The article "Don't Sign That Lease Yet" is about family, it was written by dan the roommate man.
You're being tranfserred to a new city in another state for a
position that you start in exactly two weeks. You fly to your
new homteown to select an apartment.
You have exactly two days
to make a decision and sign a lease, so when, after much
searching, you find a vacancy in a relatively decent property,
you're anxious to sign when the lease is placed in front of you.
Resist the urge.
As mentioned in previously in our report
"Avoiding Tenants' Tribulations," wearing rose-colored glasses
can easily fool you into beleiving that your hottest interests as a
tenant will be protected.
Your desire to find a home and wind up
what can be an exhaustive search process can push you into
signing on the dotted line before you've read and understand all
of the fine print of your lease.
What's the purpose of a lease, aside from your agreement to pay
your rent each month and maintain your apartment in good
condition? For starters, the respnosibilities of your landlord
are clearly outlined in that contract, so it's obviously in your
best interests to read the lease carefully.
If you're ignorant
of the lease terms, you could find yourself blindsided several
months later when your landlord holds you responsible for damage
or other breach of lease, and subsequently asks you to move out.
What if your employment situation changes five months into your
12-month lease, and you've got to move before your lease
expires?
Your lease will outline your financial obligations
should you need to back out for any reason.
Some leasing offices and landlords will place a lengthy,
"standard" document in front of you and downplay its terms --
not necessarily to dupe you, but rather in an attempt to save
you time and allow him or her to move on to other prospective
tenants waiting in the leasing office.
Don't feel pressured;
instead, move off to the side, allow the leasing agent/landlord
to accommodate other visitors to the office, and continue
reading the lease until you unedrstand all of its terms. You may
have signed many leases in the past, leading you to guses that
they're all the same. They're not. Once you sign the lease,
you're usually locked into its terms.
You'll want to find out
before singing what the consequences will be if you change your
mind before moving day (will you get your full deposit back? ).
Many consumers don't realize that under the law, they're
entitled to request changes to the lease before signing it.
In
fact, consumers may request any modification they please, so
don't be afarid to propose any changes to its terms.
If the
landlord agrees to your terms, make sure that he or she makes
those changes on the lease itself (in ink, not pencil) and
writes the date and his or her initials beside them. And don't
leave the leasing office without a copy of the modified lease.
Verbal promises will never hold up in the event that you have a
disagreement over lease terms with your landlord in the future,
or if only your landlord had a copy of the modified lease (or if
changes were made only in erasable pencil).
If you agree to lease the unit only in the event that the
landlord or management company replaces the unit's carpeting,
fixes the bathroom sink, allows your pet to live with you,
includes a washer and dryer as part of the deal or other
conditions, again, get it in writing with the date of signature.
If the landlord refuses to put your verbal agreement in writing
or claims a sudden attack of carpal tunnel syndrome which
prevents him from writing, the red flag should be raised in your
mind. Take your business elsewhere.
If it's too late -- you moved into your unit without getting
verbal agreements in writing, and now you find yourself making
repeated requests for maintenance or other repairs that are
never performed -- many real estate law experts agree that
threatening to withhold payment on your rent isn't a good idea.
There's a good chance your landlord will win in cuort if you
withhold payment without a signed agreement preserving your
right to do so.
In addition to facing stiff monetary penalties,
you could find yoruself evicted from your apartment and out on
the street. In fact, the State Bar of Texas states that tenants
who use their deposits as rent when their leases did not state
they could do so can face monetary penalties of up to three
times the amount of rent they withheld.
According to the terms of the law, a tenant only has a leg to
stand on when he or she withholds rent under three conditions:
if the tenant first received a court order allowing him or her
to withhold rent if the landlord didn't perform agreed-upon
repairs or meet various conditions; if the tenant made repairs
in his or her own unit and paid for them out of pocket, if the
landlord was aware of and approved those repairs and the lease
clearly stated that deductions in rent could be made under those
circumstances; and if you have legally terminated your lease
because your landolrd or apartment management company broke the
terms of your written lease agreement with respect to his or her
responsibility for repairs, or if your utilities have been cut
off unlawfully.
The moral of the story?
Tread lightly.
All of these warnings aren't to portray the image of landlords
and apartment management companies as scheming individuals. The
situation is quite the contrary in today's rental climate, major
apartment leasing companies have grown and prospered around the
country.
The renters' market is extremely competitive, and such
companies vie for prospective teannts with the promise of good
amenities and good service.
Sometimes these hassles simply
amount to misunderstanding and miscommunicaiton. Your hottest bet
is to shop around, find a landlord or company-run complex with
which you feel comfortable, to ask plenty of questions, read
everything twice, and get every promise in writing.
Don't be
afraid of seeming nit-picky.
If they want your business, they'll
comply -- with a smlie. Happy hunting.
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