My blog focuses on Home/Living and Home/Property Discussions. The landlord-tenant relationship can be a complex one where both sides have rules. Contrary to belief, landlords can be regulated as well. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Check Up On Your Landlord.
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If you’re thinking about renting out an apartment, it’s a good idea to check up on your landlord. You want to know that they’re doing everything they can to ensure that your rental is satisfactory. But how and what should you be doing? Let’s take a look.
Confirm they’re a real person
A good place to start is to confirm that they’re a real person. You want to check that the person you think is the owner of the property is actually the owner. The good news is that you can do this relatively easily using public records. Most cities and counties keep these as an office or a land registry somewhere. You should also have the owner’s name appear on the lease. If there is no explicit statement of who the owner is, try to find out. Make sure there’s no one mysterious lurking in the background.
Check their record
Once you know the identity of the landlord, the next step is to check their record. Using a StreetSmart apartment background check or similar service is a good idea. You want to make sure that they’ve been treating tenants well.
Verify the ownership, not just the management
At the same time, you want to verify the actual ownership of the property beyond the management company. Remember, most landlords these days are using managers to deal with their properties for them so that they don’t have to get directly involved. However, legally speaking, they are still the owners and therefore they are ultimately responsible for the upkeep of the property and the maintenance.
Search court archives
If you’re really feeling keen, you could also search court archives. Following a paper trail of records and small claims can tell you more about your landlord than pretty much anything else. Ideally, you want a landlord that hasn’t been involved in any of these activities. But if they have been, then it can be a good way to check up on them and make sure that you’re getting involved in a property where you’re going to be treated with respect. If there are repeated eviction sprees or tenant disputes, that’s when you know you’re in trouble.
Scan business registrations
Many landlords these days work through LLCs because it allows them to deduct depreciation from their taxable profits. Ultimately, this makes them more money from any rentals they make available to you. It also means that they have to maintain a public record of their affairs. If you notice that a particular landlord entity isn’t filing its paperwork or following compliance standards, then it’s usually a bad sign. Legitimate businesses always do their paperwork on time.
Read tenant reviews
Finally, if you can find them, it’s a good idea to read tenant reviews about your particular landlord. These can provide you with a lot of helpful and useful information. Don’t take them as gospel, but do use them as notes to inform whether you should be getting involved with a particular landlord. One or two angry reviews is normal, but if the feedback is overwhelmingly negative in general, then it’s a sign that maybe you should look elsewhere.
