By Robert Griswold
Question: My husband and I are concerned about the relationship between our on-site resident manager and our landlord. There is none. Last week, our on-site manager couple got totally fed up with our finicky landlady and they apparently fired each other.There is nothing bad in our background - in fact the on-site manager loved us as we pay on time, have full-time jobs, no children and put down a huge deposit. However, we are told that the landlady doesn't like us for some reason. Apparently the on-site managers even quit because the landlady demanded to be let into our rental unit immediately without notice to us. The manager refused because of the lack of notice and the fact that we were working. She then demanded that the managers go up to the property and take photos of the rental unit every month. I guess that is what did it.
Our lease is up in two months and we are wondering what kind of position this puts us in. We were looking forward to signing another lease, not moving. The managers say the landlady has no grounds for the complaints and will stand up for us in court if it comes to that. Do you have any other suggestions?
Property Manager Griswold replies:
The behavior of your landlord is clearly a concern and maybe illegal. And while the situation between your landlord and their on-site management couple may be unusual and frustrating, it has no legal bearing on your tenant-landlord relationship, for better or for worse. The bottom line is that your landlord can either choose to renew your lease, can choose to formally notify you in writing of their intent to not renew your lease, or can just allow the lease to expire and essentially your relationship will rollover to a month-to-month rental agreement should you tender the next month's rent and the landlord accepts it. Of course, under the month-to-month rental agreement you could be asked to leave at anytime for any reason or no reason upon only a 30-day written notice to terminate.
The most significant concern is that your landlord apparently is not aware of their responsibilities and your rights as a tenant. There are specific limitations on the landlord's ability to enter your rental premises, and the monthly photo shoot could also be considered to be intrusive and unreasonable even if it is only from the exterior, if they are harassing you.
Should your landlord not renew your lease, it is a clear indication that she does not appreciate your tenancy - thus I would not recommend going to court to fight the non-renewal since you may not be getting the full story from the resident manager. I would write a cordial letter expressing your desire to sign a new lease and see what type of response you get. You might consider giving your landlord a copy of my bestselling book, "Property Management for Dummies," as the rights of tenants to privacy is covered and your landlord could clearly use the knowledge of proper management!
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