Mr. Private
13-10-2011, 11:51 AM
My first question:
"Permit the Landlord and or the Landlord’s Agent or others, after giving 24 hours written Notice and at reasonable hours of the daytime, to enter the Property:
… to show prospective purchasers the Property at all times during the Term and to erect a board to indicate that the Property is for sale."
This, to me, is not really acceptable behavior. Obviously a ‘good’ landlord and/or agent will talk with the tenant and come to a mutually agreed upon date to set up any viewings. However, my issue is this: the ‘fine print’ doesn’t mention any such ‘mutual agreement’, it literally just says, more-or-less, that anyone the landlord specifies can enter the property after giving 24 hours written notice within daytime.
So here it is to all you other landlords: While I bet that most of you would say “Oh, I would never be so rude as to just walk in 24 hours after giving you a notice!”, this landlord, at least, in particular is ensuring that he will have the right to do just that if he wants to!
Essentially it’s a funny matter: If you’re truly a kind and respectful human being, why not add the following into the contract: “ … after giving 24 hours written Notice AND COMING TO A MUTUAL AGREEMENT WITH THE TENANT, to enter the Property…”.
Why not add the common courtesy into the fine print if you will always abide by it anyways? The truth is, it’s your house, but not your home when you rent it out to others. Your tenant really shouldn’t have to plan around your life as well as their own. Yes, there has to be an amount of trust, but why not MAKE SURE that trust is required in the fine print? That ensures, to all parties, that their needs are met.
Second Question:
“Not change the locks (or install additional locks) to any doors in the Property”
Now, I’ve read numerous postings which seem to claim that a tenant ALWAYS has the right to change their own locks, at their own expense, whether or not they agreed not to.
Can someone please clarify this?, not just with their opinion, but with hard fact. In other words, please answer this question with a sited governmental source of some kind (a link would be great so we can all check it as well). I’m sure there must be some kind of law out there referring to exactly this, and yet no one seems able to link to it.
My issue with the landlord asking me not to change the locks is simply that I don’t believe it’s their right to request that of me. Theoretically speaking, a dishonest landlord (and there are PLENTY) could just walk into your apartment with his keys and take whatever he/she wanted. Unless you installed a camera in your flat, you would never be able to prove it.
This is, of course, (hopefully) unlikely. However, after renting many properties, I’ve come to the realization that it really doesn’t take a much to be a landlord. One would think a gauntlet of background checks, aptitude checks, and perhaps at least some business sense and/or good grasp of morality would be 100% required - but it’s not. A landlord could be the spoiled brat of your old landlord who just died and left the land to his idiotic son – point being: why, in god’s name, should I be stupid enough to just trust my landlord not to enter my home when I know he can?
It’s not like it would take him very long to determine when I’m usually out of my flat and for how long. Considering landlords mostly like to remain anonymous now days (hiding their address as the agents address) and not allowing direct communication with the tenant; it’s really hard to trust someone you’ve never seen, can’t talk to, and who requires they have a key to your private home, AND attempts to ensure (in the fine print) that they CAN enter your home.
To re-iterate, my question about changing the locks is this: Can someone please site a verifiable source regarding the law. I want to know if the tenant has the right to change the locks whether or not he/she agreed not to. If this can only be done under ‘special circumstances’, please specify those circumstance and/or link to the source that specifies them.
"Permit the Landlord and or the Landlord’s Agent or others, after giving 24 hours written Notice and at reasonable hours of the daytime, to enter the Property:
… to show prospective purchasers the Property at all times during the Term and to erect a board to indicate that the Property is for sale."
This, to me, is not really acceptable behavior. Obviously a ‘good’ landlord and/or agent will talk with the tenant and come to a mutually agreed upon date to set up any viewings. However, my issue is this: the ‘fine print’ doesn’t mention any such ‘mutual agreement’, it literally just says, more-or-less, that anyone the landlord specifies can enter the property after giving 24 hours written notice within daytime.
So here it is to all you other landlords: While I bet that most of you would say “Oh, I would never be so rude as to just walk in 24 hours after giving you a notice!”, this landlord, at least, in particular is ensuring that he will have the right to do just that if he wants to!
Essentially it’s a funny matter: If you’re truly a kind and respectful human being, why not add the following into the contract: “ … after giving 24 hours written Notice AND COMING TO A MUTUAL AGREEMENT WITH THE TENANT, to enter the Property…”.
Why not add the common courtesy into the fine print if you will always abide by it anyways? The truth is, it’s your house, but not your home when you rent it out to others. Your tenant really shouldn’t have to plan around your life as well as their own. Yes, there has to be an amount of trust, but why not MAKE SURE that trust is required in the fine print? That ensures, to all parties, that their needs are met.
Second Question:
“Not change the locks (or install additional locks) to any doors in the Property”
Now, I’ve read numerous postings which seem to claim that a tenant ALWAYS has the right to change their own locks, at their own expense, whether or not they agreed not to.
Can someone please clarify this?, not just with their opinion, but with hard fact. In other words, please answer this question with a sited governmental source of some kind (a link would be great so we can all check it as well). I’m sure there must be some kind of law out there referring to exactly this, and yet no one seems able to link to it.
My issue with the landlord asking me not to change the locks is simply that I don’t believe it’s their right to request that of me. Theoretically speaking, a dishonest landlord (and there are PLENTY) could just walk into your apartment with his keys and take whatever he/she wanted. Unless you installed a camera in your flat, you would never be able to prove it.
This is, of course, (hopefully) unlikely. However, after renting many properties, I’ve come to the realization that it really doesn’t take a much to be a landlord. One would think a gauntlet of background checks, aptitude checks, and perhaps at least some business sense and/or good grasp of morality would be 100% required - but it’s not. A landlord could be the spoiled brat of your old landlord who just died and left the land to his idiotic son – point being: why, in god’s name, should I be stupid enough to just trust my landlord not to enter my home when I know he can?
It’s not like it would take him very long to determine when I’m usually out of my flat and for how long. Considering landlords mostly like to remain anonymous now days (hiding their address as the agents address) and not allowing direct communication with the tenant; it’s really hard to trust someone you’ve never seen, can’t talk to, and who requires they have a key to your private home, AND attempts to ensure (in the fine print) that they CAN enter your home.
To re-iterate, my question about changing the locks is this: Can someone please site a verifiable source regarding the law. I want to know if the tenant has the right to change the locks whether or not he/she agreed not to. If this can only be done under ‘special circumstances’, please specify those circumstance and/or link to the source that specifies them.