Common Landlord and Tenant Disputes and How to Avoid Them
Whether you are the landlord or the tenant, the relationship between the two is delicate and tricky. On one hand, the landlord relies on the tenant for income. Without the tenant, the landlord would have to find someone else to fill their vacancy or risk losing hundreds or even thousands of dollars in rent every month. On the other hand, the tenant is living in a house or apartment that is owned by the landlord and has certain responsibilities and regulations to adhere to because of that.
It does not seem to matter whom you speak with, everyone has either had or knows somebody that has had a bad experience with either a landlord or was a landlord with a “bad tenant”. But how can these situations be avoided? If issues, like subleasing and ending leases early, are so common, why don’t people know how to properly handle them?
Here is a breakdown of some of the most common disputes that landlords and tenants have, and how they ought to be handled.
Property Damage
There is a reason that now, most leases involve a security deposit. For a long time, landlords were stuck dealing with damages brought on by unruly tenants, or tenants that were simply not concerned with the state of their house. Now, while it is still the landlord’s responsibility to ensure that the unit is in good and safe condition – tenants are being held responsible for paying a security deposit for any damages that they might cause to the property. This does not mean that if the oven that has been there for years breaks you as then the tenant will lose your security deposit. However, if you have put holes in the walls to hang pictures and have not filled them, or if you have painted a room without your landlord’s permission you might loose part or all of that deposit.
Roommates that are not on the Lease
This last example of a common landlord/tenant dispute is perhaps one of the most common. When you sign a lease, you are signing for yourself – not for yourself and a friend 3 months from then. While it is sweet to want to help a friend or family member out during a time of need, allowing someone to stay for an extended period of time can be a huge problem for your landlord.
Try and Look at it from a Landlord’s Perspective
-Your landlord does not have any background information on this person/people. If they do background checks on tenants, why would they be comfortable with random people staying in their building for an extended time frame?
-Suddenly maintenance becomes increasingly expensive – this includes utility bills and the use of appliances.
Terminating a Lease Early
Life happens. Everyone knows this. And sometimes, our plan of staying in one spot for 8 months or a year, is just not feasible. This might be due to a change in your relationship, school, a change in employment…etc…There are lots of reasons. However, when a change results in having to terminate a lease early, you could be in for a bumpy ride.