QUESTION

Are we able to break the lease through eminent domain?

Asked on Jun 11th, 2014 on Landlord and Tenant Law - Michigan
More details to this question:
Earlier this month, my girlfriend and I signed a lease agreement on a two-bedroom home. Literally days after signing this lease, her place of employment offered her an apartment on-site for a reduced rate. As I was looking at the lease we signed at the end of May, the landlord put at the top that the lease was made June 20th, 2014, which is actually our move-in date, and then lists June 20th, 2014 again for the move in date. This means that our lease was technically signed in the future? Does this hold any bearing legally? Literally the same night after we returned home from signing our lease, the landlord informed us that after we left tonight, he went across the street to talk to my old friends/neighbors. They had told me previously and he couldn’t remember if he had mentioned to us about the road construction that will be happening (I remember mentioning it to some people that came to look at the house, but couldn’t remember who). I am sure that you saw all of the flags and such in the yards down the entire street. When I talked to the neighbors before when I first showed you the house, nobody knew what the exact plan was – namely if they were going to do sidewalks or not. I found out tonight that they are going to do sidewalks on both sides and will be widening the road. There is only one house on the street that is happy about this as everyone will be losing basically half of their front yard. There are stakes in the yards with pink flags on them – that is where the sidewalk will go to. Basically, my house will be losing the flower bed in the front yard and I believe that there will no longer be room to park a car on the stones to the side of the driveway. Anyway, I didn’t realize that it was going to be such a big project. I thought that they were just going to be resurfacing the road and I feel a little badly that it wasn’t disclosed.
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3 ANSWERS

I think that it is worth arguing that you are entitled to terminate the lease due to the eminent domain and road construction. It would be interesting to see whether your written lease discusses the issues. You should let the Landlord know immediately if you decide to terminate the lease so the Landlord can mitigate (minimize) any damages from your leaving. You also would have a good argument that your rent should be substantially reduced due to the lost acreage on the rental property.
Answered on Jun 12th, 2014 at 4:24 PM

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Appellate Attorney serving Grosse Pointe Farms, MI at Musilli Brennan Associates, PLLC
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It would appear to me that you would like to resend your agreement to the lease. This is not necessarily an eminent domain case. I think you would be better off going to landlord, stating that you have an opportunity for other accommodations and would like to avail yourself of them and therefore not move-in. It may be that you will be liable for some monies, perhaps lose your security deposit, and possibly be liable for the time it takes for the landlord to re-rent it. If you will not agree, then lease for the year and then seek alternate accommodations if you are not willing to pay the damages occasioned by or breach.
Answered on Jun 12th, 2014 at 4:21 PM

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Real Property Law Attorney serving Owosso, MI at Moorhead & Moorhead PLLC
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Eminent domain would apply if the rental home was not longer habitable. Losing part of the yard and flower bed is not sufficient to break the lease. Parking may be an issue but that will remain to be seen pending on the actual widening of the road. Does your lease state a total owing for the entire rental period (e.g. $9,000.00 payable in monthly payments of $750.00) if so then the date probably isn't sufficient to break the lease. If you were to move which would break the lease, you would be responsible for rent through the lease period unless the landlord is able to re-rent the house. He/She is obligated to mitigate their damages by re-renting. However, with the road project this may be difficult. Your lease should be reviewed by a landlord/tenant attorney to determine if the same is enforceable by the landlord.
Answered on Jun 12th, 2014 at 8:54 AM

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