Conflicts between tenants and landlords happen, but not every problem you encounter with your landlord is serious enough to seek legal help. Many issues can be resolved by talking the problem through, using common sense, and being familiar with the law and your legal rights.
Other issues, however, are not so easily resolved and can seriously affect your ability to enjoy—or even live in—your rental. When you’re faced with serious issues such as the ones discussed here, hiring a landlord-tenant lawyer might be the best way to protect your rights.
1. You’re Experiencing Discrimination
Under the federal Fair Housing Acts (FHA), it’s illegal for landlords to discriminate against both potential and current tenants. Landlords cannot deny housing or take other actions towards tenants or applicants based on the categories protected by the FHA: sex, race, color, religion, familial status, disability, and national origin.
If your landlord does take discriminatory actions against you, a lawyer can help stop the discriminatory behavior and help you recover damages. Proving that your landlord discriminated against you can be difficult, especially when it’s not obvious. A lawyer experienced in handling discrimination cases can help determine if your landlord’s actions were illegal and if you have a credible case against your landlord.
In addition to the FHA, state and local housing laws prohibit various types of discrimination against tenants—and are often stricter than federal laws. For example, state law might prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation, categories that are not protected by FHA. The overlap of state antidiscrimination laws and the FHA can be confusing, which is another reason you might want to hire a lawyer.
Tenants who believe they are experiencing illegal discrimination have options: For example, you can file a fair housing complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)or a state or local agency in HUD’s Fair Housing Assistance Program. HUD lawyers can determine if there’s reasonable cause to believe your landlord is discriminating against you and provide free representation. If you prevail in your case, an administrative law judge might award you financial compensation and impose penalties against your landlord.
2. You’re Being Illegally Evicted
Landlords can legally end a tenancy early in certain instances. For example, landlords can end your tenancy and start the eviction process if you’re engaging in activities such as using the rental for illegal activity, violating terms of your lease, or not paying rent.
What a landlord can’t do is try to evict you without a legitimate reason—your lease guarantees your right to live in the rental for a certain amount of time, so long as you do not violate its terms. Landlords aren’t permitted to evict tenants as a way to retaliate against them or simply because they don’t like them. (However, if you rent month-to-month, in most situations a landlord can terminate the tenancy with proper notice for any reason, as long as it is not retaliatory or discriminatory.)
It’s never legal for landlords to take so-called self-help remedies such as turning off your power, locking you out of the rental, or removing doors and windows—even when they have appropriate reasons for ending a tenancy.
If you think your landlord is attempting to illegally evict you, you should consider contacting a local landlord-tenant attorney. An experienced attorney will know the local laws and procedures, and will be able to advise you on how to fight the eviction.
3. Your Landlord Ignores Proper Eviction Procedures
State and local laws explain the steps landlords must follow to properly evict a tenant—your landlord must follow very specific procedures to evict you. Landlords must typically give tenants a formal termination notice before filing an eviction suit, and the notice must comply with the laws that specify the permissible reasons for the termination. For example, a notice to pay rent or quit (given when a tenant fails to pay rent) usually must state how much the tenant owes and give a firm deadline by which the tenant must move out or pay rent. Landlords must serve termination notices as mandated by state law—typically hand delivery or delivery by certified mail.
If your landlord has tried to evict you without following the proper procedures, such as not giving enough notice or improper service, a lawyer can help you figure out the technical violations and how those can be used to dismiss an eviction suit. Note that so long as your landlord has valid reasons for evicting you, your landlord can restart the eviction process after the first eviction lawsuit is dismissed because of improper procedure.
4. You Were Injured or Became Sick at Your Rental
No matter how careful you are, injuries on the rental property can happen. Sometimes, injuries occur due to a landlord’s inattention or negligence. For example, you might break your arm after leaning on a broken stair railing in a common area stairway. When you can show that your injury is the direct result of your landlord’s action (or inaction), your landlord might be liable.
Your landlord’s negligence might also result in illness. For example, if there’s mold in your rental and your landlord won’t clean it up, you might be at higher risk of respiratory diseases such as asthma.
A personal injury lawyer can help determine if the landlord’s actions (or inaction) rise to the level of negligence—a determination that is difficult to make without legal training. If the attorney believes you have a credible personal injury case against your landlord, you likely won’t want to pursue the case on your own: To be successful in a personal injury case, injured parties must provide detailed medical evidence provided by medical experts, and it can be difficult for non-attorneys to navigate all the evidentiary and legal requirements in these cases.
5. Your Landlord Fails to Provide a Habitable Rental
Landlords must keep their rental properties in good living condition under the implied warranty of habitability. When a landlord refuses to make repairs that affect your ability to safely and comfortably live in your rental—such as not repairing a broken window or ignoring requests to fix your air conditioning during a heat wave—you might have a legal claim against your landlord.
What complicates the situation, though, is that tenants’ options for dealing with a landlord’s failure to provide habitable housing differ across the states. In some states, tenants can withhold rent or deduct the cost of making the repairs themselves from their rent (known as “repair and deduct”). In other states, tenants have no option but to sue the landlord and (hopefully) get a court order requiring the landlord to meet habitability standards. Lawyers are especially helpful in these situations: Tenants who respond to their landlord’s failures by taking action that isn’t allowed under state law might find themselves on the receiving end of an eviction notice. So, if you have any doubt about what you can legally do when your rental isn’t safe, your best bet is to contact a lawyer.
6. Your Property Was Damaged
When your landlord neglects to make needed repairs or otherwise keep the rental in good condition, there’s a chance it could cause damage to your personal property. For example, if your landlord doesn’t fix a leaky roof before a forecasted rain storm, your furniture and other property might be damaged.
In the case of damaged property, your renters’ insurance might cover your loss. If you don’t have renters’ insurance or have a policy that doesn’t cover the damage in full, you should make a demand that your landlord cover any damage and report it to the landlord’s insurance company. A landlord-tenant attorney can help you write a demand letter that includes any needed documentation (such as the replacement value of the damaged item) and get reimbursement from your landlord. Some renters’ insurance policies even cover the costs of hiring an attorney and reserve the right to go after your landlord for reimbursement.
Hiring a Lawyer
Making the decision to involve a lawyer in a dispute with your landlord isn’t always easy—or comfortable. If you previously had a good relationship with your landlord, getting a lawyer involved might put a strain on your relationship. But when it comes to protecting your rights or making sure your rental is safe to live in, hiring an attorney might be the best choice.
Keep in mind that you don’t always need to have an attorney directly contact your landlord to get the desired result. Sometimes, consulting with an attorney about the best way to approach your problem will enable you to take it from there. Or, having the lawyer write a stern letter to your landlord might be all that’s needed.
If you do decide to retain an attorney, keep these points in mind:
- The dispute involves the meaning or implementation of your lease. Check to see if there’s an attorneys’ fees clause in your lease. If there is and you are the prevailing side, you might be able to get reimbursed for reasonable attorneys’ fees and court costs if your lawsuit involves disputes related to the rental agreement, such as a wrongful eviction. On the flipside, if you lose a lawsuit against your landlord, you might be on the hook for fees and costs. Watch out for "one way" fees clauses (where the landlord doesn't have to pay your fees and costs if you win, but you have to pay the landlord's if you lose). In many states, but not all, these unfair clauses will be read by the court as two-way, despite their wording.
- You're suing over discrimination or uninhabitable living conditions. Depending on the laws involved, it's likely that if you win, the landlord will have to pay your fees and costs. Knowing this, a lawyer who thinks you can win will be attracted to the case, on the assumption that the landlord will have the ability to pay the bill.
- You're suing because you've been injured. If you prevail, the lawyer's fee will come out of your winnings. Like a good discrimination case, this arrangement makes the case attractive to a lawyer.
If hiring a lawyer is likely to cost you some money, at least up front, you'll naturally be curious about how much you'll need to spend. The amount will vary greatly, depending on the geographic location, the complexity of the case, the experience level of the lawyer, and (when you're in a defense posture), whether the lawyer can expect to get attorneys' fees and costs from the other side if you win. The good news is that many lawyers will offer a free or low-cost initial consultation, so your initial foray is not likely to be too painful financially.