Reasons to Get Legal Help for Tenants’ Rights

Renting an apartment or home brings many responsibilities as well as rights. These include the right to a habitable residence with working utilities and heat, is free of unsafe conditions such as mold and peeling paint, and provides basic safety measures such as smoke detectors and window guards. Hiring a lawyer might be the best option when tenants face landlords who violate their legal rights. This article will cover some of the most common situations where it makes sense to hire a tenant lawyer.

Breaking a Lease

Your landlord must respect your rights whether you live in an apartment or a house. Seeking legal counsel from a tenant lawyer Manassas VA, is essential if you have issues with your landlord. Your state likely has laws that set forth specific landlord-tenant rights, such as when your landlord may enter your home and how much notice you must receive before entering. You also likely have the right to a security deposit, and your landlord can only impose a higher deposit with reason. You might have the right to leave your lease early under certain circumstances, such as if you are facing domestic violence and can provide documentation (such as an order of protection). If you break your lease, you still owe rent for the remainder of the term. 

Evictions

Landlords must follow very specific procedures when they want to evict tenants. They also must give a tenant termination notice that complies with state law, and the landlord must serve it by the law (typically by hand or certified mail). Many low-income tenants have qualified for free legal representation through the Right to Counsel program. Since the program’s inception, 84 percent of tenants represented by an attorney in housing court have stayed in their homes. However, the Right to Counsel program has struggled in recent years, and the number of tenants seeking representation has overwhelmed legal aid providers’ capacity. Tenants, legal service providers, and city officials have called for the program to slow the pace of cases so lawyers can keep up. They have also urged the city to hire more attorneys to help.

Discrimination

The unfair or unfavorable treatment of one person by another based on one or more grounds specified in the Code is known as discrimination. Discrimination can occur in several ways, from overt acts to subtle and sometimes unconscious biases that cause people to avoid or fear certain situations and limit their educational and employment opportunities. Structural discrimination is a term often used to describe policies or practices that are neutral on their face but have the effect of putting certain persons at a disadvantage relative to others. It is important to remember that it is not enough to experience one act of prejudice but that there must be a pattern or practice of such behavior. It is also worth noting that many instances of discrimination occur without any intent or even the perpetrator’s knowledge.

Fraud

Tenants have a right to have a home that is safe and complies with all local rental laws. It includes being free from environmental toxins, such as mold or lead paint, which landlords should disclose to new and existing renters before moving in. Landlords are also prohibited from marketing to specific types of renters, such as a certain race or gender, as this is considered discrimination. Likewise, landlords can only charge some renters more for their security deposits if they provide a reason, such as having a pet, as this is illegal. Many tenants may need to be informed that they have security deposit rights. These rights include the right to have their stake returned promptly, and some states even limit how much landlords can charge for interest rates on these deposits. A tenant can also file a small claims lawsuit for damages against their landlord if they violate these rights.