Renter’s Advice and Resources

Legal Issues

Permission to Enter: When Someone Can Legally Enter Your Apartment

Staff Writer

 · Dec 21, 2010

An individual with permission to enter your apartment does not have unrestricted access to your residence. The parameters of when and why a person with permission to enter your apartment is set by you or the paper authorizing entry. General Permission to Enter A general permission to enter can only be granted specifically by you. […]

Your landlord may have a duty to grant your requests for reasonable accommodations for handicap access. Not all landlords are subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act or comparable state regulations. It depends on how many tenants rent in the same building, and how many units there are. If your landlord is subject to the […]

Staff Writer

 · Dec 20, 2010

It’s difficult for you as a tenant to break a lease, because it’s a legally binding document. One way to do it without legal consequences is when your landlord breaches a provision of the lease and doesn’t do anything to fix it within the time period specified in the lease. There are other reasons to […]

Staff Writer

 · Dec 17, 2010

The landlord and tenant laws in your state determine whether you can break a lease because your roommate died, as well as what’s written in the agreement. Your roommate was either a co-tenant or subtenant. Both of these relationships have different contractual obligations and affect how to break a lease in the case of a […]

Staff Writer

 · Dec 16, 2010

A security deposit is an amount of money collected by a landlord to protect themselves against non-payment of rent or damages to the leased premises. The amount of these deposits varies and the maximum amount chargeable is often set by the government. When and the amount of the deposit that needs to be refunded is […]

Staff Writer

 · Dec 14, 2010

Having a prior eviction on your rental application does not necessarily mean you will be denied an apartment lease. How long and its impact on your rental application will differ depending on the landlord. Below is an explanation of the ways in which a prior eviction could affect your future ability to rent a residence. […]

Staff Writer

 · Dec 10, 2010

When you’re renting as a roommate with no lease, you’re either considered a subtenant or co-tenant. The circumstances surrounding the rental relationship and any verbal agreements will imply one or the other. Whether your roommate can raise the rent depends on which of the two you are. Are You a Subtenant? If your roommate rented […]

Daphne Mallory

 · Dec 9, 2010

Real estate laws are different in each state, but they all require some form of pay or quit notice prior to an eviction. Your landlord is supposed to use the notice to demand the payment of rent plus late fees, and to notify you of his intent to proceed with an eviction. In many jurisdictions […]

Staff Writer

 · Dec 8, 2010

You might welcome the fact that your apartment is in construction, because the landlord is either remodeling the apartment or fixing repairs that will improve your living space. What you may not appreciate is the fact that you may have to leave the apartment temporarily.  Moving to a new place even for a short time […]

Staff Writer

 · Dec 6, 2010

Finding an apartment with paid utilities is a convenient option for many tenants. You may have poor credit that results in companies charging you large deposits prior to connecting utilities. If your landlord will pay for them as part of your rent payment, then you don’t have to worry about that. You also don’t have […]

Staff Writer

 · Nov 24, 2010