Opinion ID: 1864539
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: the meaning of abandonment: statutory or common law?

Text: Mason contends that abandonment by a tenant's 30-day absence, specified in § 76-1432(3), supersedes and excludes the common law pertaining to abandonment of leased residential premises. On the other hand, Schumachers maintain that the common law concerning abandonment applies during the first 30 days of a tenant's absence and that the statutory abandonment of § 76-1432(3) becomes conclusive after a tenant's 30-day absence. As noted, URLTA does not exclude or otherwise alter common law, unless the common law is expressly displaced by URLTA provisions. See § 76-1403. [S]tatutes which effect a change in the common law or take away a common law right should be strictly construed.... Paulsen v. Courtney, 202 Neb. 791, 794, 277 N.W.2d 233, 235 (1979). Nothing in the language of URLTA, generally or specifically, compels the conclusion that the Legislature intended that URLTA abrogate or displace common law concerning abandonment of real estate leased for residential purposes. Construing § 76-1432(3), we conclude that the 30-day abandonment provision benefits the landlord as well as the tenant regarding the landlord's recovery of leased premises without legal process in the event of a tenant's absence for the specified period. Without notice to the landlord, a tenant's absence from the premises for one full rental period or 30 days, whichever is less, constitutes abandonment of the premises under § 76-1432(3). However, a tenant may also abandon premises under common-law principles, entitling and obligating a landlord to take immediate possession of the premises and make reasonable efforts to obtain another tenant for the premises at a fair rental. Thus, under § 76-1432(3), abandonment affords qualified protection to a landlord against a tenant's claim for wrongful ouster and provides the tenant with a defense that the landlord failed to mitigate damages after the tenant's abandonment of the leased premises. In the absence of a tenant's explicit abandonment of residential premises, legitimation of a landlord's self-help recovery of the leased premises during the first 30 days of the tenant's absence may depend on unequivocal but circumstantial proof of the tenant's abandonment. See, Smith v. Favilla, 23 Wash.App. 59, 593 P.2d 564 (1979); 51C C.J.S. Landlord and Tenant § 126(b) (1968).