Category: Renting and Tenant Rights

When you sign a lease agreement, you are contracting with the landlord to pay money to live in the rental unit. Even if you are evicted, you are responsible for honoring that agreement and paying what you owe. This amount can complete or exceed 1 month’s rent after factoring in the cost for repairing settlement, going to court, and not paying any rent that’s owed during the eviction process.

Eviction Notices

A landlord can give you a written eviction notice for various reasons. If you are late on your rent, you will be given a three-day pay or quit notice, meaning you’ve got three full days to pay or vacate your property. You may get a three-day honour or quit notice, meaning you are doing something which violates the lease arrangement, like keeping a pet that is not permitted, and you will need to remedy the problem immediately or vacate. A three-day quit notice generally is served if you are doing activities that are prohibited or dangerous. If you don’t solve any of these issues within three days, your neighbor will take measures to legally evict you.

Eviction Procedure

If you do not solve the problem after three days, your neighbor will file a complaint in courtroom for illegal detainment. You’ll get a note of the complaint and receive five days to submit a reply back to the court. If you do not react, then a judge will give a default judgment against you. If you do respond, the court will set a hearing date. You and the neighbor will attend to show your own arguments. The judge will make a decision regarding the eviction, as well as assess what compensation the landlord is entitled to, including any unpaid rent.

Judgment

If the judge finds against you, then she will give the landlord a judgment of possession and decide on a date for you to vacate. Section of the judgment can include your duty to get unpaid rent, damages, fees and court costs. The landlord will likely submit the amount of unpaid rent in the date that you stopped paying to the real or estimated date that a new tenant moves in. Since the eviction process can take anywhere from 30 to 45 days, this amount will be more than a month’s rent. While the landlord can use your safety deposit to offset some of the debt, it’s entirely reasonable that the judge will likely find you responsible for another month or two of rent.

Small Claims Court and Collections

If you do not pay the amount given in the judgment, the landlord can file a lawsuit against you in tiny claims court. The landlord also can hire an lawyer to begin proceedings to examine your assets to prepare for a return to court to enforce the judgment. The landlord or the lawyer is able to turn your judgment over to a collections agency, who will try to work with you on payments. Failure to satisfy with the payment obligations will lead to a negative hit your credit score.

See related

Repairs that are neglected can cause the most credible tenant to have a change of heart and consequently break a lease on a rental residence. Rarely at the inception of a lease does a tenant or landlord imagine ending a lease agreement. Both parties are typically committed to a 12-month term that usually begins with an agreement, a deposit and keys into the house or apartment. Legal action may lead to when breaking a rental. As stated by the University of Pittsburgh,”In deciding to seek legal actions, a tenant must consider whether the issue is severe enough to devote the time, effort, and money into the actions.” An earnest effort to resolve landlord and tenant differences may offer a more peaceful outcome.

Review the conditions of your rental agreement. Provisions contained inside your rental agreement should describe procedures and penalties for breaking a lease on the house that you’re renting.

Demand that your landlord cancel your rental for deficiencies within the house. Advise your landlord of circumstances such as lead paint, poor heating or heating systems, leaks, flood, rodents and other factors which prohibit your desire to continue renting the house.

Communicate with your landlord. Inform the owner or management company of your need to move before the expiration of your rental. Provide your intentions to the landlord as early as you can. With the exception of an emergency or military leave, proactive measures will normally create a better resolution.

Negotiate to provide an amicable solution for terminating your rental before the scheduled duration. Inform your landlord of concessions that you’re willing to create for ending your lease early, such as a payment that is equivalent to two weeks of lease. Your voluntary gesture for the landlord’s lack of rental income may gain approval.

Offer to assist the landlord find a tenant. Soliciting friends, family or co-workers could create attention for your soon-to-be vacant residence. An advertisement online or in local newspapers may also help you locate a tenant.

Inquire about the prospect of subleasing your rental unit for the duration of the term.

See related

An estimated 34 million families now rent their principal residence. Most of these renters signed or entered into a rental arrangement that outlines the arrangement between the renter and the landlord, but maybe not all these agreements are contracts. A prohibited or invalid lease can cause substantial problems for both parties, and can limit or even prohibit either party from filing a claim against the other in court. To protect yourself and your renter, make certain your lease agreement will hold up in court prior to signing.

Review your state’s landlord/tenancy laws on line, or see your local law library and ask a librarian for assistance locating the materials. Focus specifically on tenants’ rights, landlords’ obligations and lease arrangement guidelines in your own state. Take notes on what you can and cannot include in your rental agreement.

Set the total amount of lease your renter will cover in exchange for leasing your property. Define exactly what your renter will provide in lieu of cash every month — for example, working in your workplace or completing repairs and maintenance on the house, if you plan to not charge rent. The rental agreement must define some form of consideration from the renter, or it isn’t a valid contract. If you intend to lease your house for free, charge your renter $1 per month at the rental arrangement. Require your renter to really cover you (he can pay you $12 at a time to pay an entire year, for example, to keep things easy ) to create your contract legitimate.

Draft a rental that details the arrangement between you and your tenant. Include your name, your tenant’s name, the names of any non-tenant parties residing in the rental house (such as minor children), the address of the lease house, any included conveniences, the total amount of rent and the day on which the lease is due every month. You can do this at the time your tenant moves in, or anytime after your tenant begins renting from you–however, if you do make a written rental after the tenant moves in, make certain that you don’t make any alterations or additions to the agreement without first obtaining the tenant’s written permission. Otherwise, you will invalidate the contract and the lease will not prevail in court.

Review your written rental agreement and make sure you didn’t incorporate any potentially unlawful or questionable provisions, especially those that require the tenant to waive his entitlement to certain rights or protections. Refer to the notes while researching the tenancy laws of your state that you drafted. One provision that is unlawful can invalidate the entire rental agreement in court, so it’s very important your lease complies with neighborhood tenancy laws and guidelines.

Create a copy of the written lease and give the copy. In the event the tenant doesn’t request any modifications to the lease provisions, both you and the tenant should then sign the base of the two copies in each other’s presence. If possible, sign the rental in the presence of a disinterested third-party witness or a notary public for further assurance and also to fortify the validity and effectiveness of the contract in court.

File a copy of the signed lease arrangement with the Office of the County Registrar (known as the County Recorder or Deed Registry in certain states) from the county in which the rental property resides. A nominal filing fee may charge for registration, which you must pay in the time of filing. Request a copy of the rental arrangement that is documented when you’re finished, and retain this copy for your personal records.

See related

As a tenant in a rental unit, your landlord might allow you to sublet, or sublease, all or some of your apartment. If you decide to sublet, you effectively become a landlord, or master tenant, to the person (subtenant) you sublet to. Your landlord’s preferences, your rental, and local and state law dictate the terms of your sublet agreement.

Reasons

There are two primary reasons why you might want to sublet your apartment, according to the California Department of Consumer Affairs. If you are going away for a period of time but do not need to lose your rental, you’ll find somebody to sublet your unit while you are gone. You might have a rental that is too large for you. If you discover somebody to sublet an area and share common spaces, you secure help in paying your rent. The latter instance is just a conventional roommate situation.

Permission

Your rental agreement might have. The Department of Consumer Affairs advises running your thought by your landlord prior to moving forward if your leasing pact does not explicitly outlaw subletting. The agency claims that consulting with your landlord helps ensure that sublet arrangements proceed trouble-free.

Responsibility

If your landlord agrees to a sublet, you must go outside and find a roommate or temporary replacement tenant. Subtenants have”no direct responsibility” for your landlord; rather, they need to reply for you, the Department of Consumer Affairs explains. You assume the role of master tenant — or landlord for your subtenant — gathering leasing and telling your subtenant of your landlord’s rules and regulations. Subtenants, if occupying your unit when you are away or as a roommate, must abide by your landlord’s policies. As an example, if you can’t own a puppy, neither can your subtenant.

Agreement Contents

The Department of Consumer Affairs recommends drafting a written agreement to be signed by you and your subtenant. It should contain details about where and how to cover the rent, who’s responsible for utilities, the whole period of your sublet agreement and any other agreements you have come to with your subtenant. These might contain expectations about how your subtenant should deal with your own personal property and other upkeep and maintenance problems. Ultimately, the agreement you enter into with a subtenant must be consistent with all the contents of this agreement you’ve got with your landlord.

Rent

If you sublet your house in San Francisco, the town’s Rent Board points out that you can’t charge more for rent than what you are spending to your landlord. For sublet agreements struck following May 24, 1998, you must present your subtenant, in writing, just how much rent you pay for your unit. As of Aug. 21, 2001, the Rent Board notes that in the event that you share your space with a roommate, then you cannot charge him over a”proportional share of their total lease” you pay to your landlord. You are able to ascertain a roommate’s share of the lease on the grounds of the number of people occupying the unit, square footage shared or a different method that ensures the subtenant is paying a fair share of the lease.

See related

If a landlord and tenant agree upon the rental of an apartment, the landlord should prepare a contract, also known as a lease arrangement, that sets out the details of the rental. A number of important points must be included in the rental to protect both parties in case of any disagreements or problems that come up later on. The more comprehensive the rental, the more provisions that are going to be understood by both parties, and the less likely is the possibility for misunderstandings or litigation of any kind.

Identify the landlord and all tenants on top of the contract, in addition to the rental address and contact info for your landlord: address, phone and, when possible, emailaddress. The lessor is the party granting the rent, or landlord; the lessee is your party leasing the property.

Head the next section”Rent.” List the beginning and ending dates of the rental, the amount of the monthly lease and also the address where the lease is to be paid. Give the deadline at the beginning of each month for payment of rent and any penalty that will be levied for late payment. Also offer the penalty for any returned checks.

Start another section headed”Security Deposit.” Give the amount of the deposit and the circumstances under which the deposit will be charged and held by the landlord. Give the period of time where the landlord must return the deposit in the end of the rental on the tenant’s meeting all the obligations of the rental. This is also the section for list terms of a separate pet deposit.

Head the next section”Utilities.” List the utilities for which landlord and tenant are each accountable for payment. Most rentals have speech releasing the landlord from any liability because of faulty operation or installation of utilities such as phone, cable, gas and electricity fittings on the section of the tenant.

Start a new division entitled”State of Premises.” The landlord warrants and the renter agrees that the assumptions are in good shape at the onset of the lease term. The lessee is bound to report any damages or desired repairs to the landlord immediately and, in some cases, in composing. The lessee can also be responsible for regular upkeep and maintenance of the property.

Begin the next section”Access.” This section clarifies that the landlord will have access to this house so as to make inspections or execute repairs. The landlord also normally has access, with advance notice, to the house so as to reveal it to prospective future tenants.

Title the next section”Insurance and Liability.” The lessee agrees to maintain the landlord harmless for any injury or damages caused by an accident, from regular use of their house, or by a fix for which the renter failed to notify the landlord, and to indemnify the landlord against all claims of guests or visitors arising from the same circumstances.

Additional sections can be added describing the move-out policy; any local ordinances pertinent to rental and action by the lessee and their guests; default option and flooding policies; eminent domain; fire insurance; abandonment of personal property; storage centers; parking facilities; subletting policies; and terms of tenancy in such issues as smoking, use of medications or possession of firearms.

See related

While foreclosure most frequently is hunted by mortgage lenders if their borrowers default, these lenders aren’t the only parties permitted to seek it. For instance, tax foreclosure can be and frequently is hunted by authorities at various levels. Additionally, property lien holders can foreclose their debtors’ properties to fulfill their liens; however, most choose to not work out their foreclosure rights.

Home Loan Foreclosures

Mortgage lender foreclosure is very common in regards to the occasion. Also, out of tax liens, the first mortgage lien on a residence is superior to all other property liens. After any tax liens, the first mortgage lien on a property’s title is settled first in the event of foreclosure. Even when a home is foreclosed by inferior lien holders, the first mortgage lien is paid first before all other liens, always excepting for tax liens.

Tax Lien Foreclosures

Another common type of foreclosure that homeowners experience must do with their property or other taxes owed. For instance, the IRS can place a tax lien on a home and then grab it. Also, governments frequently attach liens on properties because of their delinquent real estate taxes. Government property tax lien foreclosure typically occurs one to two years following unpaid property taxes accrue. Mortgage lenders especially fear tax lien foreclosure because it can wipe from the creditors’ own liens in the process.

Additional Lienholder Foreclosures

All property liens attach to a property’s title and they can, therefore, cause property foreclosure to fulfill them. Lenders on second, third party and other homeowners and mortgages associations can foreclose a homeowner to fulfill their liens. Likewise, creditors can attach liens to a homeowner’s title and attempt to foreclose. However, because first mortgage lien holders are exceptional, inferior lien holders typically do not foreclose because there may not be enough left over to fulfill their particular liens.

Deficiency Judgments

Problems might not be over for homeowners for a variety of liens. Post- foreclosure, the foreclosing lien holder may be permitted to pursue the property owner for accounts on its arrogance which went unsettled by the foreclosure. Additionally, subordinate lien holders whose liens weren’t eliminated from the foreclosing lien holder’s foreclosure activity could seek repayment of the very own liens. Lien holders using liens that survive a property’s foreclosure frequently go to court to get lack judgments to compel property owners to settle their liens.

Lien Foreclosure Laws

Property lien settlement laws, after a property’s foreclosure, can be complicated. As an example, California doesn’t allow foreclosing first mortgage lenders to seek lack judgments if they foreclose nonjudicially, or with no courts. Also, based on the circumstance, California inferior lien holders may or might not have the capacity to seek out lack judgments following exceptional lien holder foreclosure. Last, real estate tax lien foreclosure laws frequently result in the elimination of all other property title liens to allow for this particular property’s resale from the government.

See related