Home Improvement → Is my landlord allowed to do this?

Except they are not trespassing - they are there with the knowledge and ok by the legal owner.

Where I live I would apply for an abatement in rent from the housing tribunal.
I would talk to the contractor to set out some ground rules.
If that didn't work they would all be served with trespass notices. The law here does not differentiate between owner and renter.
In fact the landlord can be charged under the act, and are, in certain circumstances.
This is the land of socialism where we protect the proletariat.

If you had a valid lease then yes, you did have rights as a tenant as to when you could expect repairs to be made vs not. Mowing the lawn between 7-8a.m. could be considered unreasonable regardless of your personal relationship with the owner.

Tenants have rights. Rights are based on whatever the state law has to say about landlord/tenant law. Anyone who rents either an apartment or a house should become intimately aware of his rights because most property owners -especially the mom & pop variety- are douchebags. Check the website of the state in which you reside. Most states, such as California, have a section specifically devoted to tenant rights and spells them out in great detail.

If you get screwed over by a douchebag property owner, there is recourse. It's up to you take responsibility to get the problem resolved.

John: Where to begin?? It sounds like you are taking your issues with the landlord out on the workers... you cite several things that tell me you may have more then a little prejudice/racism toward the workers when you say things like "Well that does not help me feel better about having my stuff exposed to a bunch of minimum wage constr5uction workers when I have 1000's of dollars in audio/video equipment, and dirt bikes, and 4-wheelers in the garage. " which implies that you feel they will steal from you based on how they look or some other abstract criteria you are judging them by which is unfortunate that you choose to treat them that way when they have not given you any reason to act that way toward them.

That's not cool because they're there to do a job that the owner of the home paid to have done.

As a renter you have little say in the matter so go read your lease and you'll see what I'm talking about.

If you want to break your lease go ahead and leave but they can take you to court for breach of contract and as such, your "convenience" is something that is not compensatory for in Court so good luck with that...

Or, you can show the guys there some respect and realize it's not their fault you are inconvenienced. I mean after all you didn't have to let them store anything in your garage in the 1st place so if your feel that your property is now somehow in danger because of your allowing them to use it, either tell them to remove their things immediately or deal with it and leave them alone and let them finish their work.

Unless you can prove they've done ANYTHING illegal, the Cops will only tell you to take it up with your landlord or take him/her to Small Claims Court but if you do go that route, be aware that with no actionable case, you are 99.9% assured of losing..

Just try to make the best of this situation since you have no control over it. You might just find you'll get through it easier if you accept it and try to make the best of it.

It's all you really can do.

You should have left that part out as your true motive is perfectly clear. If you weren't complaining about the workers, how they work, and what time they work, you'd be complaining about the paint and stucco coming off the house and that you think the roof leaks.

Most jurisdictions have a Code Enforcement Officer detailed to ride herd on construction projects within the jurisdiction. Contact is generally through the police department.

The Police won't do anything. this is a civil matter. as far as the lease goes, check the fine print. there might be an out for you there[doubtful].

What's funny about this thread is, most topic are about owner NOT doing maintenance on their properties. Seems the owner is doing what is needed to keep the property in good order. Wonder how the OP would feel if the roof leaked into his apt or unit. Short of the contractors asking to use the garage, which the OP hasn't said if he also rents it, for storage. The owner doesn't seem to be doing anything wrong.

YES I've rented and yes there was work done on the property I lived in and guess what I had to suck it up as well. From having to park in the street while lot was being repaved, to having to do it again while porch was being painted and repaired. To taking my laundry to a laundromat when the plumbing being worked on in the laundry room.

Wow, tough crowd here. Honestly, I'm more in line with the OP. Major renovations such as this should not be done while a tenant occupies the property. If the landlord feels that such a major project must be undertaken, he or she should buy out the tenant and help them move to a new location or simply not renew the lease at the end. Do what is necessary to keep the property habitable while it is occupied, but then renovate in between tenants.

Check out the relevant section of my lease:

18. QUIET ENJOYMENT. Tenant, upon payment of all of the sums referred to herein as being payable by Tenant and Tenant's performance of all Tenant's agreements contained herein and Tenant's observance of all rules and regulations, shall and may peacefully and quietly have, hold and enjoy said Premises for the term hereof.

In most single family lease situations, the tenant stands in for the owner and is entitled to the entire premises for his "quiet enjoyment" as if he were the owner. The lease simply sets out conditions on this right (tenant may not transfer ownership, sublease or make permanent changes, as the case may be) and a term for that right to exist. I suspect if the OP checks his lease, he will find that he is leasing "the property located at block QQ, lot YY, subdivision Oaks of Windfalls Estates Lakes Wilderness, commonly known as 1227 Babbling Brook Drive." That means that everything, between fence and street, is the tenant's to hold for as long as the lease is in effect and he pays his rent.

The landlord is out of line, in my opinion, and if it were me, I would move.

said by wesm:

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18. QUIET ENJOYMENT. Tenant, upon payment of all of the sums referred to herein as being payable by Tenant and Tenant's performance of all Tenant's agreements contained herein and Tenant's observance of all rules and regulations, shall and may peacefully and quietly have, hold and enjoy said Premises for the term hereof.

In most single family lease situations, the tenant stands in for the owner and is entitled to the entire premises for his "quiet enjoyment" as if he were the owner. The lease simply sets out conditions on this right (tenant may not transfer ownership, sublease or make permanent changes, as the case may be) and a term for that right to exist. I suspect if the OP checks his lease, he will find that he is leasing "the property located at block QQ, lot YY, subdivision Oaks of Windfalls Estates Lakes Wilderness, commonly known as 1227 Babbling Brook Drive." That means that everything, between fence and street, is the tenant's to hold for as long as the lease is in effect and he pays his rent.

The landlord is out of line, in my opinion, and if it were me, I would move.

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That's a faulty conclusion to reach as it is actually interpreted to mean that the OCCUPANT/Tenants through the following of all the stipulated rules and regulations is entitled to "peacefully and quietly have, hold and enjoy said Premises for the term hereof".

It has nothing to say about what a LANDLORD can or can't do with his property.....

However in re-reading the OP and his folowup comments, I do think a 1 business day lead time is a bit short but that hinges on the definition of how reasonable notice is applied in the state where he lives.

In California, reasonable notice can be as little as 8 hours before work is performed as long as the tenant is told what work will be done and it's expected duration.

In case anyone is wondering, I am an accredited Residential Property Manager in the State of California so I know a bit about the topic at hand. As I said before the OP would be better served to take it up again with the landlord and if no agreed compromise can be reached, there may not be much that can be done about it as long as "reasonable notice" was given beforehand.

To the OP: Please don't treat the workers badly because they are only doing a job, it nothing personal. That is counterproductive to what you are wanting to accomplish.

And, encouraging the OP to move before his lease is up in October is negligent as he would be breaking his lease and then be subject to the landlord recovering his losses on the rent in Small Claims court for the remainder of the lease period plus attorney's fees. Not to mention his name would be placed on a list maintained by the state he lives in (the same one that evictions and foreclosures go on) that would make it hard (practically impossible actually) for him to rent an Apartment or lease a house in the future... Food for thought.

edit for clarity of thought

Hell man you ought to be glad your landlord is fixing the place up.

I dealt with it last fall/winter getting new windows put in here.
8am is out of line for me. Midnight would have been more appropriate due to my shifts schedules.
I just wished they had advised me to cover my tv's and stuff with a sheet. Them $79 window guys. Windows are doing fine now. I like them. Think of what the repairs do for you in the long run. I didn't pay for them. I dealt with the inconvinvience and turned out happy in the long run.
I lived in a couple other places in the past and my landlords didn't do a damn thing!! Even when the leak brought the kitchen ceiling down. I fixed the leak with some undercoating spray in the metal box gutters. Bunch of pinholes in the metal. Oh and the ceiling never got fixed. I love my landlord and his wife now. They fixed the one wall and I painted it when I got the time. We're cool with each other.

Be Happy!!

Paul

They are allowed to perform necessary repairs.

About the only thing you have a shot to argue against is unnecessary construction or improvements because they interfere with your ability for "quiet enjoyment" your rental.

I had a friend who lived in an apartment where the LL gave notice that they were going to "do some repairs" ... it turned out to be a kitchen and bathroom remodel, rewiring the entire apartment, painting all the rooms and replacing the windows!

This is the sort of stuff you do between tenants, but my friend was actively living there, and had about 3 months left on her lease (this was her 2nd year in the apartment).

After 3 weeks of crews of guys showing up at 8am and not leaving until 6pm, with no immediate end to the work in sight she was fed up. What made it worse was that it was clear that the LL intended to raise the rent at the end of the lease because the apartment was going to end up much nicer.

My friend had a lawyer friend who was able to talk w/ the LL and successfully argued that the LL was preventing my friend from using the apartment she was paying for, the result was that she had the option to break the lease with 15 days notice and that she would not owe rent during any of the construction (so she ended up with 2 months of rent for free).

In the end my friend had about a month to enjoy the "new" apartment before the end of the lease hit and the LL let her know that the rent was going up $300/mo, she moved along to a new place.

It sounds like you've got a new place already picked out and are just looking for a reason to break the lease. If the work being done is taking multiple weeks, and you believe it's not part of a necessary set of repairs, then I'd say you talk to the LL and explain that you're not happy with how your use of the rental is being interfered with and as a result you're looking to move asap and want to know the earliest they'll let you out of the lease w/o penalty, you might be surprised at this point, particularly if you may be able to argue against paying rent during construction.

Keep in mind though that my friend and I live in Massachusetts where the laws are all tenant friendly and specifically screw the LL--hell you can usually live here for at least 2-3 months rent free even w/o any problems from the LL if you're willing to drag your dignity through the mud a bit.

One other piece of advice--stay friendly with the construction crews, they're the ones at your home. If they lose respect for you or think your asshole, they're far more likely to make as much noise as they please or walk off with anything they can.

- The house is getting repaired on the OUTSIDE so you don't have problems on the inside
- Put a curtain on the bathroom window, unless you like getting spied upon
- They ASKED if they could use the garage - all you had to do was say NO
- Sounds like you just want to move and are trying to come up with reasons to break your lease because you found a bigger, cheaper house to rent

Think it is bad now? Just wait until the lease is up in Oct. Since the home is now improved and nicer looking , She can demand more rent.

Tim

As you quoted yourself, I was speaking of "Landlord/Tenant issues" which has nothing to do with the local code enforcement situation you mentioned. The fact remains that Cops do not enforce civil law issues.

Exactly...

I've been through the same thing. When it's time to renew the lease, you'll be informed the rent will be much higher. Or... they'll pretend nothing has changed and the property will be sold, forcing you to move in a certain amount of time.

Nobody does that kind of work on a rental house all at once without intentions of increasing rent or most likely selling the house. You likely won't be enjoying the improvements for very long after they're done. It's a dirty deal. Not sure if it's 100% legal or not... Legal representation would cost you more than paying off your lease and moving to find out. Even if you won your case, it wouldn't be worth the money spent and the landlord would retaliate by doubling the rent as soon as the lease is up. Probably why the landlords always get away with this.

They're probably just doing some house flipping and using tenants to pay for improvements. Unfortunately, it's done all the time. Renting from a private individual is much safer. But, I've seen the exact same scenario happen that way. Maybe renting from someone who's owned the house for a length of time is safest...

LOL@the illegals bit. Why the hell is a construction worker A- a rich son of bitch or B- An illegal alien from Latin America?

LOL... Deal with the problem, holmes. Your home will be that much better. Free upgrade for the love of god!

you should be glad you have a landlord that is willingly taking care of the needs of the property. there are so many slum lords out there that dont give a shit what condition the property is, so like i said, be glad yours is not afraid to maintain the investment.

98% of landlords know the process and know what permits they need to have and all that other mess. any reputable construction site manager knows this as well, because no permit = site closed = no money.

i dont think anyone here in this thread is trying to come across as an ass, but tolerating property upkeep when you are a renter is just part of the game. deal with the minor headache and it will all be done soon.

my .02

There you go, adding words that weren't there. I didn't read, in his comment, anything that mentioned Latin American illegals. Did you? Or are you assuming all illegals are from latin america?

And if you were the owner's agent in this particular scenario, Mr. accredited Residential Property Manager, you'd still be in the wrong according to the New Mexico Owner-Resident Relations Act.

The owner is compelled by law to make the repairs, but those repairs cannot interfere with the quiet enjoyment of the property by the lessee. And what the lessee describes in great detail sounds like interference with that quiet enjoyment to me. I'd be also willing to wager that a judge would agree.

Oh BTW, I make a living fighting douchebag property owners and their managers when shit like this is pulled. I'm not accredited and therefore not as special as you, however, I do have a license to practice.

Are you saying that paying rent gives a tennant some real interest in the property?
What exactly are landlords "getting away with" when they improve their property in advance of raising rent or selling? Why is investing in a rental property with the purpose of getting a return on that investment a "dirty deal"?
Tennants pay rent. Any money after expenses is taken as profit or put back into the investment as improvements. The tennants don't "pay for improvements"; they pay for a place to live for a specific period of time.
There is nothing "unfortunate" about it. There is a difference between renting and owning. It's called risk.

Why should he care ? He's already grasping for reasons to get out of his lease and obviously doesn't intend to stay.

It's a dirty deal because the tenant puts up with constant construction which ABSOLUTELY interferes with their enjoyment of the home they're paying good money to rent... and then they're kicked out. No tenant would be willing to rent under those conditions... which is why they are never told in advance. If that doesn't sound like a bit of a dirty deal to you... well enjoy what you and the other ruthless businesspeople have done to this country. The pigions ARE coming home to roost. The popular acceptance of lawlessness in business and government will be used against you too eventually. Any money you have left is much needed by your government and you should be scared of lawlessness and immorality being the status quo. Heard any talk of "socialism" lately?... and they love that Americans are trying to screw each other for the last few scraps instead of standing together against corruption. They taught you to accept this. If you have kids, you're 10 times as sick for ruining the country, ending integrity in business betwen neighbors and stomping on the rights of people just because you are in a position to. That's the world they're going to have to live in. Like I said, it probably isn't 100% legal. But, it's one of those things that isn't worth the money for the tenant to fight, making it an "accepted" way of doing business.

Let's quote the whole lease, and not just part of it:

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13. INSPECTION OF PREMISES. Landlord and Landlord's agents shall have the right at all reasonable times during the term of this Agreement and any renewal thereof to enter the
Premises for the purpose of inspecting the Premises and all buildings and improvements thereon. And for the purposes of making any repairs, additions or alterations as may be
deemed appropriate by Landlord for the preservation of the Premises or the building. Landlord and its agents shall further have the right to exhibit the Premises and to display
the usual "for sale", "for rent" or "vacancy" signs on the Premises at any time within forty five (45) days before the expiration of this Lease. The right of entry shall likewise exist
for the purpose of removing placards, signs, fixtures, alterations or additions, but do not conform to this agreement or to any restrictions, rules or regulations affecting the Premises.

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Most standard leases have this clause or something similar.

I wonder how that is a faulty conclusion. The landlord's rights and privileges are spelled out in other portions of the lease, including his right of entry and the right to be notified of damages and to be given proper notice to make repairs. "Quiet enjoyment," at least in Texas, means that, outside of all of the things the landlord gets as part of the lease, the tenant gets the exclusive use of the whole property for his "quiet enjoyment" for the term of the lease. Just like owning a house gives you that same right (along with a few others).I think people are missing the point here. "Work is performed" cannot reasonably be "major renovations to the entire property." Again, dealing with Texas only because that's all I know, I've seen entire apartment complexes emptied for major remodels. Surely a property management company or investment owner wouldn't flush all that rent money out the airlock just to be nice about it?

"I think people are missing the point here. "Work is performed" cannot reasonably be "major renovations to the entire property." Again, dealing with Texas only because that's all I know, I've seen entire apartment complexes emptied for major remodels. Surely a property management company or investment owner wouldn't flush all that rent money out the airlock just to be nice about it?"

I think everyone (or most anyway) can see that wrong is being done here. But, the original poster has about 2-months left on his lease and then he can move. This is a civil matter that would have to be decided in court. The real question here is how much is he going to spend on legal representation for the right to rent a quieter house for 2 months? The answer is nothing. Just not worth it... Landlord would certainly retaliate when it was time to renew the lease. Moving expenses would be a much better use of the money.

I used to be a contractor, and I wouldn't dream of screwing up someone's environment the way the OP describes the landlord's contractor is doing. There is no condoning total lack of regard for the tenant, his family and his property. The OP didn't demean anybody. That is a fantasy of your own creation.

While landlords have the right to repair their property, they do NOT have the right to impose unlivable conditions upon a tenant without compensation, and they must give adequate notice before commencing construction projects. Permits are ALWAYS required for demolition and construction. Adequate safeguards for the protection of the tenant's safety, property and privacy are the number one consideration in these kinds of situations (non-emergency construction and/or repair), and must be in place, in force and effective. Especially, when the tenant has young children and pets.

There are noise ordinances and proscriptions in most jurisdictions re the time of commencement and completion of daily construction activities, as well as a maximum permitted noise level for construction equipment in residential areas. Usually, construction work may only begin after 8:00 a.m., and must cease by 5:00 p.m., on the normal five business days of the week; Monday through Friday. Weekend construction work is usually prohibited for anyone but a resident owner of the property. And, all non-emergency demolition and/or construction work requires a permit.

Construction work, especially remodeling and large scale repairs, is extremely disruptive to an occupant. Tenants are entitled to the quiet enjoyment of their leasehold. Bullying and/or obnoxious disregard for the tenant, his property and his privacy are never justified. Parking in the driveway of the property is both rude and inexcusable. Not protecting the tenants and tenant's property from construction operations, dust and debris leaves one open to liability/lawsuits.

Apparently, neither you, or the contractor doing the work on the OP's leasehold, have ever heard of establishing and maintaining communication with affected parties in, or nearby, the construction project, compliance with health/safety laws and procedures, good job-site management, or dust and debris mitigation and daily clean-up.

[edited to remove unnecessary swearing -Dennis]

I think you should go back and re-read the replies. "Most" seem to believe that the OP is making a mountain out of a molehill. With the exception of blocked access to the driveway and a potentially untidy worksite, the whole affair seems to be handled professionally by the management company and landlord. [Edit: Forgot to ad that I do think the short notice given the tenant is a very poor choice on the part of the landlord.]

Regarding the noise, once the original stucco is removed from the house and new lath applied, re-stuccoing and painting are relatively quiet jobs. The roofing job will be somewhat noisier, but will probably be no more than a three day job, if that. That does not seem like too much inconvenience to me. Even if they were extremely noisy activities, the OP has stated that he and his SO are not home all day, so thats not even the real problem.

If he truly feels that he has been unduly inconvenienced, perhaps the landlord would be willing to negotiate a partial rent reduduction for that month. It never hurts to ask.

Nick

P.s. In several places it would be illegal to leave your dog outside all day unattended.

Perhaps in your area permits are required for re-roofing and stucco, but in many areas it is not. I've never actually encountered a municipality where permits are required for a roof, siding, stucco, or painting. Even on a tear off. They are even allowed to re-deck without permits in many places.

They are usually required for important things like framing, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical.