Lease & city inspection

[jakeg1]

Missouri

We signed a year lease from August 2009-2010. In November we received a letter from the building inspector that the house had not passed the inspection performed in October. The letter stated that "violations are found of serious nature" and "this unit shall remain vacant until the issuance of a certificate of inspection." Furthermore "If tenant(s) is allowed to move into said unit the Code Official may condemn the premises for occupancy."

Was it legal for the landlord to enter into a lease with us without a valid certificate of inspection at the lease's signing, and still 3 months afterwards? Does this constitute a break of lease?

 

[FarmerJ]

If inspections wrote orders saying no one could live in the home before you moved in then LL should not have re rented the unit. Contact inspections and ask what the original report had to say and what its findings were. Knowing the exact dates and reasons etc would help you determine if the LL was not supposed to re rent the unit.

 

[treese]

It would depend on the laws of your state and any local laws.

Some cities require an inspection and/or a Certificate of Occupancy to be issued each time a rental is vacated. So it would really depend on the law and the requirements imposed on the landlord.



Here is an example:

Occupancy Permit
The City prohibits any person(s) from occupying or permitting occupancy of any residential dwelling until a Certificate of Occupancy has been issued by the Building Official or his/her designate. A Certificate of Occupancy is required after any residential dwelling unit has been vacated before it is occupied again. It is not necessary to obtain an Occupancy Permit if one has been issued within the past one year from the time of re-occupancy.
Before a Certificate of Occupancy can be issued by the Building Official or his/her designate, an inspection by the City’s Building Inspector must be made and it is determined that the structure(s) and land in question meets the requirements of the BOCA National Property Maintenance Code (Sec.7-6).