''Case v. Minot'', 158 Mass. 577 (1893), was a case decided by the

Supreme Court of Massachusetts The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the court of last resort, highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the di ...

that was one of the first cases to hold that inaction by a

landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...

could establish a

constructive eviction Constructive eviction is a term used in the law of real property to describe when a landlord sidesteps the formal, legal eviction process, and instead attempts to force the eviction of the tenant by rendering the property uninhabitable (e.g. chang ...

Decision

The court held that the landlord was responsible for the constructive eviction of a tenant when the landlord allowed another lessee to obstruct the tenant's light and air. Traditionally, constructive eviction was only found when the landlord had acted intentionally to interfere with the tenant's possession of their lease.Casner, p. 413

References

{{reflist Landlord–tenant law 1893 in United States case law Massachusetts state case law 1893 in Massachusetts Real property law in the United States Law articles needing an infobox