Your property manager may harass you so that you’ll give up and move to another place. He may also do so in retaliation for reporting him to the housing or health department. Here are some examples of landlord harassment:
- Entering your property illegally.
While he probably has a key, that doesn’t give him the right to enter your property without your approval. He should let you know in advance if he plans on entering your property and why.
They can also remove items on your property via this illegal entry. It doesn’t matter if it’s your items or they’re items of the property owner. As long as you’re renting, they don’t have the right to remove them without your knowledge.
On the other side of the coin, they may prevent you from entering your property. They can do so by changing the locks or putting up barricades.
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- Raising the rent
- Turning off your utilities
- Cutting off access to amenities
- Threatening you
- Refusing to accept your payment
- Making your unit’s living conditions less than ideal
- Sending you a fake eviction notice
- Filing fake charges against you
- Raising the rent.
This is usually as retaliation for filing a complaint against him. Property managers may also do this to force you to move out. In most states, you should get a 30-day notice at the very least.
If this doesn’t work, they may also buy you out by offering you a lump sum payment. Watch out for this if you’re a rent-stabilized tenant because this is probably a ploy to get you to move out. It may also be done if they plan on converting your unit into a condo.
While a single attempt may not be harassment, repeated attempts can be considered one.
- Turning off your utilities.
This is the most common form of harassment. They will turn off the AC on a hot summer day or turn off the heat on a cold winter night. They may even turn off the running water. They’ll harass you by not making your home habitable.
- Cutting off access to amenities.
A property has amenities that can serve your needs and wants. It can be as useful as a garbage disposal system, parking slot, or something recreational like a swimming pool. Access to these amenities is included in the lease agreement. They can choose to violate this by cutting off your access to them.
- Threatening you.
It can be in the form of verbal or physical threats. It can be in the form of email or text. It can be something as “harmless” as blocking your way as you try to leave to avoid confrontation. Worse cases include having tenants followed to make them feel unsafe.
Intimidatingly getting up on your face or even putting their hand on you is also construed as harassment. They can also sexually harass you.
- Refusing to accept your payment.
Paying for the rental is your part of the lease agreement. As long as you pay, the landlord is responsible for keeping your unit habitable. If they refuse to accept your payment, they want the records to show that you haven’t been paying.
- Making your unit’s living conditions less than ideal.
They may suddenly decide to begin construction and do so at night. It is a common ploy for them to make you give up your unit because of poor living conditions.
- Sending you a fake eviction notice.
You may receive a fake eviction notice saying you have to move out before a set date. It’s one of those “maybe it will work” harassment ploys to get you to move out without them doing the heavy lifting.
- Filing fake charges against you.
They may file charges that will be very hard to prove by either party with the sole purpose of harassing you. Maybe they can say that you’ve violated their no-pet policy.
Things that they can in fact do
To make sure that you don’t file false charges, these are not considered as a form of harassment:
- Entering your property in an emergency.
Is there an emergency like a fire? They don’t have to wait for your approval to enter.
- Sending you notice ordering you to stop lease-violations.
If there are terms in the lease that you’ve been violating, they have every right to send you a notice to stop violating them. They may continue to do so until you stop doing it or until they take further actions, including filing for eviction.
- Filing for eviction if you haven’t been paying rent.
Your part of the landlord-tenant relations is to pay rent on time. If you haven’t been doing so, they have every right to file for eviction.
- Raising the rent provided that there’s proper notice.
Most states require at least a 30-day notice. The raise also has to fit a certain percentage. If these terms are met, then it’s not harassment.
- They request a buyout.
As long as it’s within the local laws and they do so legally, they can send you a formal buyout request.
