Tag Archives: LANDLORD TENANT LAW

Landlord is selling the building and enters my apartment without my consent.

Q: My landlord wants access to my apartment while I I’m not there, is that allowed? What are the rules/rights do I have?He’s selling the house, has been for 4 years, and keeps coming to inspect it to make sure it is ready to be shown. I only have a problem because he keeps coming in when I not home,(I’m single & have two kids that live there) even when I told he I need notice, he doesn’t care, he just texts and shows up. Not ever waiting for me to answer back, or when I do answer & tell him I not going to be there or that my teenage son is there by himself he comes in anyway. What are my rights?

A: The PA standard is “reasonable notice” for a landlord to enter a tenant’s apartment. Unless the lease specifies terms of entry to the unit by the landlord you are stuck with this standard. Reasonable is obviously subject to interpretation, so 2:00 am obviously is not reasonable. You should expect reasonable from this landlord. If he continues, send him a certified letter expressing your concerns and what times are best for you. You may need a copy of this letter some day of you end up in court.

Can a landlord charge for time and labor in PA?

Q: My tenants left without a 60-day written notice required by their lease agreement. One day they just send me a text message that their lease expired and the keys are on the kitchen counter top. Of course they did trash the place. I even found dog poop in the house, when they were not authorized to have pets in. My husband spent 86.5 hours fixing the property (carpentry, painting, cleaning, yard work) and I spent 15 hours of cleaning as well. Their security deposit was $1000 which covered materials. Can we charge for our time and labor and is $12/hour reasonable for his labor and $10/hour for mine when we go to small claim court?

A: Generally, yes. You can keep their security deposit to use in repairing damage they caused. Plus, if you sue them, you can charge materials and a reasonable labor rate for repairs to damages as long as it wasn’t normal wear and tear you are fixing. You need to keep a record of everything, take photos and you also may want a contractor to put a written repair estimate together, so your estimate appears reasonable. Sometimes court view high damage bills from landlords who do the work themselves with suspicion. Remember to respond to their written request for their security deposit in writing informing specifically them of why the deposit will not be returned.

How do we break my brother’s lease?

Q: Our brother will be hospitalized for over a year due to total blindness. How can we get him out of his lease with 7 months remaining on the lease. He has to be hospitalized in another city for total rehabilitation. He is totally blind with frontal lobe tram.

A: Of course I would need to check your lease to give you more certain advice. However, I can advise generally. You would need to immediately notify the landlord in writing. Tell him that your brother has vacated the apartment on a certain date, and that you want the security deposit back. I would send this certified mail, with your brother’s new address on it. Even though you are breaching the lease the landlord has a duty to find a new tenant ASAP to limit his damages. If the landlord sues your brother at the District Justice level, he will need to show his efforts to mitigate his damages by advertising for a new tenant. In addition, vacate and clean the apartment as soon as possible and photograph everything. Unless he can show difficulty in finding a replacement tenant, your damages will be mitigated.

Will my son be sued for breaking his lease?

Q: Son wants to break his lease, he no longer lives there. Landlord wants rent anyway. He entered a lease with his friends for a year. He has since left school and taken loans out to pay rent. He gave them over 8 months to find a sub-lease, which they did not. He does not want to pay last 8 months of rent.

A:  You need to read the lease carefully or have an attorney review it. Generally, if a tenant breaches a lease, and vacates the premises, he or she can be held for the balance of the lease. However, the landlord has a duty to mitigate the damages by preparing the unit for re-lease and finding a tenant as soon as possible. In your situation, I would have to read the lease to see if your son and his friends were responsible for finding another tenant, and not the landlord. As pointed out, you never know, there may be a defense for your son based on the facts, which an attorney could determine.

 

Executor took six months to vacate apartment. Do we have a claim?

Q: Tenant died while living in my house. After 40 days, his son was appointed Executor of estate. The court told us they had a reasonable amount of time to get his belongs out of house. Should I be reimbursed for the 6 months (rent) it took to get my house back? Nothing was in writing.

A: Damages are normally spelled out in the rental agreement. Under common law in PA, if there is no written lease, each party needs to give 30 days’ notice, as it is a month to month lease. Although you have no written lease, taking 6 months to vacate an apartment seems excessive. You may have a claim if you notified the son/Executor to vacate and his taking so long was no fault of your own. Since there is an estate opened, you can file a written claim with the estate for your damages, which is much easier than filing a civil complaint. I would review all of the facts with a lawyer.