Reena and other girls in the legal field--

[ame]

My fi is vacating his apt. next month because I think we have the house now. He has been noticing things missing over the course of the last few days, money, dvds, ps2 games, etc. We set up my dad''s video camera because its got a surveillance mode on it to see if we can catch anyone in there. I am nervous because he has a lot of banking stuff and personal information laying out that someone with enough savvy could really mess him up with...we can''t tell if that''s missing because he doesn''t keep it well organized. (his sloppiness sometimes really irritates me, particularly in regards to this stuff)

My question is: do the people at the complex have to give you notice before showing your apartment or entering your apartment? I know in Pennsylvania you have to get 24-48 hours notice in writing or they can get nailed for trespassing regardless of whether they own the place or not. I just wonder if thats a thing here too.

He was so pissed when he called last night and it wasn''t me with the DVDs or money. Mind you Id never pilfer from him anyway, but Im glad he asked me because that has me really nervous about the security there.

 

[lmurden]

I depends on the jurisdiction. You should be able to go to your county website and look under landlord tenant laws and that should answer all your questions. There is a website called Nolo.com that should also help you.

 

[ame]

Thank you!

 

[lmurden]

No problem. That's the luxury of owning your own home!

 

[reena]

yeah, i don't know much about the specific rules on that, but hopefully the websites lmurden pointed you to will help. as a general principle, though, absent special circumstances i don't believe your landlord has the right to just bust into your apartment whenever he feels like it. if your BF is paying rent there, he is the one in possession of the aparment and he has rights.




good luck

 

[moremoremore]

check the lease! It may give LL the right to enter upon 24 hours notice to tenant or even upon "reasonable" notice to the tenant or at any times he sees fit...that may or may not be enforceable...but that's what the contract says in any event. There should be a para called "LL's right to enter"! And it'll give him rights to enter pursuant to some stupid statutory authority in some special circumstances as the gals mentioned.

 

[reena]

but he shouldn't be able to just bust in unannounced, is that right MMM? as in, if the LL has been in her BFs apartment when he wasn't there, he should have known about it first?

 

[moremoremore]

Well, depends on what the contract/lease might say. If the lease lets the LL go in when ever the LL wants or deems reasonable..is that really unconscionable (ten bucks says I spelled it wrong) and unenforceable? Probably not....not nice, not fair, but maybe enforceable. Dunno. I'd check the lease b/c if the lease says he has to give notice, well then, there is the answer I guess. What do I know

 

[reena]

yeah, what do i know either?

nuthin'. our corporate clients don't ask us to handle too many landlord-tenant disputes. (wish they did--it'd be interesting.)




(BTW i think you did spell it correctly.

)

 

[moremoremore]

come hang out at district court in hempstead for a few hours,

you'll change your mind. LOL

 

[ame]

He called the cops about and because they don't consider the missing stuff to be over 100 in value they can't fill out an official report but they have a complaint and he brought a copy there and raised hell. They mentioned the possibility of complex personnel being in the apartment without giving proper notice as well as potential for "breaking and entering" with petty theft.

He packed up a lot of important shit and hid it, lease included, telling me where it was so I could come get it. Hopefully nothing looks strange when I show up after work. If so Im going to raise bloody hell.

Thanks you guys.

 

[Diamondsbybree]

I had to ask Linda (my best friend and city prosecutor). She said NO, they cannot walk into his apartment without written consent before doing so, and they must give at least a 2 weeks notice. This is more of a favor of the landlord to ask the tenant for permission before showing it. Unless he is in subsidised living conditions. Then they only need to give a 24hour notice for inspection of the housing. Met housing is also included into this factor.
I hope this helps you. If this is the case that the landlord is doing so. You need to get proof that they are doing this, and it is prosecutable.
Good luck and keep us posted~!~!

Congrats again on buying your new home Ame~!~!

 

[LostNWonderland]

Okay, butting in

I have worked in the apartment leasing business for two years now. In EVERY state, it is required a minimum of 24 hour notice to enter into a resident's apartment. No matter what. There is nothing that states 2 weeks, unless specific to your state. However, it is stated as soon as when the landlord knows that they want to enter, they must inform the resident. However, notice does not HAVE to be in writing, phone calls are fine. So that is where it sticky.

In the case of missing items, the best bet would be find someone in the office that he can possibly talk to/trust and have them pull up the key check out record. By law, in most states, they must have a clear and coherent key log of who, when, where, and why a key is checked out. In my office, it is all electronic, so it makes it easy. The key log may be the easiest way. Besides catching them red-handed with survilence.

But, I would tell you this right now, go straight to corporate offices, unless there is no corp. then go to the owners. It is on their heads. File a claim with BBB and that will get their attention immediately. Amends will be made quickly.

Good Luck!
-Alice