Boundless Management

Choosing to rent is a great option if you’re looking for a new place to live – it’s easier to rent an apartment than it is to buy a house, you don’t have to worry about property taxes and it’s much easier move to a new place if you are not ready to settle down. If you’re looking for a place to rent, you may have heard about this thing called “housing discrimination.” What is that, anyway?

What is housing discrimination?

Housing discrimination is when you are treated differently when trying to rent, buy or sell a home based on certain factors. These factors include:

• Race
• Sex
• Age
• Sexual orientation
• Religion
• Class
• Familial status
• Disability

What counts as discrimination?

Sometimes it’s hard to tell if someone is illegally discriminating against you. Landlords have a right to their opinions just like everyone else, but they shouldn’t let it affect their decisions when it comes to renting an apartment. It’s illegal for a landlord to use one of the items in the bullet list above to:

• Refuse to rent to you
• Give you different accommodations compared to everyone else
• Make you use other different facilities
• Make you agree to different rental terms
• Deny that an apartment is available for rent

Visit the U.S. Department of Housing and Development website for a full list.

Housing discrimination has been illegal for over fifty years, but it still happens in the United States. Thankfully, we here at Boundless Management abide by the law and treat all renters equally without discrimination.

There is nothing more exciting than owning your own rental property. Many people invest in buying and developing rental properties as a means of earning passive income. However, one of the biggest nightmares that commonly face those who rent out buildings and other forms of property is dealing with nonpaying and filthy tenants. Every year, hundreds of thousands of landlords across the United States sue to get bad tenants evicted from their property. However, it is important to make sure that you follow proper city, county, state and federal laws to ensure that you are evicting a tenant according to the letter of the law. Rules and regulations regarding eviction will vary greatly, however, here is a comprehensive overview of generally how the eviction process works and tips to consider if you are looking to evict a tenant.

Communicate with tenant

Before conceiving of the idea of evicting a tenant, you might want to consider first talking with them to settle the situation before it becomes a legal dispute. The eviction process is very lengthy and can be very costly if not done right. Sometimes, its worth it to accept payment arrangements for late rent versus going through the process of evicting someone.

Give notice

The most common reason why most tenants are evicted is nonpayment of rent. If your tenant has not paid their month’s rent, you should immediately move to give a five to ten day notice demanding that rent be paid immediately or an eviction motion will be filed with the local court. Make sure this letter is signed, notarized and delivered in person to the tenant or someone who is at least 18 years old in the household. Every state and city has different requirements for these notices. Check your local city and state laws to determine how to proceed.

File a motion with local court

If you decided to proceeed with eviction, immediately file a motion with your local court to get a tenant evicted. There is usually a fee associated with this. Once you file an eviction motion, it will typically take anywhere between one to three business weeks before you assigned a court date. From there, a certified process server or a sheriff will have to deliver court summons to your tenant in person. This process can take anywhere between an additional two to three business weeks. In the meantime, if your tenant pays rent and you accept it, keep in mind, this will automatically drop your eviction motion.

Go to court

On your court date, make sure you have documented evidence demonstrating reasons for eviction. Generally for nonpayment, you will need to bring a copy of the lease, along with other relevant notices given to the tenant. If you are evicting a tenant on other grounds such as damaged property, make sure you have police reports, insurance claims, pictures and other evidence demonstrating financial loss.

Judgment and actual eviction

If the judge decides in your favor, a judgment for eviction will be immediately posted and given to a sheriff to escort the tenant out of the property. Usually, the courts give tenants a week to vacate the property. Some cities and counties might be longer. Usually, most tenants move out before an actual sheriff comes to clear out the property.

Hire a lawyer

It is generally recommended that individuals consult with and hire a lawyer to ensure the eviction process is carried out smoothly without any hassles. Doing this on your own can be costly and timely.

It cannot be denied that everyone will have their opinion regarding property rights regardless of whether this would be one’s own right, the right of other people, or the right of the community. Discussions on property rights can reveal diverse as well as controversial opinions. Moreover, a more complicated issue can arise like the planning, regulation, and land use.

Since there are actually no universal description of property rights, one can understand the different property rights issues by considering the various perspectives on property rights as well as its historical background.

Property Rights – What Are They?

Property rights are those rights that establish relationships among the participants of any social as well as economic system. Basically, having the rights to property is considered an expression of the power of the right bearer. Moreover, holding such right will command certain responses from other people that are imposed by the culture or the community.

For instance, a person owning a land has the right to the returns from his or her property. Moreover, he or she is protected from any trespass by his or her neighbors’ cultural customs as well as the laws of his or her community. The benefits that the right bearer will have from his or her land is his or her right to give away, sell or perhaps dispose of as what he or she sees fit.

Basically, property rights can be considered a function of what other people are willing to acknowledge. Likewise, the limits of the actions of the property owner results from the expectations as well as the right of other people as it is formally sanctioned as well as sustained by the law.

Property Rights – Where Do They Come From?

These property rights are generated from the culture and the community. A single person who is living in isolation need not fret about property rights. Nevertheless, whenever a group of individuals come together, they would need to define as well as enforce some rules of access to a property and benefits from owning a property. It is only in this way that a group of people or a community can define the stream of benefits.

Most property owners feel that they have the right to use, treat, and enjoy the property that they own according to their preference. Indeed, property owners have various rights to the property that they own. However, basing in the historical actions of the government, the property rights of the private owners are actually shared with the public. In line with this, it cannot be denied that the description of property has definitely changed over time.

What Are Examples of the Rights of Property Owners?

There can be various rights that property owners possess. These rights will include the right to lease, sell, donate, mortgage, grant easement, and subdivide the property. In line with this, the community will also have its own set of rights. The community has the right to tax, regulate the use of the property, and take the property for public use. Recently, additional community rights have been acknowledged. These rights would include the right to air quality and water quality protection, the right to farm, the right to species conservation and the right to species preservation.

Things To Note When Discussing Rights of Property Owners

Basically, property rights are not considered absolute. This can change over time with influence coming from the community, history and recent events. Moreover, this is a function of what the society or the community is willing to acknowledge, enforce, and defend.

If you have any additional questions about property rights, or need someone to manage a property, give us a call today.

Rental properties can be subject to some complex laws, and not all of them are intuitive. Property managers and property owners need to be aware of the landlord-tenant codes in their areas to make sure that they are not in violation of any of them, as any infraction can eventually lead to severe ramifications.

1. Deposits Cannot Be Held For Rent

   A rental deposit needs to be used only if there are repairs or cleaning that needs to be done to the property after the move out date. A rental deposit cannot be held for back rent or as a last rent payment, even if the renter requests this. Instead, the rental deposit must be clearly returned less any applicable fees, and any rent due needs to be paid in separately by the renter.

2. Landlords Cannot Enter The Home Without Notice

   Many landlords, especially those who live on the property, may see nothing wrong with entering the property to either check in on something, inspect it, or even just leave a note for the tenant. However, landlords are not allowed to enter a home without giving notice, unless there is an emergency such as water damage or smoke. The amount of notice necessary varies by state.

3. Landlords Need To Give Notice When Selling Property

   Landlords need to give notice to their tenants when properties are about to change ownership.

4. Rental Income Needs To Be Reported

   Many landlords avoid claiming their rental income, either because it comes in as cash or because it goes directly to the payment of the property’s mortgage. Rental income needs to be reported as income on taxes, and it may also need to be reported to the state for either sales tax or general excise tax payments.

5. Landlords Cannot Change Locks

   Even after an eviction, a landlord cannot change the locks to keep a tenant out, nor can the landlord remove the tenant’s property on their own or make any other physical attempts to drive the tenants out. In order to remove tenants, strict legal processes need to be adhered to, or the tenants themselves will be able to claim damages.

6. Court Orders Are Required For Eviction With Cause

   While landlords can evict without cause, the process can take from 30 to 60 days. If the landlord does have cause for eviction such as severe property damage or illegal activities taking place in their rental property, a court order will be needed to evict the tenant any earlier.

7. Landlords Must Honor Service Animals

   Even landlords who have properties that do not allow animals need to accept tenants who have service animals, though paperwork can be requested that proves that the animals are necessary for the disabled person’s health. Properties cannot turn away tenants because of their disabilities and need to make reasonable accommodations for them.

8. Landlords Cannot Discriminate

   Landlords cannot discriminate between tenants based on race, age, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. However, there are exceptions for landlords who are renting out properties that are attached in some way to their own living quarters.

9. Landlords Need To Keep Properties Up To Code

   Landlords need to keep repairs and maintenance up on their properties, and need to follow the local state laws on what qualifies a property as being up to code.

10. Landlords Cannot Stop Utilities

    On rental properties in which the utilities are under the landlord’s name, the landlord is not allowed to stop utilities in an attempt to drive a non-paying or even evicted tenant out. However, the landlord should check the landlord-tenant code because this may not apply if the utilities are not included in the rent but are instead supposed to be reimbursed to the landlord on a monthly basis.