constructive eviction
- noun
- /kənˈstrʌktɪv ɪˈvɪkʃən/
- Formal
:
desalojo constructivo
- When the landlord failed to fix the broken plumbing for months, it resulted in a constructive eviction for the tenants.
Examples
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For example, a very high rent increase following a tenant's complaint could be regarded as retaliation, and a constructive eviction for all practical purposes would be prohibited either by statute or court decision.
Academic text (1991) -
The lack of heat in the apartment all winter led to a constructive eviction, forcing the tenant to find a new place to live.
-
The apartment became unlivable due to persistent mold issues, prompting the residents to claim constructive eviction.
Synonyms
45
4.9
Forcing someone to leave a home or apartment they rent
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'constructive' only as 'helpful, positive' and 'eviction' as a formal legal removal would not be able to derive the legal sense here: in law 'constructive' has a technical meaning (an implied or caused eviction without formal process). The overall meaning is a specialized legal usage that is not transparently composed from the everyday senses of the parts, so learners would likely be confused without prior exposure.
Etymology
Constructive eviction is when a landlord makes a home so bad, for example no heat or water or repeated flooding, that the tenant must leave even though the landlord does not physically force them out. The word eviction means 'to make someone leave', and constructive shows the landlord caused the move by their actions, so the phrase means 'forcing someone to leave by making the place unlivable'.