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Lease Enforcement 101: The Most Common Lease Violations

Lease Enforcement 101: The Most Common Lease Violations

Did you know that over 44 million people rent apartments in the United States? With so many people living in apartments, you are bound to have a few bad apples in the bunch. 

Landlords like yourself try to make it very clear what the rules are when they present a tenant with a lease. However, some of these tenants may test you or even just be neglectful of what the building rules are. 

So, what are the biggest lease enforcement violations? Here are a few that you should note. 

Unpaid Rent 

This is the biggest and perhaps the most important violation that you can face as a landlord. If you are not getting rent from your tenants, that is money that is being taken out of your pocket and it can put you in a bad financial situation.

The easy answer for the failure of rent collection could be an eviction. However, California evictions can be particularly difficult to enforce, especially if a renter has lived there for more than a year. 

In California, 1.3 million people were late on rent last year. If you are a landlord in recent times, this is a situation that you need to be prepared for. 

Prohibited Pets 

Another common violation of a lease agreement is when somebody brings a pet to live with them, which is not allowed. Some of the most common examples of this are cats and dogs. 

Normally, if an apartment building does not allow pets, they will make that clearly known before the tenant signs a lease agreement. However, especially in bigger buildings, those tenants may try to sneak their pets in after they settle in. 

Keep an eye on people that do this because if you have this policy, it is likely because other tenants do not like the presence of pets. 

Interior Damage 

One way to violate a lease is to damage the inside of the apartment. A surprising way that this can happen is by smoking indoors. That can leave a lingering smell that is difficult to get rid of along with possible burns and discoloring of walls. 

Another way interior damage can occur is if you put up decorations that create holes in the wall or if you break something yourself. 

Subletting the Apartment

Finally, some tenants might get greedy or desperate and start subletting their apartment to somebody else once they are settled in. Now, some apartment buildings do allow this, but the ones that do not will have it clearly stated in the lease. 

If you are in that category, you will need to establish proof and put a stop to it. At the end of the day, that is the profit you are losing out on. On top of this, it can create a safety risk since those tenants likely did not have a tenant screening. 

Get Help With Your Lease Enforcement

These are just four of the most common lease enforcement violations. However, there are more out there that could be even harder to deal with. 

If you find yourself in this spot, you may need a property manager to help you. See how we can help by giving us a call or leaving us a message today.

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