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Step 1
Always be nice. I know that this sounds silly (and probably obvious), but its much easier to resolve conflict when you approach the person respectfully and politely.
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Step 2
Read your lease as you sign it, and ask questions! This protects you, and it also makes sure that if a future conflict arises, you can use your lease to your advantage to back you up. If there is anything that confuses you or doesn't seem right, contact a lawyer, or anyone else who may be knowledgeable in landlord/tenant laws.
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Step 3
If you're the type of person who wants your landlord to simply stay away, be sure to pay your rent in full and on time, and maintain your home well, making sure you don't misuse appliances or damage anything.
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Step 4
Never make assumptions, and always keep records of conversations. If you'd like an extra level of protection, maintain correspondence in writing, particularly when you need repairs or have complaints. In instances where a landlord takes an extravagant amount of time making a repair or responding to a complaint, you may have the right to break your lease. A judge will not rule in your favor, however, if you do not have adequate documentation to back yourself up.
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Step 5
Many landlords unknowingly, or even sometimes knowingly, take advantage of tenants' lack of knowledge of the law. It is absolutely VITAL that you understand your local laws and your rights as a tenant and their rights as a landlord. Check to see if there are any publications that you can keep on hand. For instance, I managed to find a book called "Maryland's Guide to Landlord/Tenant Relations". This book was my bible when I was in property management, and I recommended that every single one of my tenants purchase it as well. Every single situation that came up would be listed in that book and we were never left wondering how to respond.
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Step 6
Learn about fair housing. Not just to protect yourself, but to also help you understand why your landlord may not give you an answer to a concern that you like. Here is an example.
We had 2 pools at our property (it was an apartment community) and we required pool passes for everyone, including guests. Every pool season we would require new passes, and we'd require a form be filled out so that we could get signatures showing that residents understood and would follow the rules. On these forms, it stated very clearly that you must request passes, including guest passes, 24 hours in advance so that they could be prepared. In reality, it only took a few minutes to create the passes. However, due to the extremely high workflow that we had, it was impossible to stop what we were doing to make passes every time someone came in to request them. We implemented the 24 hour advance notice policy so that our residents would know to plan ahead and not be disappointed if we couldn't get to them immediately. The difficulty, however, would come when residents didn't plan ahead and were upset if we didn't serve them immediately. If we were to serve one race or one gender immediately, but then turn down another race or gender (unintentionally, mind you), we could literally face jail time and a huge fine. So, every single person had to wait 24 hours, whether we were capable of serving them immediately or not. This led to some upset people sometimes, but there was nothing we could do, legally, to help them without getting into trouble.
The point here is that sometimes a landlord may say no, or yes, to you and their reasons might seem silly. You have to realize, though, that even if they want to help you, in certain circumstances they just can't because they aren't able to help everyone in the exact same fashion, and they have to treat every single person equally. Fair housing is a vital law and its so good to know that all people are protected from discrimination, but unfortunately some people take advantage of it and so it makes some things more difficult then they need to be. -
Step 7
Respect your neighbors. You might not like them. Hell, they may be terrible to you. However, if you break laws or violate your lease in order to get revenge on them, YOU are the one liable for your actions, not them.
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Step 8
If you have new people or new pets move in with you, you have to tell your landlord, not just for the landlord's protection but for yours too. If you have a person move in, and they are not on your lease with you, any damage created by that person is your responsibility. As for pets, if you don't have them included in your lease, you can be evicted for having them in many states.
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Step 9
If a repair is needed, DO NOT DO IT YOURSELF, even if the landlord says it is okay. The thing is, this is your landlord's property. They own it, and therefore, even if you are the one that broke whatever it is needing repairs, your landlord should still be the one orchestrating its repair. The reasoning behind this is that if you create further harm, if the contractor you hire messes up, or if the contractor bills the landlord for repairs they did not authorize, then YOU are responsible for the bill no matter how expensive it becomes.
If you are the one responsible for the initial damage, you should still have your landlord oversee the repairs, but depending on your local laws, they will likely hold you responsible for the bill. -
Step 10
Never, ever make changes to the place you are renting without written consent from your landlord, and ALWAYS be prepared to return the place you are renting in the condition you received it. This means if you choose to paint, put in different flooring, whatever, you must repaint it the color you received it, reinstall the flooring, or change back whatever it is you altered.
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Step 11
Understand what your security deposit is. In some states, a security deposit is required to accrue a certain amount of interest beginning at a certain time. After you've moved out, your landlord is required to return that deposit to you in full, plus accrued interest, minus money taken out for unpaid rent, bills, and repairs. If they choose to deduct money from your deposit, they MUST give you an itemized list of what each deduction is and they must be able to tell you why those things were necessary. In Maryland, the penalty for violating these requirements is that the landlord may then have to pay the deposit back three fold.
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Step 12
Also, understand what the money is that you are giving your landlord at any point in time. This probably sounds silly, but in Maryland, lets say your landlord pays the water bill for your home and it is your requirement to reimburse them. For some reason, you don't pay them the water bill, but you still deliver them a rent check without the word "Rent" written on it. That check can be applied to your water bill, and its remaining balance can be applied to your rent. Now, instead of owing for water, you owe rent. Then you choose not to pay THAT balance. Your landlord can then file in court for nonpayment of rent, which is the first step in the eviction process. I have seen situations where people stood to be evicted for literally $4. Learn where your money is going. Pay every bill on time. And ALWAYS write in the memo line what it is you intend your payment to be for.
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Step 13
Learn what the penalty is for breaking your lease. Many states have limitations to this penalty. In Maryland, it is allowed that a landlord may charge the equivalent of up to two months rent for breaking your lease.
*Side note, notice the tricky wording there. The "equivalent of up to two months rent" means that you can be charged a "fee". Those exact words matter because a landlord cannot charge you rent for any day past the end of your lease, or your surrender of possession of your home--whichever comes last. -
Step 14
Know how much notice you have to give before moving out. In some states, a landlord can require a very large number of days' notice. Its also important to realize that even if you are at the very end of your lease, you still may be required to give 60, even 90 days notice, regardless of the fact that your lease will end before the end of that notice. So make a note on your calendar so you don't forget to choose your next step.
