Bad landlords exist and tenants can have grief when dealing with them. While many landlords are perfectly reasonable and understand that a good relationship with their tenant benefits both parties, some aren’t that agreeable.
How to deal with bad landlords first involves properly understanding your local tenancy laws and what is expected of both you the renter and your landlord. Before you stop paying rent or pursue legal action, understand what the ramifications are as it might give your landlord the ability to evict you or cause you expenses you’d rather not have to pay for.
How To Deal With Bad Landlords
Here are a series of steps to ensure you understand where you stand and what your rights are. While each suggestion may not help to make your landlord nicer or more attentive, it can let them know you are serious and know your stuff.
Understand local landlord and tenant laws
Your local rental laws will supercede anything put in a lease that may not even be enforceable. More on that below. But in general terms it’s important to understand what the landlord must do for you in terms of being in compliance for safety standards, fire standards, smoke detector and carbon monoxide detectors and other laws they must adhere to. That way you’re not paying out of pocket for something they should supply.
The law will also specify reasonable time frames to fix and replace broken items so that you know whether or not it’s reasonable that a broken fridge is still not fixed 3 weeks later and your landlord is stalling or not responding to your request in a timely manner.
Read your lease
…in full before signing it. And afterwards, too. Whether the landlord is using a standard lease form supplied by the government or a custom one they made themselves, sometimes landlords try to sneak in clauses that aren’t enforceable. Often clauses about pets, children, visitors, cleaning deposit, security deposit and other ones are snuck in and because you’re eager to get the place, you sign the lease.
Local laws may dictate that some or none of these clauses would hold up in court. If you aren’t planning on having pets and there is a no pet clause, perhaps it’s not a clause you wish to worry about. But knowing what can and can’t be included and enforced is important especially if the landlord is a stickler for rules.
Push back
If you have a landlord who just shows up unannounced to inspect the unit, that’s typically not allowed. Your local laws will most likely indicate that the landlord must give written notice 48 hours in advance or similar, and it has to be agreed by you the tenant in writing. If there is an emergency repair or something like that, that’s different. But a landlord typically can’t just show up unannounced whenever they feel like it to look around.
And they can’t access the unit without your permission either. They may own the place but when you’re living there, it’s not theirs to enter whenever they like. If you need to push back and enforce these rules, so be it. Knowing the law in advance helps so you can’t be taken advantage of.
Document requests in writing
These days it isn’t hard to ask for things in writing whether by text or email and typically both will be considered in court if needed. If your landlord is one of those people who likes to do the opposite and call you back on the phone to avoid leaving a paper trail, just document in writing the specifics. The date and time they called, phone number they called from, notes regarding the call and the conclusion of the call.
If you are having trouble getting something fixed or replaced, your texts, emails and phone call logs can help to jog their memory when the landlord realizes that you have documented everything. And it will help further if you ever end up in court regarding a specific complaint outlined in the documentation.
Always pay on time
In many jurisdictions rent is considered late the day after it was due. Makes sense. A due date exists for a reason. Check your lease because it may specify a penalty or interest every time rent is late including the day after it was due. Consistently late rental payments could be eventual grounds for eviction.
And in some areas, your landlord can report you to a credit bureau to let them know you pay late which can negatively affect your credit score. Conversely, some credit bureaus allow landlords to report tenants who consistently pay rent on time which can help your credit score.
If you want to have good relations with your landlord, paying rent on time every time is a good start. That way they can’t use it against you if you need their help but you’re either behind in rent or are consistently late. Even being a day late here or there adds up.
Don’t cause trouble
Don’t cause noise disturbances and don’t get into trouble with the neighbors. Don’t break rules or laws that can get you into trouble. The better tenant you are, the more you should be able to expect the same from your landlord too.
Common Problems With Landlords
Failure to repair and maintain
As mentioned above, landlords are required to fix and replace certain aspects of the rental property in a timely manner. Your local laws will dictate this and state reasonable time frames.
In some circumstances and areas, tenants may be able to fix something themselves, pay for the repair and then either get reimbursed by the landlord or simply deduct it from the rent. You might have a good relationship with your landlord where they allow you to take care of small repairs and giving them the heads up in advance.
Solution: If you live in a condo or apartment with a manager or board, check with them for advice. If you deal directly with the landlord and they aren’t responding in a fair manner, check with your local landlord and tenant agency for advice. You can also contact your local town council or other politician who can sometimes act as an advocate on your behalf.
If you are in a building and the landlord manages all units and there are other people with the same problem, get together with them to figure out a combined strategy. If you’re dealing with a slumlord and it’s a corporation, you might get the media involved as bad press tends to get things done.
Failure to repair and maintain in a timely manner
In this case, your landlord may fix things begrudgingly but not in a timely manner. While one broken electrical plug outlet for a week or longer might be an inconvenience, having no heating in winter or no hot water for days or longer might be illegal where you live and is more than an inconvenience.
Solution: As mentioned above, you first need to determine where the specific repair in question falls in terms of its criticality. Something that isn’t repaired that is making the property uninhabitable – no heat in winter, bed bugs, mite infestation – may mean the landlord has run afoul of the law and this may give you a legal remedy.
In both cases – failure to repair at all and failure to repair in a timely manner – your best best is to get a resolution with your landlord of course. Going to court or a tribunal of sorts can get contentious and messy. But if that’s how it ends up, that might be the only path forward.
Summary
It’s important for all tenants to read their lease before signing it and understand their rights. While many landlords are reasonable, some might try to sneak in clauses that aren’t enforceable. In some cases you might need to push back and let your landlord know that you know the rules even if they don’t. This can be done in a firm but respectful way.
Want to learn more about what landlords have to deal with to help you get a better sense as to their motivations and dealings with tenants? Check out my post on Common Problems Faced By Landlords to learn more.