Rental Property Management Charleston | What You Need to Know About Landlord Harassment (Auben Realty)
September 11, 2019
Rental Property Management Charleston | What You Need to Know About Landlord Harassment
Rental Property Management Charleston |
Every property manager has horror stories to tell about stressful tensions between themselves and their tenants. No property manager wants to have a conflict with the people renting from them, but sometimes confrontation with tenants is unavoidable if they are committing lease violations. There’s a fine line to cross before property manager actions cross over into landlord harassment. Here’s what you need to know about landlord harassment and what your rights as a property manager are:
What is Landlord Harassment?
When a landlord is trying to pressure or intimidate a tenant, or using aggressive methods of communication towards the tenant, this is considered landlord harassment. To prove a property manager is committing landlord harassment the behavior usually must be ongoing.
What Constitutes Landlord Harassment?
There are many different ways a landlord could be harassing a tenant. Some of the most common forms of harassment towards tenants include:
Illegal entry
Turning off utilities
Taking away services or amenities that are included in the lease
Refusing maintenance requests
Changing the locks
Taking personal possessions out of the rental home
Increasing rent
Not giving proper notice for entry, eviction, or lease violations
Trying to buyout a tenant
Threatening a tenant verbally
Threatening a tenant physically
Refusing rent payments
Filing false charges against tenants
Serving fake eviction notices to the tenant
Sexual harassment
This list is not exhaustive of everything a landlord can do that is considered harassment. If you’re a property manager concerned about harassment allegations, the best way to protect yourself is to follow the rules in the lease precisely as written.
What Isn’t Harassment?
Landlords do have legal rights to the properties they are managing. Some things that are not landlord harassment include:
Emergency entry into a home
Filing evictions in accordance with the rules outlined in the lease
Raising rent with proper notice for all units or to increase the value of a unit to match others in the area
Sending notifications of legitimate lease violations
Turning off Utilities for nonpayment per lease terms
Sending a buyout request to a tenant
Changing locks for victims of domestic violence
If you’re looking for a property manager that has no risk of committing landlord harassment,
contact Scot Properties of Charleston at .