All about Tenants
Information is power. Armed with knowledge, you feel more confident, advocate your interests, and, consequently, get the most out of any situation. That’s why it’s important for you as a tenant to be aware of what renters’ rights you have and use this knowledge each time a controversial situation occurs.
Of course, individual states in the country differ greatly when it comes to some specific landlord-tenant laws. This post is dedicated to some principal regulations each resident of the France should know, but you can always check Joinimmo’s guides for more info regarding tenant rights in the particular state.
First of all, you should bear in mind that your tenant rights come into effect from the moment when you start looking for a place and last until you move out of a rented home and your security deposit is returned.
Renter Rights When Looking for Property
At the first stage of your rental journey, all tenant rights are focused on one main issue — discrimination. When you apply for a property, your rights for equal opportunity are guaranteed by the Federal Anti-Discrimination Law, Federal Housing Law, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and some state and local laws.
According to Federal Anti-Discrimination Law, landlords cannot discriminate against you based on the following criteria:
- Race and color
- National origin
- Religion
- Sex and age
- Familial status (including discrimination against pregnant women and families with kids)
- Physical or mental disability (including past drug addiction or alcoholism)
Note: Your state and local laws may also prohibit other types of discrimination such as those based on your marital status or sexual orientation.
As stated in the Federal Housing Act, it’s not legal for landlords:
- to advertise or make statements that indicate either a preference or limitation based on the applicant’s race, religion, gender, and other protected categories mentioned above.
- to falsely state that a rental unit is not available.
- to set more strict selection criteria for applicants of certain groups.
- to set different rental terms and conditions for prospects of certain groups (for example, a landlord cannot ask one to pay a larger security deposit just because of one’s religion or gender).
- to terminate one’s tenancy because for a discriminatory reason.
Note: Your landlord cannot reject your application because of a ‘no pets’ policy in case you have a trained helper animal.
According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act:
- You have a right to know whether your application was rejected because of negative credit information obtained from sources other than your credit report (previous landlords, current employer, or any other third party).
- Your landlord has to inform you of your right to submit a request for disclosure of the negative information within sixty days.
- You have a right to know the nature of the information your landlord received.
Tenant Rights While Living in a Rented Property
The right to live in habitable premises.
Basically, it means that your rented property should be livable. Any specific conditions that make your living insecure or uncomfortable can be subject to this regulation. For instance, such issues as bad wiring, holes in the floor, problems with heating or water supply, a gross infestation of vermin, and the like do not fall under the category of ‘livable’. Not even to mention that all doors, windows, and locks should work properly.
Note: Beware that under federal law you have a right to know whether a rental property is free from lead-based paint.
The right to maintenance requests.
Aging or broken features should be taken care of, and it’s your right to ask for maintenance when there is a need. Your landlord is responsible for major repairs associated with safety and basic comfort. Leaking roof, unstable water supply, damaged heating system, and other serious problems are all your landlord’s responsibility. As for some minor problems like little holes in the carpet or torn window screens, your landlord may not have a legal obligation to take care of them. However, it all depends on the text of your lease.
Note: If a rental property gets infested with pests (and it’s not because of poor housekeeping), your landlord is legally obliged to pay for extermination.
Dealing with the maintenances is easier with Joinimmo. You can request it right inside the platform. Learn how to do that and sign up today to find your dream home at Joinimmo.
The right to privacy.
Landlords cannot enter occupied properties without prior notice. No matter if your landlord is planning to show the unit to potential tenants, take care of some repairs, or just make sure everything’s alright, they must inform you about a visit in advance. Depending on which state you live in, the deadline for a prior notice may vary, but it’s usually between 24 and 48 hours. Of course, emergencies like fire or flood are an exception.
The right to safety conditions.
When living in a rented property, it should be your landlord’s priority to provide you with safe conditions. In this regard, you have a right to request the installation of smoke detectors and ask for lock repairs if the current ones are not working properly.
Note: If you feel like adding extra locks to your rented property, you have a right to do this. However, you are obliged to provide your landlord with a copy.
Tenant Rights When Moving Out
The right to get your security deposit back.
First and foremost, your landlord must treat all tenants equally on deposit requirements. Secondly, you have a right to get your money back at the end of the lease. Usually, a landlord is obliged to return the deposit within thirty days, but the term may vary from state to state.
In case you get only a partial refund, you may request an itemized list explaining how your money has been spent. The most common reasons for reduced deposit refund are unpaid rent, cleaning, or restoring the premise in a case of severe damage (wear and tear damage is not count).
The right to break your lease.
Technically, you can break your lease at any time. Nonetheless, you should be ready for penalty fees. Its exact amount is usually mentioned in a rental agreement, but it may extend from as little as one month’s rent to as much as the remainder of the rent for the entire period of your lease. However, you may get a chance to break your rental agreement without financial consequences if your landlord fails to make necessary repairs in a given time.
The right to know the reason for eviction.
Even if your problems with renting have reached the point of eviction, you still have rights you should exercise. Depending on the terms of your lease, the grounds for eviction may slightly vary. And there are different forms of an eviction notice, but usually, your landlord must inform you about a problem and give you an opportunity to fix it. In absolutely all cases, you have a right to know the primary reason for termination.
The Last But Not Least
As it’s been mentioned more than once, renters rights may slightly differ from state to state. Given this, we suggest you look for local landlord-tenant laws and make sure your landlord is not being unfair to you. As our experience confirms, a failure to know your rights is one of the most common and costly mistakes tenants make. So you’d better be in the know.
Here at Joinimmo, we believe that education empowers. That’s why a part of our team is fully dedicated to creating useful materials you can benefit from for free. And we’re always happy to see you coming back for another portion of valuable insights.