Can I Sue My Landlord for Asbestos?

While the presence of asbestos might not be enough on its own, you can sue your landlord if they knowingly or negligently failed to disclose its existence and you suffered from asbestos exposure.

Asbestos exposure can lead to serious — even terminal — health conditions. If you have developed health problems or are concerned about health risks relating to asbestos-containing materials in your rental unit, legal help is available. An asbestos lawyer near you can explain your rights and evaluate your landlord’s actions (or inactions) to determine whether you have a valid claim.

Is Asbestos Illegal in Rental Properties?

In new constructions, asbestos has been nearly banned thanks to a federal law, the Clean Air Act of 1970 (CAA), which is implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Moreover, asbestos regulations are strict about proper methods for asbestos removal.

States have enacted strong landlord-tenant laws which:

• Set landlord liability for illegal asbestos exposure
• Place a legal obligation on landlords to remove or safely maintain asbestos

It is not unusual for an older rental property to still contain asbestos fibers. In fact, many homes built between the 1930s and 1970s used asbestos for roofing, floor tiles, pipe insulation, drywall, and patching. It wasn’t until 1977 that amendments to the CAA banned these uses. Fifty years later, some properties still have these materials.

Can Landlords Leave Asbestos Untreated?

Yes, landlords may leave asbestos in your rental property if it is fully contained within the building. If asbestos is left undisturbed, it might not necessarily be a health risk.

But it becomes a problem when walls start to chip away or floor or ceiling tiles start to fall off. In that case, the asbestos fibers can be exposed. The landlord may then have a legal duty to address the problem.

Improper renovations can also disturb underlying asbestos that may have otherwise been harmless. Even a small amount of dust uncovered by a building’s deterioration or maintenance can cause asbestos to spread into the air and into your lungs.

Being around asbestos or inhaling its fibers can cause many health issues, including:

• Asbestosis (scarring of lung tissue)
• Mesothelioma (an aggressive type of lung cancer)

A Landlord’s Duties

Landlords must comply with state laws and local housing codes. Just about every state will require that any residential housing unit that is offered for rent be in habitable condition.

A property owner who manages older buildings should expect that asbestos may have been used in their construction materials. They may need to conduct regular inspections by asbestos professionals to prevent potential harm to tenants.

If the asbestos is encapsulated within the building, it may be riskier to disturb that material. But if asbestos becomes exposed, the landlord must address the risk to tenants. The landlord or property management company may need to hire licensed professionals to remove asbestos once it presents a health hazard.

Types of Asbestos Claims

If you suspect that you may have been exposed to asbestos as a result of your landlord’s bad behavior, you may sue for:

• Breach of the lease contract
• Breach of the implied warranty of habitability
• Negligence

The sections below describe the basic details of each type of claim. You can get legal advice for asbestos claims to better understand how to resolve disputes with your landlord.

Your state or municipality may also have local laws that are specifically designed to protect renters, so you may want to file complaints with your local Housing Department and Public Health Agency alongside filing your lawsuit.

Suing for Breach of the Rental Agreement

A lease agreement for residential real estate will usually contain language about the cleanliness, safety, and good condition of the premises.

Promise of Safe Conditions

Most of the time, the contract will make it sound like it’s the tenant’s responsibility to keep the rental premises that way. But if the tenant is required to keep the unit in good condition, then the landlord is promising that the rental unit is already being given to the tenant in good condition.

The contract probably says you have to pay the landlord rent every month. So that payment would be dependent on the landlord’s ability to keep the premises habitable. The exception is if the property is uninhabitable as a result of a tenant’s own fault.

State law will usually prohibit a landlord from delivering possession of rental premises to a tenant in an unsafe condition. Even if the rental agreement has disclaimers saying that the unit is being rented to you “as is,” the landlord must still meet the minimum health and safety regulations that make a rental dwelling livable.

How To Prove the Landlord Breached the Contract

In general, these are the legal elements you must show to prove that a breach of contract has occurred:

• A valid lease contract existed.
• You’ve performed your obligations under the contract, which generally means you’ve been paying your rent on time and you haven’t caused destruction or damage to the premises.
• The landlord has breached the contract by failing to perform their duty to provide the safe and livable premises that they promised to you under the lease agreement.
• You suffered damages, including losses to you in the form of rent and payment to medical professionals for asbestos-related diseases.

Can I Withhold Rent Because of Asbestos?

A lease contract might have an “abatement” clause which means that the tenant can deduct (abate) rent for any portion of the rental unit that becomes unlivable. So if your kitchen ceiling starts to leak and asbestos fibers are exposed from corrosion, the landlord may be in breach of the lease agreement if they continue to insist on the entire rent.

Any time you’re considering withholding rent or fixing the property yourself, use caution. Nonpayment of rent can be grounds for eviction if you fail to follow proper legal procedures.

Suing for Breach of the Implied Warranty of Habitability

It doesn’t matter if the rental agreement has disclaimers regarding dangerous conditions. The implied warranty of habitability, which is recognized by nearly all 50 states, is a legal requirement that a rental housing unit should be suitable for its intended purpose of being livable.

While state laws vary, in general, you have to show three things:

• A bad condition that makes the rental unit uninhabitable
• The landlord’s actual (or reasonably required) knowledge of the dangerous condition
• Damages

For example, let’s say your landlord knows that the rental unit was built in the 1960s and contains asbestos building materials. The kitchen has old linoleum and plastic floor tiles that are coming apart, so you share your concerns with your landlord.

It’s reasonable for old linoleum tiles to contain asbestos. It’s also reasonable that your landlord should know about this fact given their knowledge of the building’s history.

Therefore, any illness you face would count as damages. They would be recoverable under a claim for the implied warranty of habitability. Providing habitable premises is part of the landlord’s responsibilities to you.

Suing for Negligence

If a landlord has been careless, you may also be able to sue them for negligence. Examples of carelessness include:

• Your landlord should have reasonably known that an old building had asbestos but denied its existence when you asked about it before moving in.
• Your landlord knew about the asbestos but forgot to warn you about its presence.
• Your landlord did renovations to remove the asbestos but didn’t take proper steps to remove the toxic materials properly and exposed you to dangerous asbestos fibers in the process.

Your negligence lawsuit will state:

• The landlord had a duty to take reasonable measures to prevent harm to you (as their tenant).
• They breached that duty by failing to warn you or to abate asbestos inside the rental unit.
• You were injured as a result of asbestos exposure.
• You suffered damages, such as wasted rent, personal injuries, and medical expenses.

Remedies for Asbestos Exposure Claims

If you win your lawsuit against a landlord, the court may award you any one or more of the following remedies:

• Compensatory damages: This includes rent illegally collected by the landlord while the rental premises were uninhabitable, your medical expenses for illness and personal injuries related to asbestos exposure, and any other lost money and pain/suffering that you can reasonably attribute to the landlord’s wrongdoing.
• Statutory damages: These are flat damages that some states might award for every violation committed by a landlord. For example, local building safety codes or healthy codes that are violated can subject your landlord to statutory damages per each violation.
• Punitive damages: These are intended to punish a landlord that acts with malice or fraud and to deter other landlords from engaging in similar egregious misconduct. For example, if the landlord knew your premises contained exposed asbestos and lied to you about it, a court might order punitive damages against them.
• Court costs and attorney’s fees: Money you spent on court filing fees and attorney billing may be recoverable in some circumstances, especially if the lease agreement says that a winner of any dispute may collect costs and fees from the loser.

Talk to an Asbestos or Mesothelioma Lawyer About Your Rental Conditions

If you or a loved one have been suffering from asbestos-related illnesses, you might be weighing your options on how to handle asbestos at your rental unit. Seek legal advice from an asbestos attorney or mesothelioma lawyer.

An attorney can help you take legal action to ensure that you are living in a safe home free of health hazards. If you’ve already faced losses, you can consider whether to sue your landlord for asbestos exposure. A lawyer may be able to help you recover medical expenses, rent paid, and more.

Since asbestos lawyers deal in personal injury, they may be able to take your case on a contingency basis. This means you won’t have to pay anything unless you win a settlement or a judgment against your landlord.