constructive eviction

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun law : breach of a landlord/tenant relationship that occurs when the landlord does not order the tenant to leave the property, but allows the property occupied by the tenant to fall into such poor condition that it can no longer be lived in.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun action by a landlord that compels a tenant to leave the premises (as by rendering the premises unfit for occupancy); no physical expulsion or legal process is involved