There seems to be genuine confusion on the part of tenants and landlords about the legality of what they can and cannot do, and often this confusion leads to litigation. So, for the purpose of helping people, I offer the following general advice.

The landlord/tenant relationship is not an informal relationship. Very often it is governed by strict rules and regulations and laws at both the local and state levels. Therefore, it is a good idea to enter into a Lease or at least draw up some kind of written and signed contract about the duties and responsibilities of each party, and what the remedies are if problems arise within that relationship. Common sense is too often ignored in the rush to rent a property.

The following illustration may seem extreme, but I assure you that it is not, since it represents some of the most common situations that we encounter:

Two friends attending college rented a furnished house. The boyfriend of one of the tenants was going to move in with them temporarily, but he did not intend to pay the rent since he was only staying for a short time and his name was not on the lease. They found out about the house’s availability because they saw a “for rent” sign with a number on it. A man who answered the phone walked them through the house, saying that he was the agent for the out-of-town landlord and that all rent payments should be made in his name and sent to a post office box. As they walked through the house, they noticed a lot of stuff piled up in it, which the agent said would be removed before they moved in. They also noted a couple of broken windows, a loose handle that made it difficult to close the door, a sink that didn’t drain properly, and a water stain on the ceiling in one bedroom. They didn’t have a lawyer, or even a parent, to review the lease that the landlord’s agent prepared because they trusted him because he seemed like a nice young man. They didn’t take pictures of the condition of the house, they didn’t have a contractor test the systems (such as plumbing or electrical) in the house, and they didn’t add things to the lease that the agent said he would take care of. The agent said they could have a pet, but that didn’t have to be mentioned in the lease. After their check for the first month’s rent, last month’s rent, and one month’s security deposit had cleared, the agent left them a key under the front door mat.

This is what happened after they moved. After the first two weeks, the roommate with the boyfriend got into a fight with him and moved out. He told her roommate that he was not going to pay the rent for the next few months and that her roommate could sue her, but that he was not going to get anything because he had no money and the money from the deposit was a loan from her. fathers. His boyfriend said that he planned to stay longer than planned, but that he couldn’t pay the rent because he was living on student loans. In addition, he said that he had “squatter rights” and that she could try to evict him, but he would not leave voluntarily. He also allowed a friend to share her room with him and pay her rent to help with his expenses. The friend brought a puppy home that was not housebroken. The remaining paying tenant noted that none of the repairs had been made, but some of the things in the house had been moved to a corner of the basement. The tenant contacted the agent several times, who insisted that the repairs would be done, but did not have a timeline. After 3 months of paying her rent herself, the tenant decided to withhold her rent and was told that she had to “deposit” her rent in a specific way. She started depositing her rent, but nothing changed. In the fifth month, a man knocked on the door and said that he had been out of town on business for six months, and when he tried his key he noticed that it was locked. He said that he never had an agent and that the house had never been available for rent. He asked to see a copy of the rental license the city required from the landlord, and the tenant said she had never been shown one. The landlord said that the broken windows and other problems were caused by the tenant, and that the dog had stained all the carpets and he wanted all the repairs done, or he would sue the tenant who was still on the lease.

The moral of this story is to cross the t’s and the dots to the i’s and be very careful when entering into a lease. Make sure the property is owned by the person renting it, make sure the agent is licensed to rent it, make sure repairs are completed before you move in, make sure you don’t allow friends or family to occupy the property for any length of time. weather. time, make sure the list of repairs is noted in the lease and marked when complete, and… you get the picture. Both landlords and renters need to protect themselves.