Per Curiam
Tenant appealed from a final judgment of the Justice Court awarding landlord Windy Acres Farm (WAF) possession and over $18,000 in a holdover proceeding. WAF commenced a holdover action after terminating tenant’s lease under a provision purporting to permit it to end the lease based on a default in rent. Tenant’s defense at trial was that WAF breached the warranty of habitability. The justice court found the conditions complained of were not extreme enough to constitute a defense and granted WAF possession. The unanimous panel reversed noting there was authority that a proper remedy for a default by a residential tenant in the payment of rent was a nonpayment, not a holdover action. It stated a conditional limitation providing for forfeiture of a tenancy upon nonpayment of rent was void as against public policy as it deprived the tenant of a right to interpose a breach of warranty of habitability claim. The panel concluded as tenant established the existence of a breach of the warranty of habitability, including an unresolved mouse infestation, and contaminated water, the final judgment must be reversed and the petition dismissed.
