Landlord rights are not be the most exciting thing in the world but there is no disguising the fact that they are certainly one of the most important. The increasing number of people who are deciding to rent their house because it is very hard to sell a property in the current climate means they will be entering the world of landlords without knowing a great deal about their rights as a landlord.
Once a lease has been signed with the tenant, it is the right of the landlord to collect the first month’s rent and the security deposit from the tenant. The landlord has the right to decide how much the security deposit will be. While the amount of security deposits asked for by the landlord could range from one week to three month’s rent, in general a lot of landlords will only ask a tenant for one month’s rent as a deposit.
A landlord is well within their rights to deduct money from a tenant’s security for a number of reasons which include the tenant or their occupants causing damage to the property due to abuse or neglect. If the tenant moves out and still owes rent or have not paid any utility bill, the bill will be paid using the security deposit with the remainder being given back to the tenant.
It is also the right of a landlord to receive full rent payment from the tenant each month on the date stated on the lease agreement. However, if it is a fixed term tenancy, the rent cannot be increased until the lease has expired. If the agreement is a week to week or month to month contract, the rent can be increased at any time as long as the tenant is given written notice of the increase.
Owning a rental property and not buying landlord insurance can be a very risky mistake as there are so many things which can go wrong. A private landlord will generally be exposed to many more financial risks compared to the average home owner. The good news is that landlord insurance will give a much wider range of coverage such as protecting the landlord from any loss of rent, any loss from tenant lawsuits (landlord liability insurance), and damage to the property by the tenant. Owning a rental property can be highly profitable but it can also be highly expensive if insurance is ignored.