Real Estate News and Tips

10 Things Your Landlord Won't Tell You

SmartMoney |

In Brief...

1) "This building is in foreclosure. In late 2009, Melody Thompson called her landlords to ask about the well-dressed picture-takers outside her four-bedroom Portland rental home. "I was immediately angry," says Thompson, the executive director of Financial Beginnings, a financial literacy nonprofit. " The sale has been postponed twice as the landlords apply for a mortgage adjustment, but Thompson is still hunting for a new place.. And unfortunately, they often hear about it as Thompson did -- from the bank, just weeks before the sale, says Janet Portman, an attorney and the managing editor of legal book publisher Nolo. (Previously, they had as few as 30 days, Portman says. All the major real estate investment groups are asking for higher rent on new leases, and about half are doing so on renewals, says Peggy Abkemeier, the president of Rent. Kevin Amolsch, the owner of real estate investment company Advantage Homes in Denver, Colo., has heard all of these complaints and more from the tenants in the buildings he manages. "Two weeks later [when they are free and clear], it's going to start up all over again," Amolsch says. The best bet is to reach out to the other tenant and try to smooth things over directly, Amolsch says. Brianne Vorse, a longtime renter, knows the number to her local tenant rights group by heart. Vorse first sought help four years ago to force her landlord to fix windows that wouldn't shut all the way, letting in cold air and the San Francisco fog. She called again after a sub-letter offered a higher rent if the landlord would break Vorse's lease and let him take over. "I found that [the landlord] couldn't legally do this," says Vorse, who sent the landlord an official tenant petition she found on the web site of the San Francisco Rent Board. Inexperienced or incompetent property managers may not have a good system in place to handle repairs -- especially emergencies - or neglect to keep your security deposit in a safe place, she says.. Some renters -- and owners - learn this the hard way, Abkemeier says.

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