90.380 Effect
of rental of dwelling in violation of building or housing codes; remedy. (1) As used in this section, “posted”
means that a governmental agency has attached a copy of the agency’s written
determination in a secure manner to the main entrance of the dwelling unit or
to the premises or building of which the dwelling unit is a part.
(2)(a) If a
governmental agency has posted a dwelling unit as unsafe and unlawful to occupy
due to the existence of conditions that violate state or local law and
materially affect health or safety to an extent that, in the agency’s
determination, the tenant must vacate the unit and another person may not take
possession of the unit, a landlord may not continue a tenancy or enter into a
new tenancy for the dwelling unit until the landlord corrects the conditions
that led to the agency’s determination.
(b) If a landlord
knowingly violates paragraph (a) of this subsection, the tenant may immediately
terminate the tenancy by giving the landlord actual notice of the termination
and the reason for the termination and may recover from the landlord either two
months’ periodic rent or up to twice the actual damages sustained by the tenant
as a result of the violation, whichever is greater. The tenant need not
terminate the tenancy to recover damages under this section.