Landlords Responsibilities
Landlords Responsibilities explained. I use the following real-life
scenario to explain landlords responsibilities, or rather, the lack of
them and how best to avoid being a victim of unscrupulous so-called
landlords. In the past I lived in many places that were
owned and operated by different kinds of people - including some people
acting as owners, with what they believed were landlords
responsibilities - as if the place was theirs and
without regard for proper landlords responsibilities, tenants’ rights, or
human respect.
For example, one such place was an “in-law” unit, attached at the far end of a huge house. The house was owned by one person, managed by a property management company (whose offices were one block away), and maintained by one of the tenants in the main house. One person who had been there the longest thought he not only owned the property but had inalienable license to invade, steal, and abuse other tenants who paid more, had real jobs, and who paid their taxes.
This person assumed what he thought was the role of landlord with landlords responsibilities, yet however, crossed the boundaries of law and ethics on a daily basis. He jammed music so loud it shook the house and the surrounding foliage. When the police were called he would turn the music down so they couldn’t hear from beyond the regulation 35-feet ordinance (in our state/city), to which the police would respond by stating that he could do what he wanted in HIS own house. However, everyone mistakenly believed him to be the landlord asserting his landlords responsibilities.
Not only are there NUMEROUS problems with such an official
response, but the house is NOT his house. He pays 300 dollars
of the seventeen-hundred dollar rent (the balance of which is split
equally between the two remaining tenants); he pretends he has landlords responsibilities
because he thinks he is the landlord. He also thinks he can get away
with smoking crack, doing crank, selling both, working on a scrap vehicle in the driveway at unreasonable hours;
collecting SSI for a two-decade-old disability that no longer exists,
working under the table, paying no taxes, using a key to enter my
premises when I am away working in my real job whereby I have to pay real taxes.
I still recall these events even though they are in the past—as I have long since been reprieved of his so-called landlords responsibilities—to warn you who are thinking of moving into any situation where there is a real and/or posturing landlord. You have rights. There are tenant rights in every major and even many minor cities and towns. There are documented laws that include landlords responsibilities. For example, in most renters’ rights circumstances…
THE LANDLORD IS ALLOWED TO ENTER YOUR RENTED ACCOMMODATION ONLY:
1) IN AN EMERGENCY;
2) WITH “REASONABLE” ADVANCE NOTICE; AND
3) TO
INSPECT, REPAIR, OR SHOW THE APARTMENT—ONLY DURING “REASONABLE/BUSINESS”
HOURS AND ONLY WITH AT LEAST 24-HOUR NOTICE.
THE LANDLORD MUST BY LAW PROVIDE/INSTALL DEAD BOLT LOCKS ON DOORS.
THE LANDLORD MUST HAVE IN HIS (OR IN THE LANDLADY’S CASE, HER) POSSESSION A DOCUMENT CALLED A CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY, MAKING THE RENTAL UNIT A LEGAL RESIDENCE. IF HE/HE DOES NOT HAVE SUCH A CERTIFICATE, HE/SHE CAN NOT LEGALLY CHARGE ANY RENT.
FAKE LANDLORDS CANNOT ISSUE WRITS OF NOTICE OF EVICTION OR OTHER PUNISHMENT, ETC..
LANDLORDS WHO HAVE RENTERS WRITE RENTAL CHECKS TO ANY NAME OTHER THAN HIS/HER ACTUAL NAME MUST HAVE A DBA (DOING BUSINESS AS) LICENSE.
Check your state laws for landlords responsibilities and tenants’ rights.
Rights of All Tenants
All tenants have these basic rights under other state laws,
regardless of whether they are covered by the Residential
Landlord-Tenant Act:
Right to a liveable dwelling.
Protection from unlawful discrimination.
Right to hold the landlord liable for damage caused by the landlord's
negligence.
Protection against lockouts and seizure of personal property by the
landlord.