Hilder v. St. Peter

Hilder (plaintiff) rented an apartment from St. Peter (defendant) and lived there fourteen months with her family despite a broken kitchen window, no functioning front-door lock, a non-functioning toilet, inoperative lighting, water leakage, falling plaster, and leaking sewage, repeatedly complaining and often paying to fix problems herself after St. Peter's repeated unfulfilled promises to repair them; she paid rent the entire time. After moving out, Hilder sued for breach of the implied warranty of habitability, and the trial court awarded her $4,945, including the entire $3,445 in rent paid over the fourteen months plus unitemized additional compensatory damages; St. Peter appealed the damages calculation.