Landlord harassment is when a landlord creates hostile conditions to force a tenant to leave, often due to legal obstacles. This can include refusing maintenance, threatening tenants, and unauthorized entry. Tenants should keep records and seek legal assistance or police help if necessary. Relocating may also be an option.
Landlord harassment is the creation of hostile conditions on a rental property by a landlord, usually with the goal of forcing the tenant to leave. This activity most commonly occurs when a landlord does not want to go through the process of evicting a tenant or faces legal obstacles to eviction in a situation where there is no reason to evict a tenant. It is a crime and tenants can get help from police officers and tenant rights organizations if they experience harassment from their landlords.
A variety of activities can be part of owner harassment. Refusing to maintain a property and doing things like shutting down utilities to make it unsightly can be a component. Landlords can stop paying for garbage collection, for example, or cancel a maintenance service. Basic maintenance for safety is a legal requirement, and a lease may also include specific clauses mandating cosmetic maintenance, such as hiring a landscaping service to keep the grounds in good condition.
Landlords can also threaten their tenants. Landlord harassment can include abusive and threatening letters, phone calls, Internet contacts, or personal conversations. Unauthorized entry can be another element of the situation. By law, landlords can only enter a property with advance notice or in an emergency situation. Frequent or illegal entry may be harassment to the owner; for example, insisting on entry every day unnecessarily can be intimidating as well as annoying for tenants. Harassment can also escalate into physical attacks on tenants or their property.
If people experience harassment from the landlord, they should keep detailed records. It’s a good idea to inform neighbors of the situation, and it can be helpful to ask them if they’d be willing to serve as witnesses. Tenants must retain any threatening or harassing communications, document damage and injuries with photos, and keep records of landlord interactions. It is important to avoid contributing to an escalation of the behavior by remaining calm in your interactions with the owner.
Tenants can start with a firm request to stop, bringing the landlord’s attention to the terms of the lease or lease agreement, or raising legal issues such as the right to give 24 hours notice before non-emergency entry. If this is not effective, the tenant can contact the police for assistance. It may also be helpful to seek legal assistance from a community service organization. Sometimes, the best solution to landlord harassment is to relocate, but it may be possible to find a home in a similar setting at a comparable rent through community assistance.
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