Financial Hardships and Rent Obligations: Seeking Legal Guidance for Tenants
Being a tenant can make you feel like you are powerless against your landlords. However, many states offer protections to tenants including the right to habitable housing, privacy, and more. The first step to asserting your rights is knowing them. That means learning about the tenant housing laws in your state.
One of the greatest advantages that landlords have is that they normally have greater financial resources than their tenants. However, even if you cannot afford an attorney, you may be able to find someone to handle your case on a pro-bono basis. Many states have free Legal Aid groups, which specifically serve financially vulnerable communities. Even if you do not qualify for that aid, you may find an attorney who will handle your case on a pro bono basis.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many states placed bans on evictions for the duration of the pandemic shutdowns. Now that the shutdowns have ended, tenants may have questions about their financial obligations for rent that they were unable to pay during the pandemic. A landlord and tenant lawyer can explain to you how state and local laws may influence your financial obligations to your tenants and how to mitigate that impact on your credit.
One common issue that tenants face is having a landlord retain their security deposit. Before you move out, you should look up the steps you need to follow to secure your deposit. One good tip is to take photos or video of the entire dwelling after you have cleaned and before you turn over your keys. Then you have evidence of the property’s condition at the time that you left.
Finally, if you are a tenant and you find yourself struggling to pay your rent, pretending like the problem does not exist is not going to help you. You can look up strategies to help negotiate with your landlords. Some landlords will make changes, such as allowing you to make bi-monthly rent payments, in order to help you stay current on your rent. While not every landlord will be accommodating, you have more to lose by ignoring the problem than by trying to work things out with your landlord.