Visiting apartments or houses and meeting the landlord
• Dress properly. Clean, neat, and simple is best. This shows the landlord that you are responsible and sincere. • Keep an appointment when you make it. If there is a reason why you must be late or cancel, call the landlord and let them know. Simple good manners like this are important. • Be ready to fill out an application or make a small deposit to hold the unit in case you find what you want.
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How can I find an apartment or house?
Ask your friends about any “For Rent” signs in their neighborhood, and check your own neighborhood for signs. Check the classified section of the local newspapers that cover surrounding communities. Look at apartment listings on the internet. The local public library has copies of the local newspapers available, as well as free internet access. When you find apartments or homes that you can afford, start looking at them! Keep in mind that there is no perfect unit or perfect landlord. You should make notes of the surroundings (neighborhood, parks, shopping malls, access to main roads, bus line, etc.) and the quality of the rental unit. Your notes can help you compare different apartments or homes. How should I start looking for an apartment or house? You have the best chance to get a good place if you know what you need and plan how to get it. Begin your search by answering the following questions: How much can you afford to pay for rent, utilities (gas, electric, water, sewer, trash removal, recycling, heat, cable), and other necessities? A general rule is that your rent should equal one week’s gross pay (pay before deductions) or about one-fourth of your gross monthly income. As more of your monthly income goes to paying the rent, the less you will have to buy other necessities and pay bills. If you have trouble handling money or following a budget, credit counseling is available to help you. When will you need housing? Pick an exact date. Give yourself enough time to find a place. What kind of housing do you need? An apartment or a house? How much space do you need? What furniture or appliances will you need? For example, do you need a yard for children, a ramp for handicapped access, or a first floor for a family member who cannot use steps? Do you have resources to make your own modifications to the rental property or do you need a place that is already accessible? Where do you want to live? A particular town or city? An area of town or a specific neighborhood or school district? Do you and your family need to be near work, school, or bus routes? Some agencies will have lists of landlords who participate in their programs. Others may have websites that include private rental units, public housing, subsidized housing and low income housing tax credit properties. There may be waiting lists, but you cannot move up a waiting list unless you are on it so apply right away! The key to success at finding and keeping good housing is: DO NOT WAIT until the last minute to get help. ACT NOW! If you need immediate housing due to eviction or other circumstances, you may need to rely on family, friends, or hotels temporarily. You may be able to get into a shelter, but most shelters have waiting lists or limitations on who can stay there or how long you can stay. How can I budget my money? Example for single person Fair housing is another way of saying being able to rent or buy housing without being discriminated against. Fair housing does not mean housing in good condition. Dealing with housing in bad condition is covered in the chapter on Getting Repairs Made.
What is housing discrimination? Housing discrimination is treating someone differently because of a particular characteristic that they have. The particular characteristics are called protected classes. Who does the law protect? The law protects members of protected classes. Under the federal Fair Housing Act, the covered protected classes are: • Race; Color; National Origin; Religion; Sex; Familial Status (families with children under 18 and pregnant women); and Disability. In Pennsylvania, the following protected classes are added to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act: • Age (40 years old or older); • People who use a guide or support animal because the person is blind, deaf or has a physical disability, • People who train or handle guide or support animals, • People who are related to or associated with people with disabilities. Local municipalities may add additional protections by local ordinance. State or local government may add or expand protections against discrimination, but they may not take away from federal or constitutional rights. In some jurisdictions, for example, additional protected classes include: • Marital Status; Sexual Orientation; Gender Identity and Gender Expression. What does housing discrimination look like? Housing discrimination happens in a lot of different ways. Here are some examples: • Landlord telling you upon meeting you in person that the rent is higher than the advertisement said. • Advertisement that says “no kids allowed” or “no teenagers” • Landlord saying on the phone that the apartment is available and then telling you it is not available when the landlord meets you and your same-sex partner • Landlord saying they won’t rent to someone with a mental health disability • Real estate agent suggesting you would fit in better in a neighborhood with more African-American residents • Landlord charging a higher security deposit to a person who uses a wheelchair • Landlord not making repairs for Latino tenants but making repairs for white tenants • Landlord refusing to rent to women because the apartment is in an unsafe location • Landlord charging a higher security deposit to a family with children than a couple What behavior/actions does the law cover? Most housing transactions are covered. Renting an apartment or house is covered. How a landlord treats you when you are renting is covered. Buying a condo or house is covered. Getting a mortgage is covered. Working with a real estate agent is covered. Advertising for housing is covered. It is always illegal to discriminate in advertisements for housing, even online advertisements. What types of housing does the law cover? The law applies to most types of housing, including private housing, public housing and subsidized housing. The law applies to manufactured home communities, sometimes called mobile home parks. The law also applies to group homes, transitional housing, rooming or boarding houses, nursing homes, and university housing. Homeless shelters are usually covered too. What types of housing doesn’t the law cover? Fair housing law covers most types of housing, but some housing isn’t covered by the law. It’s complicated to know what types of housing aren’t covered. Under Pennsylvania law a landlord who lives in one of the two units in a building can choose tenants without following fair housing laws. The federal law does not apply when that landlord has four or fewer units in the building. Also, a landlord that owns a few single-family homes may not be covered by the law. A landlord who owns three single family homes or less and rents them out without using a real estate agent may choose tenants without following fair housing laws. Senior housing buildings and senior communities do not have to rent to families with children. But the senior buildings and communities must meet certain standards. In some situations, religious groups and private clubs that rent out housing to their members don’t have to follow fair housing laws. You should check with an attorney or fair housing advocate before assuming the law does not protect you or cover your situation. What if I don’t speak English? Landlords can’t treat applicants or tenants differently because they don’t speak English or they have an accent. Landlords can only ask for proof of citizenship if they ask all applicants or tenants. They can’t just ask applicants who have an accent or applicants of a certain national origin or race. If you are pregnant or have children: It is illegal for landlords to treat families with children differently. Unless a building or community qualifies as housing for older persons, it may not discriminate based on familial status. That means the landlord may not discriminate against families in which one or more children under 18 live with a parent, legal custodian, or the designee of the parent or custodian. Familial status protection also applies to pregnant women and anyone securing legal custody of a child under 18. You can read more about illegal discrimination in the “Dealing with Situations while Renting” section. Can I file a complaint if I think I have been discriminated against? If you believe you are being denied housing, evicted or harassed because you are a member of a protected class, you may be protected under the Fair Housing Act and state or local fair housing laws. If you are a person with a disability, you may need to request an accommodation of your disability. If your landlord denies the request or doesn’t respond to the request at all, you may file a complaint for discrimination. Gather any proof you have that you were discriminated against. Proof could include text messages, emails, letters, voicemails. If you were discriminated against in renting an apartment, keep a copy of the advertisement. Write down the property address and the landlord’s name, address and phone number. Filing a fair housing complaint: If you believe your rights under the Fair Housing Act or the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act have been violated, you should file a complaint with either the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) or the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) as soon as possible. The deadline for filing a complaint with HUD is one year from the date of the discriminatory action or incident. The deadline for filing a complaint with PHRC is 180 days from the date of the discriminatory action or incident. Some cities have Human Relations Commissions that deal with fair housing complaints. A lease is an agreement, or a contract, between the owner and the tenant for the rental of property. The tenant receives exclusive possession of the rental unit and the owner receives money for rent. In the past, the lease was often written in complex legal terms. The lease must be written in plain language to make it easier to understand because Pennsylvania has a Plain Language Consumer Contract Law.
There are two types of leases: an oral lease and a written lease. An oral lease is a verbal agreement between the landlord and the tenant. In Pennsylvania, an oral lease is legal and binding for up to 3 years. The term of an oral lease is usually month-to-month but may be shorter depending on when you pay your rent. For example, if you live in a place where the rent is paid weekly, then the oral lease term would be a weekly one. The term of a lease is important because it determines what kind of notice a tenant or landlord must give to terminate the lease. A written lease is a contract that defines the responsibilities of the landlord and tenant. A written lease is better for both the tenant and the landlord. Both can go back to the written lease to find out what was agreed upon. The written lease is the best defense if the tenant or the landlord challenges the other for breaking the lease. You should receive a copy of the signed lease from your landlord after you sign it. Keep this copy for your records. The landlord should not include arbitrary or unfair clauses in the small print of the lease. A court should refuse to enforce a provision that seems unconscionable or has been ruled by the courts to be illegal. Read the lease carefully before you sign it and have both parties initial any changes made to the lease. With both oral and written leases, if either party wants to end the lease, proper notice must be given to terminate the lease agreement. A written lease should state the amount of notice required, but usually, it is one or two months in advance. With an oral lease, the amount of notice is determined by how the rent is paid. So, if you pay monthly, then a month’s notice would be required, but if you pay weekly, that may be the amount of notice that is required. Any notice you give the landlord about terminating the lease should be in writing. Keep a copy of the notice for your records What law applies to a Landlord Tenant agreement? A landlord tenant agreement is a consumer contract between the property owner and renter. A landlord and tenant also have a relationship based on the property owner giving the tenant exclusive possession of the rental property. Landlord-Tenant law is governed by federal, state and local laws. There are also important court decisions and rules of court that govern Landlord-Tenant law.
The Pennsylvania Landlord-Tenant Act includes the process for Magisterial District Court evictions, limitations on the length of verbal leases (three years), and rules about security deposits. It includes a process for appeal to the Court of Common Pleas in that county. You have to also look at court decisions. For example, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that there is an implied warranty of habitability in every residential lease. This implied warranty of habitability is a requirement that the property meet certain minimum standards. But it is still important that the tenant consider any new lease carefully, because there are many other agreements in the lease in addition to basic habitability. |
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