Brokerage

The United States traces its common-law heritage back over more than a millennia, and the statutes regulating real-estate transactions have changed substantially (to put it mildly). According to a study by Paula C. Murray that was published in the University of Richmond Law Review, “The tenant bore all the risk of the physical condition of the property — caveat lessee. The tenant could provide for landlord repairs in the lease, but could not withhold rent if the landlord failed to make those repairs. Additionally, the tenant assumed primary responsibility for the condition of the premises once he took possession of the property.”