I’m a cheap bastard hoping for free legal advice or even an anecdote or two to help me figure this one out…
When we moved in to our current apartment back in May (1999), we weren’t required to pay a deposit. Partially because we’d been tennants before and partially because they wanted us to start paying the rent in May although we didn’t actually start living there until July.
Well, the building was sold to a new owner last November. (Needless to say, rent went up starting January 1!) The real estate company he uses to manage the property called us up earlier last month (January 2000) to tell us that we needed to sign a new lease with the new owner. I dunno: I figgered that when the new guy bought the place, he woulda bought the contracts, too. But that’s not the problem (a new lease? sure, who cares!). When we went to sign the new lease, the real estate person told us that we’d need to pay a $200 deposit since we didn’t have one on file.
Although I suspect that they can do this:
Can they do this? First, can they make us sign a new contract eight months into the one we signed last May?
Second, can a new owner suddenly require a new (or increased, for some people) deposit?
Since I suspect that it’d cost me more than $200 to ask a lawyer, I present this problem to the teeming millions.
:: obligatory disclaimer :: I am not a real estate attorney. I am a real estate agent with 5 rental properties. The following is true to the best of my knowledge. ::end of obligatory disclaimer::
Go get your lease, read it through and have it handy.
In general, for residential property, leases are more binding on the property than ownership. In other words, a property is sold “subject to” an existing lease and a lease is still valid after the sale of the property.
Did your lease, signed in May, require a deposit? If not, I don’t believe you can be required to fork over one now.
Did the lease specify a time period or duration of validity? You don’t have to sign a new lease if the old one is still valid.
If you’ve violated the terms of your lease, of course, all bets are off. You have to be notified and given time to correct them, however.
I think each state has a Landlord-Tenant Act. Check the internet or your public library.
I suspect the new owners are betting that the tenants don’t know their rights. Believe me, the scales are tipped in your favor. Do a little research and stand your ground!
Good luck.
You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them. – Malcolm Forbes
:: obligatory disclaimer :: I am not a real estate attorney. I am a real estate agent with 5 rental properties. The following is true to the best of my knowledge. ::end of obligatory disclaimer::
Go get your lease, read it through and have it handy.
In general, for residential property, leases are more binding on the property than ownership. In other words, a property is sold “subject to” an existing lease and a lease is still valid after the sale of the property.
Did your lease, signed in May, require a deposit? If not, I don’t believe you can be required to fork over one now.
Did the lease specify a time period or duration of validity? You don’t have to sign a new lease if the old one is still valid.
If you’ve violated the terms of your lease, of course, all bets are off. You have to be notified and given time to correct them, however.
I think each state has a Landlord-Tenant Act. Check the internet or your public library.
I suspect the new owners are betting that the tenants don’t know their rights. Believe me, the scales are tipped in your favor. Do a little research and stand your ground!
Good luck.
You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them. – Malcolm Forbes
double post? I wonder how you managed that with flood control?
Try getting a book, if youre cheap it shold be at your library, otherwise you can get it at a bookstore, ‘Tenants Rights’ it should tell you plenty. However you didnt mention your country, city or state, so???I got to turn on my mind reading again.
“I have gathered a posie of other men’s flowers, and nothing but the
thread that binds them is mine own.”
These are some general principles that you should check to see whether they apply in your state.
The first thing to do is grab the rental contract and read it closely. Does it provide that it is a month-to-month agreement, or is for some fixed duration, usually six months or a year? If it is month to month, you’re out of luck; the new owner can change it with a month’s days’ notice unless it is otherwise specified in writing in the contract. However, if it is a lease for, say, a year, then the terms of that lease should be binding on the new owner, and s/he will have to live with it until the lease runs out. Note, however, that the new owner does not have to renew that lease on the same terms.
Perhaps there is a Tenant’s Rights association in your area you could call to determine if the law where you live is any different? There may be specific statutes which highly regulate landlord-tenant relationships, including the amount of any rent increase.
::sighing:: Proofreading is such a good thing I should learn to do it BEFORE I hit submit.
That shouldn’t say “a month’s days’ notice,” of course, it should say EITHER “a month’s notice” or “thirty days’ notice.” I had the thirty days first, then changed it to a month and forgot to take out the word “days’.” Sorry 'bout that.
I guess I did leave out a wee bit of important information: TEXAS.
renaissanceman and Melin: Thanks for the tips. Let me know if I’m summarizing your information incorrectly:
If my current lease is not yet up, then all of us–landlord and tenant–are stuck with that lease; they can change it no easier than I can.
However, once the original lease is up, if the landlord wants to change the terms of the lease and I want to continue living on his property, then I must oblige–even if it means paying a new security deposit.
Furthermore, if it’s a month-to-month lease, all he needs to change anything is to provide me with a month’s advance notice of the changes!
Sounds right?
And, on renaissanceman’s advice, I did find a pretty good web site for all you Texas renters out there: http://www.texastenants.org
Full of little gems like what a landlord cannot deduct from your security deposit! Opened my eyes to at least twice in the past that I’ve been screwed over and didn’t even know it.