CACI VF-4301 Termination Due to Failure to Pay Rent—Affirmative Defense—Breach of Implied Warranty of Habitability
California Civil Jury Instructions CACI
VF-4301 Termination Due to Failure to Pay Rent—Affirmative Defense—Breach of Implied Warranty of Habitability
We answer the questions submitted to us as follows:
1.Did [name of defendant] fail to make at least one rental payment to [name of plaintiff] as required by the [lease/rental agreement/sublease]?
Yes No
If your answer to question 1 is yes, then answer question 2. If you answered no, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.
2.Did [name of plaintiff] properly give [name of defendant] a written notice to pay the rent or vacate the property at least three days before [date on which action was filed]?
Yes No
If your answer to question 2 is yes, then answer question 3. If you answered no, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.
3.Was the amount due stated in the notice no more than the amount that [name of defendant] actually owed under the [lease/rental agreement/sublease]?
Yes No
If your answer to question 3 is yes, then answer question 4. If you answered no, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.
4.Did [name of defendant] pay [or attempt to pay] the amount stated in the notice within three days after service or receipt of the notice?
Yes No
If your answer to question 4 is no, then answer questions 5 and 6. If you answered yes, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.
5.What is the amount of unpaid rent that [name of defendant] would owe to [name of plaintiff] if the property was in a habitable condition?
Include all amounts owed and unpaid from [due date of first missed payment] through [date], the date of expiration of the three-day notice.
6.Did the [name of plaintiff] fail to provide substantially habitable premises during the time period for which [name of defendant] failed to pay the rent that was due?
Yes No
If your answer to question 6 is yes, then answer question 7. If you answered no, answer question 8.
7.Did [name of defendant] contribute substantially to the uninhabitable conditions or interfere substantially with [name of plaintiff]’s ability to make necessary repairs?
Yes No
If your answer to question 7 is yes, then answer question 8. If you answered no, [stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form. The court will determine the amount by which the rent due found in question 5 should be reduced because of uninhabitable conditions/skip question 8 and answer question 9].
8.What are [name of plaintiff]’s damages?
Determine the reasonable rental value of the property from [date], the date of expiration of the three-day notice, through [date of verdict].
[9.What is the amount of reduced monthly rent that represents the reasonable rental value of the property in its uninhabitable condition?
After [this verdict form has/all verdict forms have] been signed, notify the [clerk/bailiff/court attendant] that you are ready to present your verdict in the courtroom.
New December 2007; Revised December 2010, June 2013, December 2013, November 2019
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Directions for Use
This verdict form is based on CACI No. 4302, Termination for Failure to Pay Rent—Essential Factual Elements, and CACI No. 4320, Affirmative Defense—Implied Warranty of Habitability. See also the Directions for Use for those instructions.
The special verdict forms in this section are intended only as models. They may need to be modified depending on the facts of the case.
If the existence of a landlord-tenant relationship is at issue, additional preliminary questions will be needed based on elements 1 and 2 of CACI No. 4302. Questions 2 and 3 incorporate the notice requirements set forth in CACI No. 4303, Sufficiency and Service of Notice of Termination for Failure to Pay Rent.
In question 4, include “or attempt to pay” if there is evidence that the landlord refused to accept the rent when tendered. (See CACI No. 4327, Affirmative Defense—Landlord’s Refusal of Rent.)
If the day of receipt is at issue and any of the three days after the alleged date of receipt falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or judicial holiday, modify questions 2 and 4 to allow the tenant three days excluding weekends and judicial holidays to cure the default.
Code of Civil Procedure section 1174.2(a) provides that the court is to determine the reasonable rental value of the premises in its untenantable state to the date of trial. But whether this determination is to be made by the court or the jury is unsettled. Section 1174.2(d) provides that nothing in this section is intended to deny the tenant the right to a trial by jury. Subsection (d) could be interpreted to mean that in a jury trial, wherever the statute says “the court,” it should be read as “the jury.” But the statute also provides that the court may order the landlord to make repairs and correct the conditions of uninhabitability, which would not be a jury function. If the court decides to present this issue to the jury, select “skip question 8 and answer question 9” in the transitional language following question 7, and include question 9.
As noted above, if a breach of habitability is found, the court may order the landlord to make repairs and correct the conditions that constitute a breach. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1174.2(a).) The court might include a special interrogatory asking the jury to identify those conditions that it found to create uninhabitability and the dates on which the conditions existed.