By: Tom Gish
As a landlord, it is important to know your legal rights and responsibilities so that you don’t get in a bad situation when an issue with a tenant arises. The beginning of the relationship is critical, because it sets the tone and lays the groundwork for how issues will be resolved when they do arise.
Screening tenants
Choosing the right tenant is a big consideration for a landlord, because they want someone who will pay on time, take good care of the property, and follow the rules of the lease. However, there are some legal restrictions that landlords need to follow when screening tenants.
The Fair Housing Act creates protected classes for tenants, including race, color, religion, national origin, familial status, age, disability, and sex. A landlord can not advertise or make a statement that indicates a limitation on a protected class. This means that a landlord cannot set more restrictive standards for selecting tenants or refuse to rent to members of a certain group. According to the Fair Housing Act, a landlord also may not falsely deny that a rental unit is available.
Even though landlords need to stay away from discriminatory questions, they can still thoroughly screen tenants by asking the right questions. As a general rule, it is ok for landlords to ask questions that would objectively indicate the tenant’s ability to pay rent as long as it doesn’t include superficial information that wouldn’t be relevant to the tenancy. This means that a landlord should be asking about things like income, credit history, and criminal record in order to determine whether the applicant would be a good fit. Landlords can deny an application based on these criteria, but can’t withhold from the tenant the information that caused denial. In addition, a landlord can check for nonverbal signals, like how the tenant maintains their vehicle, in order to get an idea of how they will take care of the property.
The lease
What goes into the lease is essential for a good landlord-tenant relationship because it creates the authority for how a landlord can control the tenant’s behavior and establishes the legal basis for eviction if it becomes necessary. Every situation will require unique provisions to be included in the lease, but there are a few components that every lease should have to protect the landlord legally:
- Named parties on the lease.
This is important to include because it defines who the agreement has authority over. It also creates liability for each individual tenant to be responsible for the entire agreement if one of the tenants defaults.
- Term of the tenancy.
This provision controls how much notice each party needs to provide before ending the relationship. This should be considered carefully by the landlord because it establishes how long the tenant has the right to stay.
- Rent
The lease should clearly describe how much rent will be, when it is to be paid and how it should be paid. The terms need to be specifically described so that there is no room for debate if a dispute ever arises. The landlord also must be consistent when enforcing late rent policies so that the tenant doesn’t have the excuse that the landlord let it slide before. Being specific and consistent will help a default be clear and actionable if it needs to be resolved in court.
- Repairs and Maintenance
The lease should clearly describe whose responsibility repairs and maintenance of the property will be. This creates the basis for the landlord to use the security deposit to cover costs if necessary. It also allows the owner to make sure that they know what’s going on inside their property. That way the landlord can be the one making decisions about who is doing what work, instead of the tenant making modifications to the property without permission.
Eviction
A landlord may terminate a tenant’s right to remain on the rental property, but only if the legal basis is appropriate. Just like screening tenants, the decision to terminate tenancy can’t be based on a discriminatory reason. The legal basis for eviction comes from a breach or default of the lease agreement. Before evicting a tenant, the landlord has to give proper notice and allow the tenant an opportunity to fix the default. If forcible removal is required, the landlord should follow these steps:
- File a complaint or petition with the local court, which includes paying a filing fee.
- The tenant must be served with the court documents.
- If the tenant fails to file a written notice or answer, the landlord will prevail without a hearing.
- In some jurisdictions, a tenant may request a jury trail to determine whether eviction is appropriate, or
- The court will hold a hearing to determine whether the tenant should be evicted. The court will take into account any defenses that the tenant may raise.
- The court may grant monetary awards for rent owed, attorneys’ fees and costs.
- The court may grant a writ for possess of the premises in favor of the property owner.
- Tenant has the opportunity to leave voluntarily.
- Once the writ is issued, it may be executed by law enforcement officials.
A landlord may never enforce a writ themselves. When a landlord takes action into their own hands, such as by changing the locks on the house, the eviction is illegal. These actions called “self-help” are outlawed in nearly every state and can result in liability for the landlord, even if the underlying reasons for eviction were valid. In order to perform an eviction successfully, a landlord should follow all the legal steps. Setting out the terms in the beginning will help the legal process go smoother or be avoided altogether. The best way to lay the groundwork is by carefully screening tenants through legal methods and including all the necessary provisions in the lease. This can create a long and trouble-free relationship that benefits both the landlord and the tenant.
Photo Sources:
https://assuredlockandkeyservices.com/
This post was originally posted here on March 31, 2019, and has been reproduced with Tom’s permission.
Tom Gish, at the time of this post, is a rising third-year JD/MBA student at Penn State Dickinson School of Law. He is focused on business law, real estate, and other issues that affect entrepreneurs. He has years of experience as the operations manager of his family’s small business, as well as the managing member of his own real estate investment company, Greenacre Properties LLC. He lives near Hershey, Pennsylvania with his wife and daughter.
