With a Clean Credit Record, Sell Yourself as Model Tenant
Question: My landlord decided to sell the house I’m living in and has given me a 30-day notice to leave. Now, I’m having trouble finding anywhere else to live. By the time I look at something, it’s already been rented. Any advice on how to get to the top of the list?
Property manager Griswold replies:
The rental market for homes has shifted from a tenant’s market to a landlord’s market. It wasn’t long ago that owners would offer leases with options to purchase. They would even apply some of the monthly rent toward the purchase price just to rent their home to a quality tenant.
If you want to get to the top of the list, I strongly suggest that you turn the tables and begin promoting yourself to potential landlords. Place notices on community bulletin boards, contact all of your friends at work and religious or social organizations. You can even present a list of qualifications with letters of reference from previous landlords.
Get a current copy of your credit report from each of the three main credit reporting bureaus and make sure that all incorrect information is removed. You could also offer to provide a larger security deposit or sign a longer lease. Most landlords will gladly trade the security of a longer lease for the loss of potential rent increases. But you could also offer to agree in advance to a reasonable rent increase during the term of the lease.
The bottom line to getting to the top of the list is to be the best-qualified tenant.
Attorney Steven R. Kellman replies:
It’s a very different rental market today compared to only one year ago. Then, the trick was finding just the right home. Now, in many cases, it is finding any home.
My advice to getting to the top of the list is basic but effective. Try to be the first to apply. Be complete and honest about your information when filling in the application.
Clean up any bad references on your credit or at least have an honest explanation ready for any negative entries. You may need to go back to prior landlords and resolve any outstanding obligations or disputes. Offer copies of your current timely paid bills such as telephone, utilities, cable TV, etc. Be prepared to explain why you would be a very good tenant. If there is some unfavorable information that should go in the application, it is better to disclose and explain it rather than to have a misrepresentation later discovered.
Look for Landlords Who Value Renters
Q: I personally don’t believe in rent control, but I’ve heard horror stories about 20% rent increases and apartment managers refusing to offer one-year leases. Is there anything I can do to protect myself in today’s volatile rental market?
Griswold replies:
Yes, you can seek out the landlords who still realize that a quality tenant that takes care of the rental property, pays their rent on time and lives quietly without creating problems for the landlord and neighbors is worth his or her weight in gold.
This is not to say that rent increases are always unjustified. There are many landlords who need to raise rents to offset genuine increases in their costs. But there are also unscrupulous landlords who are aggressively pushing the envelope. I believe these greedy landlords will get burned by failing to realize that collecting the top rent in the market is a poor substitute for stable long-term tenants.
I suggest you seek a long-term lease and even consider offering a set rent increase after a certain period of time.
Kellman replies:
Yes, rents are going up. Landlords have been waiting for more than five years to do this. Some say that landlords are merely catching up to where the rents would have been had they been routinely raised each year.
Keep up with the rental prices in your area. If the landlord proposes a rental increase, you may show him or her that the raise is too high for the market. This may change their mind since most landlords are simply trying to put their rents at the market level but may unintentionally overestimate that level.
Another approach is to have an agreement not to raise the rent for a set period. This does not have to be in the form of a lease but may be part of the month-to-month agreement. For example, your landlord may simply agree that in your month-to-month tenancy, he or she will not raise the rent for 12 months. This is not a lease but it does lock in the rent. Landlords that shy away from a lease may agree with this alternative for their valued tenant. A win-win situation.
Smith replies: In California (except in the limited areas with rent control), there is no upper limit on the amount or frequency of rental increases so long as proper notice is given. The apartment manager is not legally required to offer one-year leases--month-to-month or six-month leases are a reasonable alternative.
There is nothing volatile about today’s rental market. Rental owners have paid dearly in recent years for a downturn in the real estate market, many losing buildings to foreclosure. Finally, the market has turned so those rental owners are now able to recoup a decent return on their investment. The vast majority of landlords are not gougers and want residents to stay in possession. One-year leases are out there; you may just have to look a little harder.
No Harm in Tenant Stating Intentions
Q: I’m in the Navy, and told my landlord I expect a shipboard deployment later in the year. He keeps probing on whether I will be staying in my apartment, which is on a month-to-month lease. I don’t have to answer, do I?
Attorney Ted Smith replies:
While it may be true that you don’t legally have to answer that question, why don’t you? After all, landlords simply like to forecast vacancies and make necessary arrangements. There’s nothing harassing and it’s not an abuse of privacy to simply inquire about your intention. Just be honest. If you’re not sure, let the landlord know. Despite the fact that you are in the military, you are governed by the rules of the month-to-month agreement. If you decide to stay, make sure you let the landlord know and, most importantly, pay rent during your deployment.
Landlord Doesn’t Have to Supply Extinguisher
Q: I live in a duplex in San Diego. Does the landlord have to provide a fire extinguisher?
Griswold replies:
According to the city of San Diego Fire Department officials, your owner or property manager is not legally required to provide you with a fire extinguisher in your duplex. The Uniform Fire Code, which has been adopted by most local municipalities, says a duplex is not is considered a multiunit dwelling and therefore (like a single-family home) is exempt.
Notwithstanding any legal requirements, it is a good policy to have a fire extinguisher in your home. From personal experience, I can attest to the importance of having a working multipurpose fire extinguisher in your home, particularly one easily accessible to the kitchen and another one for the garage, if applicable.
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This column is written by property manager Robert Griswold, host of “Real Estate Today!” (KSDO-AM [1130], 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays), and attorneys Steven R. Kellman, director of the Tenants’ Legal Center, and Ted Smith, principal in a law firm representing landlords.
If you have a question, send it to Rental Roundtable, Real Estate section, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., CA 90012. Or you may e-mail them at rgriswold.latimes@retodayradio.com. Questions should be brief and to the point and cannot be answered individually.
