If you are a landlord, you may already know how stressful it can be to have tenants on your property. Sometimes they are messy, destructive and unwilling to pay on time. As annoying as this can be, you must be careful with the steps you take to solve a particular problem. You have rights and obligations that you must abide by if you don’t want to face any legal issues.
Enter a tenant’s home whenever
Even if the property is yours, you must let your tenant know 24 hours in advance if you want to enter their property, preferably in writing. Additionally, you need a good reason to go to the property, such as making repairs or showing the property to future tenants. In an emergency, you can enter the property without giving any notice, but it must involve something urgent.
Raise the rent without a good reason
You cannot raise the rent whenever you want to, but it is possible to ask for higher rent in certain circumstances. For example, you are allowed to double the rent if another person moves into the property without your permission or if the tenant subleased the apartment to another person without your approval. You may also raise the rent if you do significant repairs to the apartment. Other than that, it would be illegal if you raised the rent.
Evict the tenant without following the rules
A landlord cannot evict a tenant without a court order. Also, you must follow the correct eviction procedures to avoid getting into a legal problem. To evict a tenant, you’ll need a valid reason to do so. Valid reasons for eviction in Missouri can be the failure to pay rent, the violation of the agreement, and the occurrence of illegal activities on the property.
Discriminate against a potential tenant
Lastly, as a landlord, you can never discriminate against a tenant because of their age, race, national origin, sexual preference or disability. Some discriminating acts would be to raise the price of rent or falsely state that housing is not available for discriminatory reasons.
Your rights as a landlord
There may be some limitations to your role as a landlord, but you also have rights under the law. By knowing your rights and obligations, you can avoid getting into a legal issue that could cost you money and time