/uniformacts-fs-urlta.asp (last accessed 04-16-09).
[6] See Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, § 1.202 and Comments, available at the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws webite at http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/archives/ulc/fnact99/1970s/urlta72.htm (last accessed 04-16-09).
[7] See, for example, Moreno v. Stahmann Farms, Inc., 693 F.2d 106 (10th Cir. 1982); .
[8] See Turner v. White, 20 Wn. App. 290, 579 P.2d 410 (1978).<–>