How to Safeguard Against Broken Rental Agreements

Along the way, proper documentation and communication will not only keep things civil with your landlord but provides sufficient evidence for any type of legal case you make take on. Learn more about how to safeguard against broken rental agreements and how to prove your landlord caused the broken agreement.

Once your lease is up and you decide to move out of an apartment, renters often seek the return of their security deposit. The deposit is typically the value of the first month's rent and sometimes a little more is added to the total amount. Just because the total amount equals to a month of rent does not mean the money goes towards the rent itself.

After leaving the apartment, the property should be examined for any damages or small repairs. Any changes will get deducted from the security deposit and the rest is supposed to be refunded to the tenant. If you have not received this money back, you should request for the deposit back in writing.

The landlord should provide proof of any repairs or maintenance, including receipts and full amounts. Failure to do this showcases no proof of where the security deposit went and legal help will make a big difference in the matter. Using multiple written requests for the security deposit will help prove a chain of events and can be sent both electronically and through the actual postal mail.

While still living in the apartment, a landlord is responsible for ensuring your daily living is up to par with proper conditions and standards. You may need repairs and maintenance during your stay, and if the landlord ignores problems, they create issues that may cause a lower quality of life for you in the apartment.

For example, you may lose hot water at some point, or the washer might break down. An initial request may come in the form of a phone call or verbal communication, but anything which follows should be put into writing somehow. Along with the written request, extra details, including images or videos, will help showcase the problem further.

A bathroom toilet may leak water. A heater may make a strange noise. If any of the issues are covered under the landlord's original agreement, then they need to make the repairs within a reasonable time.

Not only does the lack of repairs break the rental agreement, but the impact on your quality of life may result in pain and suffering, something a lawyer could help take on in a civil case, as long as you have sufficient evidence of communication on your part.

A landlord has the right to request that you move off a property at any time, but in many cases, the time comes at either the end date of a lease or within a specific range. Basically, unless you signed a lease with a clause that allows the landlord to terminate the lease any time and without cause, you should get sufficient time to find a new place to live.

By keeping your original lease documents and extra copies of them, you will have the ability to look back on your lease dates. If a landlord is not only trying to force you out, but harassing you to do so, they are essentially breaking the law and you may consider suing them.

The key to communication in these scenarios is standing your legal ground and keeping all communications through the form of digital or printed documents. Anything verbal is hard to prove, so if a landlord gives you a reasonable move-out date, get the date in some form of writing so the landlord does not attempt to change it or go back on their original word.

If the landlord forces to move out of your apartment before the agreement is up, this not only causes legal problems, but you have to deal with many emotional factors as well. All of these elements may be brought forward in a civil case.

One of the more common disputes between landlords and tenants is with rent payments. In some cases, transactions may be easier with cash payments for the monthly rent, but every payment should be tracked to help prevent disputes or problems.

If a landlord ever tries to break a rental agreement and denies that you paid rent, multiple forms of proof will help serve your case. No matter how you pay each month, request some form of receipt from the landlord. When using instant payment apps, make sure to note exactly what the pay is form including the apartment number, the month, year, and total amount you are paying.

Once you start sending all of these details, the process becomes a habit and you will have all the information you need if a problem arises.

If you need legal help with your renter's agreement, contact our professionals at Hart Law Offices, P.C. We have years of experience dealing with renter issues and can guide you along the way.