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Working with your landlord

By Barbara Platts

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Living in an apartment or house for the first time can involve many changes. It’s a new environment, with new people to get along with, and a new set of responsibilities to handle.

When students rent a living space, they must abide by a landlord’s rules. Sometimes the relationship between the tenant and the landlord can become confusing, and the division of responsibility can be unclear.

To get along as well as possible, tenants and landlords must understand their roles in the housing agreement.

The Kansas Tenants Handbook defines a tenant as, “a person entitled under a rental agreement to occupy a dwelling unit to the exclusion of others.”

Because tenants do not own the places they live in, they must treat it with respect. “Tenant Responsibilities” are also outlined in the Kansas Tenants Handbook. The first is to pay rent on time.

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— Be prompt about rent payments.

— Keep the space you rent as clean as possible.

— Communicate with your landlord if you have a problem.

— Get along with the other residents in the building.

— Do not let someone move in with you before approving it with your landlord.

— Do not vandalize or damage any part of the apartment.

— Abide by all terms of the lease.

— Do not attach anything to the walls without consulting your landlord.

— Keep a business relationship with your landlord at all times.

Source: Kansas Tenants Handbook

Emily Soener, Omaha, Neb., senior, said that was her biggest flaw as a tenant.

“I am a terrible procrastinator, and so I still have a hard time getting my rent in on time,” Soener said.

Landlord can take away certain privileges can be taken away from a tenant if the rent comes in late, so budgeting correctly and making sure there’s enough money for the monthly payment is important.

Another responsibility for tenants is making sure their living space remains as clean as possible.

Sarah McGuire, Gardner freshman, doesn’t know where she is going to live next year, but she said cleanliness was important for a tenant.

“Making sure everything looks nice and doing your own laundry is important,” McGuire said.

When renting a space, it’s also important to remember that other residents live nearby.

Noise can travel easily, especially in apartment complexes.

“Keep the place clean, keep it nice and respect your neighbors,” said Graci D’Amore, Antioch, Calif., sophomore.

Although tenants have their own set of responsibilities when renting an apartment, landlords have to keep up their end of the deal, as well.

A landlord is defined as, “the owner, leaser, or subleaser of the dwelling unit, or the building of which it is a part,” according to the Kansas Tenants Handbook.

Landlords do not necessarily own the space, but they do manage and take care of it.

Their job is to maintain the area they are leasing to a tenant.

“They need to provide services,” D’Amore said. “They also need to make the place feel safe and hold up to what they say they are going to do.”

The upkeep of the heat, electricity and plumbing is the landlord’s responsibility as well.

They maintain all the utilities and repair them if they break. If tenants think something is going wrong, they can contact their landlord so the problem can be solved.

The tenant-landlord relationship does not have to be difficult.

When both take care of their responsibilities, the living arrangement can work out much better.

Soener said she thought landlords weren’t as bad as some people assumed.

“I don’t see why landlords have to be enemies,” Soener said.

— — Edited by Brandy Entsminger

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