Your Rights as a Landlord
While the landlord/tenant rental relationship benefits both parties, one party has far more invested in the relationship and has far more responsibilities. That party is the landlord. Although the benefits can be lucrative, especially if the landlord has multiple successfully-rented properties, it remains incumbent upon the landlord to create, execute and enforce a lease (designed to protect the property and the landlord from lawsuits) and oversee the monies received. All this in a manner that satisfies both state and federal laws. This article will focus illuminate more on your rights as a landlord. To learn more about your rights as a tenant, read here.
Generally, the rights of the Tenant become the obligation of the landlord and the rights of the landlord become the obligation of the tenant. The basic rights of the landlord include determining the number of people occupying a rental, interviewing potential tenants, setting the terms such as the amount of rent, pet policy, length of lease, number of people occupying the rental and furnishing the rental unit as they prefer, inspecting their property, and evicting tenants who breach the lease through non payment of rent, damaging the property or being disruptive, to name a few.
The Right to Set and Raise Rent
Except for cities that have rent control, the determining factor whether landlords may raise or not depends predominantly on whether the tenant is on a month to month contract or a term lease. Landlords have the right to notify their tenants, in writing and with notice, at the end of the lease term that they intend to increase the rent, but not before the end of the term. Of course, if the lease has a provision for a rental increase during the term then the rent may be increased. If the tenant is under a month to month contract then the landlord has the right, following a 30 day (generally) written notice to increase the rent. Landlords operating rental properties within rent-controlled areas may be subject to how much and how often they have the right to raise the rents.
The Right to Require Deposits
For many states, the right to charge a specific amount as a security deposit is arrived at as a formula of the rent. For example, the security deposit might be a factor of 2.5 times the stated monthly rent. Types of deposits a landlord has a right to require include cleaning, security, and pet deposits.
The Right to Keep Deposits
Individual states have specific rental deposit codes that landlords may not exceed as well as codes governing the purpose, holding, and return or forfeiture of each specific type of deposit.
Landlords very often have the right to keep deposits under the following conditions:
- Terminating Lease Early
- Failure to pay rent
- Damage to the Property
- Cleaning Costs
- Unpaid Utilities
- If the tenant has not provided you with a forwarding address within 30 days of move-out, you may not be legally obligated to return the security deposit.
The Right to Increase the Security Deposit with a Rent Increase
Since most states tie the security deposit to the rent by formulas, an increase in the rent provides the landlord with the right to simultaneously increase the security deposit. Rent increases typically cause security deposit increases. Landlords everywhere are required to follow specific legal procedures in order to increase their tenant’s rent. The two primary requirements landlords must adhere to in order to execute their right to increase rents are to provide their tenant with a written notice advising the increase and ensuring the notice is within a specified number of days prior to the expiration of the tenant’s lease.
The Right to Terminate the Tenancy
At the end of the lease term, a landlord may terminate a lease without cause. Not every state allows a landlord to terminate a lease without cause, but most do.
The Right to Evict
Landlord and tenant law provide the landlord with the right to evict if the tenant has breached the lease. In the event of a cause, no eviction, or eviction lawsuit, can occur without first terminating the lease as allowed by law. Before a landlord can terminate a tenancy for cause the tenant must be given written notice giving the tenant the opportunity to remedy the issue (non-payment of rent, disruptive behavior, unlawful pet, etc.). If the tenant doesn’t move voluntarily or remedy the cause the landlord can then file a lawsuit with the courts to evict. Since the courts can be woefully slow at hearing these case, a landlord may grow increasingly worried about damage to their rental but it is illegal for a landlord to change the locks to prevent entry or to shut off the tenant’s utilities in order to force them out.
The Right to Enter the Property
The landlord has the right to enter the rental property for issues concerning maintenance, the anticipated sale of the property, legitimate emergencies, for health or safety reasons, apparent abandonment or when allowed by the court. Except for an emergency, a landlord is required to restrict entry to reasonable hours typically defined as 9:00 to 5:00 pm. Normally scheduled events such as regular maintenance, extermination services may not require the standard 24-hour notice but no landlord should ever enter without announcing themselves and the reason for wanting access.
It is critically important that landlords ensure that every aspect of their landlord/tenant lease complies with both state and federal laws. It is also very important to ensure that every single person (non-minor) is on the lease as an occupant and has signed the lease. A landlord has the right to sue every signer of the lease thereby providing more protection for themselves. Any error within the lease, or clause of the lease that is not compliant with the law, or clause that can be construed as vague will likely be resolved in favor of the tenant so it is of utmost importance that every landlord seek expert legal advice to ensure that all of their rights are fully protected.
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