Know Your Rights as a Tenant

Hello Rene,

As long as you are paying, landlords must generally stay out of a property as long as tenants are paying rent. The only exceptions are in the case of an emergency, a repair, or a house showing for potential tenants in the future. Most states require a landlord to give 24-hour notice before entering the unit, but that, too, can vary by city. Some areas have no set minimum for advance notice.

This month Apartment manager request to come in to do inspection on air unit change filter and check thermostat now less than 30 days they want to come in again. To inspect all rooms is this allowed. If so what do they need to inspect. An as a tenant do I have rights to complaint if they want repair the light at my front door and not fix the gate for security.

Hello Emily,
Well, if you haven’t discussed the problem with them yet, be sure to approach them first without taking any further action. If you spoken with them, you might contact your local tenants’ rights council about it.  If you’re a student at a large university, your institution may offer free or discounted legal services to students.

Hello La Shunda,
Thank you for writing in.  I’m sorry to hear of your trouble. 
Please contact your local tenants’ rights council to further discuss the legalities.

Hi
I live in a apartment complex and management is making every resident pay 80.00 a month for cable service and 20.00 a month for package service. I have my own cable and do not want to get the cable they offer and do not want my packages delivered by the service we have to pay 20.00 a month for. Can they force you to pay for extras you do not use? The package service was 10.00 a month and just went up to 20.00 so management is profiting 10.00 a month from each resident.

I need to report my landlord and I need to know my rights as a tenant. I been in my home for 16 years the property was bought by some more people. When we met the owners, it was an elderly Indian man and his father who brought the property.  The elderly man was really old he had a lot of health problems like he couldn’t hear. He was a great man we have a small dog in the home he didn’t have a problem with our dog, so he didn’t charge us. We have been with them for about 4 years now.  The older man health started to fail. So, we met him and his daughter she began to deal with us and the issues of the home. So now we are dealing with his daughter or so they say it’s his daughter it’s been so many people to deal with. The fence in the back yard fell completely apart we informed her about the fence that she never repaired but still asking for money. Thats been about 4 months now I have photos.  This is where the problem comes in the home has flooded the entire house was ruined far as the hardwood floors and the carpet. We informed her of the problem she filed an insurance claim had people come in and remove the hardwood floors an and put all my furniture in the garage and there is still mold from the wet carpet that they never removed. The people came in and tore up the entire floors except for the carpet. All of a sudden, the workers stopped coming and she started sending text messages. Talking about signing a new lease and the rent is going up from $1600 to $1850 and how she doesn’t like pets and there will be a pet deposit of $600. It been a month and the floors are still not fixed. She sent emails to sign a new lease if we don’t, she will evict us, but she hasn’t fixed these floors and there is still mold growing in this house.  But mind you we still haven’t heard from the owner. She will not have the owner contact us our lease is up, and I am not signing no lease with this house looking like this. I have pictures and text messages .I need answers please. 

Hello Venita,

The right to quiet, peaceable enjoyment of a rental property is an implied “covenant,” or promise, under the law. Many written leases also contain a clause guaranteeing a tenant’s ability to live peacefully in their rental property.

This covenant prevents a landlord from disturbing their tenants. It also makes the landlord responsible for other tenants who create disturbances. It does not make a landlord responsible for disturbances by strangers or people who do not also rent from them.

If your landlord’s actions or inaction regarding other tenants is disturbing you in your rental, you may contact your local tenants’ rights council who can advise you about how to proceed.

Hello Estie,

Thank you for your email.

Landlords are required to make routine repairs in a timely fashion, no matter how small. Major repairs that compromise day-to-day living for tenants should be a top priority. If your landlord does not respond to your first request, then send a second request with a repair deadline. After all, you are paying to live there. You are entitled to a clean, functioning household. If major repairs go ignored for more than five days, contact your local tenants’ rights council to discuss your options.

I have a tenant above me with 2 small kids that are making so much noise it’s giving me anxiety and stress. I work from home and it’s unbearable.  It’s not just walking it’s running, jumping and dropping things from morning till 10 or 11 pm. I tried to knock on their door no answer.  I have called the office at least 10 times and when into the office at least 5 times and nothing is being done. What can I do?

My husband and I have lived at The Historic Electric Building Apartments for almost five years. 

We have grown very concerned about the condition of our building.  During the time we’ve lived here, our windows have never been washed, machines in the laundry room are constantly broken…as are the garage doors and the elevators.  In fact, our middle elevator has been broken for the past year.  It is very common to have only one working elevator.  We’ve had to climb 15 floors on more than one occasion due to no working elevators.  I haven’t, but other residents that I have met have been stuck in the elevators.

Most concerning is the lack of water/hot water.  It is common for us to be without water and/or hot water.  Just in the past two weeks alone we’ve been without hot water/water at least 4 times.

In our apartment, I have lost count as to the number of leaks we’ve had (the floors are peeling because of the leaks), our refrigerator doesn’t work properly, the bathtub is peeling so badly that it’s next to impossible to keep clean, and the kitchen sink faucet is broken. 

I’ve reported these items multiple times, but with no response.  I suppose that’s because Greystar can’t seem to keep a manager or other staff on the property for longer than about two weeks. 

The lack of water/hot water is obviously our biggest concern.  To date I’ve filed a complaint with management (Greystar), the property owner (Tradewinds), the City of Fort Worth Code Compliance Department, and the Attorney General’s Office.  In my estimation, the owner/management are in violation of our lease via warranty of habitability.  What are the proper steps for us to take so that we can move without being penalized for breaking the lease?

Hello Andgerlea,

Thank you for your comment.  I’m sorry to hear of your problem.  It may be wise to contact your local tenants’ rights council for further legal discussion.

Hello Timothy,

Thank you for your question.  Where you store your property is negotiable.  But, it is between you and your landlord.  Open communication between you and your landlord is key to a good relationship.  If you haven’t already, let them know what is happening with the current storage space.

Hi , filed a small claims suit and a complaint with the PUC (now in the formal complaint phase) for improper billing methods, over charging, violations of the lease and violations of the PUC statues governing the allocation of utilities. So on 4/12 we had our first court date for small claims court, we got a 90 day continuance. When I got home from court they had put a notice in my door that they were refusing to renew my lease and I have 60 days. I feel like this is retaliatory behavior bencause they expected the small claims case to be dismissed and it wasn’t. Do I have to wait to file a case to stop the retaliatory behavior once she files eviction papers or can I file now. Also pervious to our court date my complex website did not show my apart as available but now it does.

Thank you so much

My landlord is making me keep my grill behind the building but will not do anything when stuff gets taken from them or they are destroyed by other tenants what should I do

Hello Michelle,
Thank you for your email. 
Landlords are allowed to raise the rent once the lease has expired. If you decide to stay in the same apartment next year, you should read your new lease carefully and make sure the rates haven’t gone up. If they have, see if you can negotiate with your landlord to give you time to find a new place if you cannot afford the new rent price. 

If you have further questions, please contact your tenants’ rights council.

I have lived in my apt for 9 yrs. Each year of renewal, I receive a notice about a month or two before with an offer to shampoo the carpet and the new rent rate. The first few years my rate did not change, then the past 3 or 4 it only increased by $20. My lease expired 3/31/23. I only received a text on 3/31/23 asking if I was going to renew. I replied that I was debating since my apt has not been renovated like the others and the additional charges are extremely high. I was told they understand and will check on a lower rent rate. They often send text reminders of the rent payment coming up. I logged into the site to pay my rent and it was $400 higher than usual. My base rent had been $1,094 + water, waste water, gas, etc brings it close to $1300. This time it was $1,681 - $1399 market rent, $100 month to month fee, and utility charges. I went into the office to speak with them about it. One lady said they didn’t send notices. The manager said my name was cut off the list of tenants to renew and was confused by that. He had to talk to his boss, which already left for the day. I went ahead and paid my rent as usual leaving off the other charges, while I wait for their decision.  Being a former property manager for Section 8 and LIHTC properties, we had to give our tenants at least 30 days notice of any changes to the lease and/or amendments to the rules.  Does this apply to conventional properties as well? What are my rights in this situation?

Hello Nicolas,

It sounds like you made every effort to take care of the property.  However, pet fees are usually non-refundable, so even if there is no damage caused by the pet at the end of the lease, the landlord keeps it.

The security deposit is a set amount of money that the landlord takes from you as collateral for the structural integrity and cleanliness of the house. In other words, this money is set aside by the landlord to inspire tenants to take good care of their rental property, and if you don’t, it gives them the opportunity to recoup those losses.

There may be exceptions for registered service animals. Please contact your local tenants’ rights council for further discussion.

Hi TSAHC team,  I have recently left my apartment complex due to the lack of attentiveness from management and an increase in fees.  Prior to leaving, I followed all the requirements that were asked of me.  I paid rent on time, gave the 60 day notice as specified in the lease, and returned any applicable items(keys, key fobs, etc).  I do have an emotional support animal, but he is trained to go outside, and I vacuumed at least once a week.  I contacted my apartment recently to ensure that everything was good on my end, and what date I should be expecting my security deposit of $200.  However, they claimed that they needed to replace the carpet due to stains and odor.  I know that this is probably not true since I take care of my property and left the carpet in good condition.  The apartment complex referred me to a corporate number that I can call for further questions.
Now, I am wondering what my rights and options are as a tenant as this has caused me unnecessary stress.

Hello Stacie,

As long as you are paying, landlords must generally stay out of a property as long as tenants are paying rent. The only exceptions are in the case of an emergency, a repair, or a house showing for potential tenants in the future. Most states require a landlord to give 24-hour notice before entering the unit, but that, too, can vary by city. Some areas have no set minimum for advance notice.

Please contact your local tenants’ rights council to discuss further.

My mother in law and her sister live together in an apartment complex. The complex employee recently went to check smoke detectors and any other “routine” checks. The sister let them in the apartment but when they got to my mother in laws room she told them NO, she was not dressed and did not receive a notice so therefore was not expecting them and told them they can come back after she receives a notice. They did not like that answer and proceeded to enter her room and when she went to shut the door to keep them out she had to push it so therefore pushing against the employee which ended with my mother in law falling and braking her leg. When she returned from the ER there was an eviction notice on the door and reason for it was because she pushed an employee. What can be done with this because to me there are multiple violations to renters rights?