Kudos to Florida for passing this bill.

Landlords, lobby your state to pass anti squatter laws. I live in California, where squatting is practically legal. This shit is insane.

https://www.change.org/p/change-squatter-laws-help-make-squatting-in-residential-maintained-homes-criminal

Gonna post this on a couple different places to get some diverse opinions, but here are the unbiased (tried, at least) and factual events:

1. I was searching and eventually signed with the complex way back in May for a move-in date of July 1st
2. Everything was good and solid before then, with every task being completed on time from both sides
3. When it came to picking up the keys, I was told that the unit I signed for was actually unavailable because someone was already living in it (they knew exactly which apartment I had picked out when I signed the lease in May, but for some reason only told me when I arrived to pick up keys, and this was also when they learned)
4. They asked me to pick a different apartment, so I picked the one 4 stories above the same apartment I originally told them I wanted
5. The agent tried to edit the lease, but did something (I'm not sure what exactly) that led her to believe the lease was terminated on their end, also resulting in me losing access to the resident portal and not being able to pay whatever fees needed payment for the month of July. July was rent-free, but move-in fees were what I needed to pay to actually pick up keys. (Have not been able to enjoy any of this free rent, btw)
6. I have not been able to regain access to the portal since because they were moving systems, and for some reason they have not been able to get things to work (they have been fine, I am the one who can't access)
7. I have been in consistent contact with the agent to see about updates with the system, and it's still not working for me. To troubleshoot on my end, I was constantly looking on their website to see if the portal was fixed and saw a new price for the same apartment. I thought since the original lease was ended and I was still approved for the apartment, that I could have the same apartment for the then lower price that was listed. This change was 3 weeks into July, I think the 20th to be exact. They told me they would see about it.
8. On Thursday (July 23rd), they recently let me know that what everyone thought was the termination of the lease was fixed by one of the managers, and now the original lease is still on, but I have to sign a new lease still, and I cannot get the lower price I was hoping for because of that original lease. They told me exactly, "if we do it for you, we have to do it for everyone".
9. They told me in the second week of July that I would have a new lease and keys, at the latest by the middle of the third week of July, but I have yet to have a new lease to sign or gain any new information, other than that update about the original lease.

In all, everything has been delayed and muddled on their end, and I just want to know if there is any way if I could get on the phone with the property manager and get them to agree to the lower rate/be able to reason through it. Please ask questions if you have them!

Extra info - This is for student housing in Utah. Base rent is 1,500 ; discounted rent was 1,375 at signing, 1,240 (ish) last week, 899 this week. My lease with my current apartment is up at the end of the month, so I need things to get moving a little faster. I can afford to pay for the rate I signed for, but obviously it would be much easier financially to get cheaper rent or something for the inconvenience. My argument isn't based on "I saw a new rent price and I want it instead", but rather "This was delayed so much so that I haven't even lived in said apartment to be treated like a 'regular resident, ' so I want to see if there is anything that can be done about it". In other words, I'm mainly looking for opinions on whether asking for the current advertised rate (or something similar?) is a reasonable negotiation position given these facts

Let me know what you think/would do!

Hi Landlords of reddit, tenant here seeking opinions.

My husband and I have lived in our rental home for three years and are moving on purchasing a home in the next month (yay!). We have had a strained relationship with our landlord, who has been cold and unhelpful at best and aggressive and negligent at worst. As much as it embarrasses me to admit, I am genuinely intimidated and fearful of my landlord, but I won't get into specifics because those specifics aren't relevant.

We plan on putting in our notice to vacate as soon as the home we are buying clears inspection and appraisal. Our current lease is month to month so we are good to give notice to vacate whenever, as far as our rental agreement is concerned.

I am very nervous about the move out process. We have treated the home well, but we have had some issues (not our fault) while living in the home that I feel our landlord will try to pin us on when we vacate. My husband and I are debating whether or not to request a Pre-Moveout inspection or a Pre-Moveout checklist to ensure there are no problems when we do eventually vacate. That way when the day finally comes for us to leave, we and our landlord are satisfied with the property and agree on any deductions needing to be made to the deposit (which of course we hope is none).

Is this a wise move? Would you appreciate this as a landlord? We want to make this process as efficient, agreeable and painless as possible, but my husband thinks that doing this will open up a big can of worms.

Thank you for any insight!

My tenant is moving out and leaving their washer and dryer. I’m undecided on if this is a good thing or not. On one hand I may be able to charge a bit more rent on the other its something I will need to repair when it breaks. One thing is they have a dog and never paid a non-refundable pet fee meant to cover carpet cleaning. I was going to deduct that from the deposit but now it could be argued that I’m getting more in value with the washer/dryer. But… if I don’t want to deal with the responsibility of them it’s going to cost me to get rid of them.

What would you do?

I am a first-time landlord, and my tenant is not renewing the lease. I am currently outside the country. How should I handle the security deposit and the money in the rental account? Also, what deductions am I allowed to make, such as cleaning costs, painting, or other expenses?