Exercise 2
Juana Roberts and her family are renting a house from John Legetso. Two months after Juana moved in, John tells Juana that since he is getting older, he is having trouble doing some of the repairs that come up around the house and hauling the trash away. He says that if Juana wants to stay in the house, she’ll need to do repairs around the house and remove the trash herself. Juana wants to stay in the house, so she agrees, in writing, to perform these tasks for herself.

After a year and a half, Juana decides to terminate the rental agreement and gives proper notice and vacates the house. John decides to withhold half of her $800 deposit, saying that he is keeping it because Juana did not perform some of the household repairs she should have undertaken, such as repairing a leaky kitchen faucet and painting the living room. Juana brings legal action against John for her deposit, arguing that she should not be held financially responsible for repairs for household problems that she did not cause and the landlord is obligated to make.

How should the judge rule?

A. For Juana, because she should not be held financially responsible for repairs the owner was obligated to make.

B. For John, because Juana agreed to do repairs in the house.