Article By: furnished apartments denver
The Denver rental market is a competitive one, and the vast majority of landlords in the city are of a decent quality. They look after their properties, and their tenants and act as upstanding citizens. Unfortunately, just like many industries, there are some bad apples. There are those landlords who just don’t get it, and make up some strange stories to tell their tenants.
We’re going to cover a few here. These claims have all been heard by Denver renters over the past year.
Claim 1. “It’s my property, I’ll come in when I want.”Not true. The landlord does pay the mortgage, but while you rent it, you occupy the space. That means the landlord has to schedule access for a time convenient to you both.
The landlord has a legal right to enter the property but only once they have given you notice, and a specific time. A landlord is only allowed to enter a property you’re renting without prior notice in an emergency.
Claim 2. “Just sign the lease, it’s all standard.” Uh huh. Any landlord that says that doesn’t really care about you. Fortunately, there aren’t too many of those in the Denver rental market, but they do appear from time to time.
There is no such thing as a standard lease. Each document is different, and will often favor the landlord. You’re entitled to 24 hours to review, or have it reviewed. There are cases of unenforceable clauses in contracts such as waiving the right to privacy, the right to enter, to repair and deduct from deposits. Any contract needs to be checked before you sign it.
Claim 3. “I’m flexible, if you want to leave during the lease, that’s fine as long as you let me know.” Yeah right. A lease is a contract for a fixed period of time. Any renter in Denver knows that they are liable for the rent for that property for the given period.
If the landlord says that during a negotiation, ask them to put it into the contract, or at least in writing. Otherwise it means nothing. In reality, yes you can leave a tenancy during the rental period, but you will still be liable for the rent for the remainder of the lease.
Claim 4. “The pool/gym/cinema/social room will reopen in a few weeks.” On the surface, this doesn’t sound like an unreasonable claim. Maybe it’s down for repairs, being renovated or fumigated. However, this claim happens a little too often to be taken at face value. The appropriate answer would be to request the amount you’re paying for the facility to be deducted from the rent until it opens.
You should not be paying for an amenity that you can’t use. If the presence of that amenity influenced your decision to rent the property and it isn’t usable, you’re actually entitled to break the lease without penalty.
The Denver rental market is a solid one with a stable of honorable landlords, but as mentioned, not everyone plays fair. Knowing a few of their tricks should stop you falling prey, and edge them out of the game.
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