Eddy v. Anderson

430 P.3d 1100, 294 Or. App. 163
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedSeptember 19, 2018
DocketA162867
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 430 P.3d 1100 (Eddy v. Anderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eddy v. Anderson, 430 P.3d 1100, 294 Or. App. 163 (Or. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

LINDER, S. J.

*165In this landlord-tenant case, plaintiff (landlord) brought this contract action against defendants, former tenants (tenants), for unpaid rent and other damages.1 Tenants asserted two counterclaims in response. The first was for damages based on landlord's alleged failure to maintain the dwelling in a habitable condition. The second sought relief based on landlord's failure to give an abandoned property notice before disposing of items that tenants left on the premises after they vacated it. Sitting as finder of fact, the trial court rejected tenants' counterclaims and awarded landlord most, but not all, of the unpaid rent and damages that landlord sought. Tenants appeal, assigning error to the dismissal of each of their counterclaims. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Evidence

The facts at trial were disputed, particularly as they bear on tenants' counterclaims. Applying our familiar standard of review, we consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the explicit and implicit findings of the trial court. See L&M Investment Co. v. Morrison , 286 Or. 397, 399, 594 P.2d 1238 (1979) (viewing evidence in landlord-tenant dispute in light most favorable to trial court's resolution as trier of fact). We describe countervailing evidence to the extent that it provides helpful context.

In November 2013, landlord and tenants entered into a month-to-month tenancy for a two-story residence with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The written rental agreement included, as an addendum, a lengthy list itemizing landlord's personal property that was included with the rental, such as a *1103refrigerator, microwave oven, toaster, *166washer and dryer, lawnmower, and numerous household and yard items. The agreed rent was $1,400 a month, due on the first of each month, with late charges of $10 a day if not paid by the fifth of each month. Under the rental agreement, tenants were responsible for reimbursing landlord for city water utility charges, for abiding by all city ordinances, and for performing all tenant obligations under ORS chapter 90 (Oregon Residential Landlord and Tenant Act). Tenants also agreed to pay various move-in charges and deposits, which landlord agreed to let them pay in installments after taking possession.

Within a few days of moving in, tenants gave landlord a written list of items that they believed needed repair in the residence. That list included "water backup in [the] bathroom drain downstairs." Landlord repaired the drain and took care of the other issues on the list, except as landlord and tenants otherwise agreed.

Several months into the tenancy, around March 2014, tenants called landlord because the downstairs shower drain had backed up. Within a few hours of that call, landlord went to the residence to fix the backup and to help with any cleanup. Landlord cleared the line by using an "expander bulb" which, when inserted down the drain and into the sewer line, uses pressure from a water hose to clear any blockage. The water from the backup was contained in and around the bathroom floor drain, in an area of at most four square feet, which was damp with water that was less-than-a-pencil's width (or about one-eighth inch) deep. Landlord cleaned up the residual dampness and then left. Before leaving, he gave the tenants the "expander bulb" plumbing tool in case the drain got blocked again. The landlord had not had any problems with the downstairs plumbing since undertaking some major repairs to the sewer line in 2007.2 No tenants after that, until these tenants, had alerted him to any problems with the downstairs plumbing. Landlord believed that, after he cleared the line, tenants should have *167no problem with it, but in his experience, tenants sometimes put inappropriate items down the toilet and into the sewer lines. Landlord urged tenants to "review what materials are going into the sewer line that could cause the blockage" and suggested that they might want to use the plumbing tool every couple of months to help prevent any blockage.

From the outset of the tenancy, tenants struggled to afford the $1,400 in rent, and they generally tendered their payments late, or not in full, or both. Five or six months into the tenancy, in May 2014, tenants tendered landlord a payment of only $175. In an accompanying letter, tenants urged landlord to reduce the monthly rent because the costs of rent, garbage, oil, electricity, and utilities made it "so very expensive" for them to live there. Tenants implored landlord, who they knew "[isn't] a heartless man," to "please, please consider lowering it to a more reasonable cost since there is so much repair to be done" in terms of "leaks and flooding in the basement." They concluded saying, "Please, please think about it * * * we would very much appreciate it if you could lower it."

Landlord replied in writing, stating that he would not consider an adjustment in the rent until tenants paid him the unpaid move-in charges, back rent, and unpaid utility charges. He reminded tenants that they had assured him when they moved in that they could easily cover rent and utilities and would pay him the move-in charges within a few months, none of which had been paid. Tenants had also told landlord that there would be other individuals assisting them economically and that they would obtain "county assistance"; landlord asked tenants why those things were not happening. Landlord concluded with: "You must pay the remainder of the May rent, plus another $200 for utilities, this month, so that we do not fall farther behind. I am willing to work with you but I need your help too."

*1104A few days later, tenants paid landlord $1,200. In the months that followed, tenants continued to pay the rent late, sometimes only partially, and sometimes not at all. In October 2014, landlord wrote tenants again about their increasing debt of unpaid rent, move-in charges, and utility charges. Landlord advised tenants that he could no *168longer afford to allow a bigger balance to build up and that they must pay him $1,420 in October, and also give him an "intended payment schedule." Tenants paid only partial rent in October and November, and then paid no rent at all in December 2014 and January 2015.

In mid-January 2015, tenants wrote landlord and left him a phone message informing him that the downstairs shower drain had again backed up. In the written letter sent to landlord, tenants said that "this will make it about the 6th or 7th time this has happened since we have lived here." Landlord returned the phone call within an hour and sent a letter acknowledging tenants' letter and phone message.

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Related

Eddy v. Anderson
458 P.3d 678 (Oregon Supreme Court, 2020)
Emon Enters., LLC v. Kilcup
437 P.3d 248 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
430 P.3d 1100, 294 Or. App. 163, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eddy-v-anderson-orctapp-2018.