Rental Property Management Charleston | What You Need to Know About Landlord Harassment
Rental Property Management Charleston | Every property manager has horror stories to tell about stressful tensions between themselves and their tenants. No property manager wants to have a conflict with the people renting from them, but sometimes confrontation with tenants is unavoidable if they are committing lease violations. There’s a fine line to cross before property manager actions cross over into landlord harassment. Here’s what you need to know about landlord harassment and what your rights as a property manager are:
- What is Landlord Harassment? When a landlord is trying to pressure or intimidate a tenant, or using aggressive methods of communication towards the tenant, this is considered landlord harassment. To prove a property manager is committing landlord harassment the behavior usually must be ongoing.
- What Constitutes Landlord Harassment? There are many different ways a landlord could be harassing a tenant. Some of the most common forms of harassment towards tenants include:
- Illegal entry
- Turning off utilities
- Taking away services or amenities that are included in the lease
- Refusing maintenance requests
- Changing the locks
- Taking personal possessions out of the rental home
- Increasing rent
- Not giving proper notice for entry, eviction, or lease violations
- Trying to buyout a tenant
- Threatening a tenant verbally
- Threatening a tenant physically
- Refusing rent payments
- Filing false charges against tenants
- Serving fake eviction notices to the tenant
- Sexual harassment
This list is not exhaustive of everything a landlord can do that is considered harassment. If you’re a property manager concerned about harassment allegations, the best way to protect yourself is to follow the rules in the lease precisely as written.
- What Isn’t Harassment? Landlords do have legal rights to the properties they are managing. Some things that are not landlord harassment include:
- Emergency entry into a home
- Filing evictions in accordance with the rules outlined in the lease
- Raising rent with proper notice for all units or to increase the value of a unit to match others in the area
- Sending notifications of legitimate lease violations
- Turning off Utilities for nonpayment per lease terms
- Sending a buyout request to a tenant
- Changing locks for victims of domestic violence
If you’re looking for a property manager that has no risk of committing landlord harassment, contact Scot Properties of Charleston at 843-790-4929.