Rental Agreement And Or Lease: Fill & Download for Free

You are in absolute control here. The landlord has made a critical mistake. Allow me to explain.The first thing to do is to pull out your lease or rental agreement and see what it says about notices to vacate. If you don't have a written, signed contract with your landlord, don't worry, you still have rights.If you are current with your rent and are not in violation of any lease terms and/or clauses, then short notices (3-29 days) to vacate are not applicable in your case.Depending upon which state you live in and the length of your tenancy, you are due either a 30 day or a 60 day notice to vacate. If you have a month to month rental agreement, the landlord can issue that at any time. However, if you have a long term lease, day #30 or day #60, whichever is applicable to your tenancy, cannot be sooner than the last day of your lease.Your landlord has made a critical mistake. By turning your electricity off, he has performed a self help eviction, which is illegal AF. A landlord cannot turn off electricity, gas, and/or water, and cannot interupt services guaranteed in the lease: trash, garbage, recycling, and compost pick up, and cable TV and internet services.To recap - you are entitled to at least a 30 day notice to vacate absent any lease violations or late rent payments. The landlord has performed illegal actions against you - short notice and self help eviction.Your next step should be to find your nearest tenant advocacy agency and make an appointment ASAP. They will be able to get you headed in the right direction to take your next step.I am not a lawyer or a RE professional and this answer is not professional advice. My experience comes from ten years of working in the family rental business and thirty-five years of experience renting in five different states.

As a landlord, I have seen nearly all of my new tenants just glance over the rental agreement and quickly sign.A judge in small claims court, and an attorney, will both tell anyone that in every situation, folks need to thoroughly read what they are signing. The law places a burden that both parties know what they have agreed to.Anyone who authors the contract (i.e., landlords, contractors, etc.) will bring their contract to the table. What many people do not realize (especially new tenants) is that they have the right to negotiate not only the amount of rent and security deposit but also the terms of the rental agreement or lease.While it may be true that some property managers or leasing offices might state that it is not their policy to modify the terms, and while some folks who need an apartment badly and quickly might not want to take the risk not getting into a new place, nonetheless, those are market forces, which are different from legal ramifications.I once made a big mistake not thoroughly reading a contract with a shady roofer, in which I unwittingly waived my rights to deal with my own insurance company where I pay a premium, as this very crooked contract established the roofer as my “agent.” A vicious battle ensued and I got my legal counsel involved, and things got very ugly, and shockingly, the roofer whom I fired (and before any work was started) also became extremely vindictive. My attorney gently inspired me to vet all contracts through him before ever signing anything ever again.Later, that same tactic that my fired roofer used was outlawed in Colorado as an illegal practice.Since this is your “first” apartment, what you might perceive as “trickery” might truly be industry standards that you are not familiar with, or they might be actually illegal or unethical practices. Without those specifics, then it is impossible to discern a course of action.

My tenant started an air BnB from the house he rented from me, can I kick him out for breaking his rental agreement?No, you can't just “kick him out”.You CAN start eviction proceedings IF:The lease prohibits sub-letting.The community/city/HOA prohibits sub-letting.The lease prohibits operation of a business on the premises.His AirBnB business is not properly licensed under any applicable state or local laws.Any of the above would be a lease violation. You will need to check your local laws to see what the exact procedure is for beginning the eviction process. There are specific deadlines involved, and specific paperwork to be served/filed.