Law Commons^™

The Effect Of The Warranty Of Habitability On Low Income Housing: "Milking" And Class Violence, Duncan Kennedy

Florida State University Law Review

Housing for the poor suffers in quantity and quality as tenement landlords "milk" still viable buildings, allowing them to deteriorate and become uninhabitable at a rate that outstrips construction of new housing. As a result, the rate at which the poor filter up into higher quality buildings slows, crowding low income tenants into fewer, more run down buildings. Professor Kennedy postulate that selective enforcement of a warranty of habitability can maximize the useful lives of tenement buildings, and, contrary to the "mainstream" view, exert downward pressure on rents while increasing the supply of low income housing.