Protecting Yourself For End of Lease Term
How 2 Protect Yourself at the End of Your Lease
In our office we hear numerous horror stories concerning landlords falsely filing judgments on their tenants after move-out for damages and/or back rent. You can protect yourself very simply by being diligent with your record keeping. Upon move in you must document, via photo and email, anything you see that is sketchy or “not up to snuff”.
Calling maintenance or the leasing office is NOT the route to take. It is very hard to prove in a court of law what was said over a telephone call or a personal conversation that took place. Obviously, that will be a “he said, she said” situation that the renter is bound to lose. Instead, EMAIL is the only way you should communicate with the leasing and maintenance offices. Why you ask? The answer is so elementary. When using email, you are creating a record that can easily be printed up and shown to government officials if it comes to that. Which of course it never will. No person, in their right mind, would attempt to refute content they wrote or that was written to them. If you want to withhold rent money for whatever reason such as pest control, appliances malfunctioning, heating or A/C issues, etc. you are well within your rights to do so – but you will lose that battle later down the road if you do not document your justification on permanent record. In summary: emails and photos are the ONLY way you should be communicating with your landlord or leasing/maintenance office.
For more information concerning renting visit our website at http://how2rentagain.com
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