Crazy landlord or not? (lease, tenant, rentals, house)
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So my landlord comes inside the house every single month to come check the fancy water system and change the air filters. She gives us a heads up 24 hours prior to that, but doesn’t specify a time or even a 10 minute prior courteous text she’s on the way.
This will go on to another thing about her.
We have a deck that was half rebuilt and it just finished curing to paint. She has been taking forever to paint this deck all by herself! We have dogs and it makes it difficult for us to work around since the deck is the main entrance. Like you would think she would hire someone to get this crap done in a couple of days right? Wrong..
Anyways, she will just pop up out of nowhere and check out the deck if it’s paintable. (Wet or dry from weather conditions) like no warning she’s on the way or anything.
Is it wrong to ask for a courtesy 10 minutes before she gets here or what??
She’s a pain to deal with.. A control freak if you ask me...
First, tell her YOU are capable of changing the filters and can send her pics as proof if she needs it. Second, I don't know what kind of "water system" this is, but I can't imagine anything that needed checking on every month.
Third, she should not be "popping up out of nowhere" to check the deck. Check your lease, and see if it says something about her needing to give you a 24 hour notice.. If so then tell her no next time she shows up.
This to me sounds like a new landlord - or at least one that's paranoid.
LL sounds like she's snooping/checking on the property to make sure that you're not destroying things, OP I'd be pissed to have to deal with that monthly, too, though.
I have lived in multiple places that had someone coming in monthly either to do filter changes, pest control, etc. I don’t think it is that unreasonable. We always had 24-hour notice, or a standing notice- I.e. the filter changes are the 2nd Tuesday of the month, or pest control comes the third Thursday of the month with a notification if that time is going to change. They really didn’t give us a heads up beyond the day. The reality is that even if you hire your own workers, you aren’t going to be able to get a 10-minute notice. A lot of times it is a half-day window or a 2-hour notice at best.
Isn’t the 24 hour notice for ENTERING the premises? Checking on an exterior deck wouldn’t entail going inside.
Not looking to justify landlord’s behavior....just curious.
You're right. The law in every state addresses entering. The LL is smart to inspect the inside once a month. I did that with my rentals. Helps catch problems early. And I certainly wouldn't trust any tenant to maintain expensive pieces of equipment. They just don't do it even if they say they will.
Since the deck is a work in progress, there's nothing wrong with stopping by to check on it every day if she has to.
If the tenant doesn't like the terms the tenant is free to relocate when the lease is up.
Twenty-four hours notice for entering the dwelling once a month is reasonable. It's not unusual for LL to want to be the one responsible for changing filters - that ensures that it gets done because many (including homeowners not just tenants) will let things like that slide.
No notice to check on work in progress on the deck is also reasonable. Twenty-four hours notice applies only for entering the dwelling. Once the deck is complete, I'd expect those visits to stop.
But I also think it would be reasonable for you to request a 3-4 hour range of time that she plans to stop in for changing the filters.
Monthly pop-ins are normal, in my experience (with 24 hr notice). But it sounds like she is not giving you notice regarding the deck situation - that would annoy me.
I've had inherited tenants who complained about our being around a multiple building multifamily property, newly purchased in a neglected state, because we were there to fix it up! Needless to say, those tenants didn't last long.
Try being friendly and pleasant with the landlord. Your life will go better, if you think of them as your ally, rather than your opponent.
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I'd be pissed to have to deal with that monthly, too, though.
