Exercise 3
Moose Meeks is renting a house from Dolores Dank. The house has several problems – often the water coming out of the taps is dark and smells bad, there are some weak spots in the floors, and one of the windows is broken, through no fault of Moose’s, so that wind and rain come in. Moose has phoned Dolores several times to complain about these problems, but several weeks have gone by and she hasn’t fixed them. Moose decides that he will abate his rent until the problems are fixed, and since he thinks that the house is uninhabitable, he deducts 100% of the rent. When Moose doesn’t pay his rent, Dolores gives him a 3-day notice to leave, and he reminds her that he is not paying rent until she repairs the problems in the house. Dolores brings action against Moose to evict him.

How should the judge rule?

A. For Moose, because he was properly abating his rent.

B. For Dolores, because Moose didn’t pay his rent.