4 Things Landlords Are Not Allowed To Do

Rentals mean different things to different people. To consumers, it’s the less expensive alternative to home ownership. For property owners, rentals are a sure way of acquiring income.

However, since a person’s home is involved and of course, the intimacy that goes along with it, both signatories to a lease ought to understand their legal rights and obligations.
So take a look at what you may not have known was forbidden to landlords:
The following are forbidden to landlords

#1. Landlords Can’t Enter Renter’s Home without Notice

No doubt the house legally belongs to the landlord but where it has been rented out to someone, such a landlord has relished his rights to the property temporarily. Most laws demand that a landlord provides at least 24 to 48 hours’ notice before visiting the rented property. No matter the reasons that a landlord may have, such as fixing repairs, he must clearly state it.
However, two exceptions are given to this rule- such as in the case of an emergency (e.g. a fire outbreak) or if the landlord has strong reasons to believe that the tenant has left the property.
Depending on the laws of the province, for renters to enjoy this right, they may request that the lease includes a ‘covenant of quiet enjoyment’.

#2. Landlords can’t lock or freeze out tenants.

Landlords will definitely face some legal storm should they end or terminate the rental agreement or tenant’s occupancy before the expiration of the lease.

Of course, a landlord may evict a tenant for so many reasons but the proper legal channels must be used and a 30-day notice must be given to the tenant. Should a landlord suddenly lock out a tenant without a previous warning, he or she could be strapped with trespassing or burglary charges, and could be considered as a retaliatory eviction.

In the same vein, switching off utilities may be seen as intentionally placing the tenant in danger, most especially if the climate of the area is unfavorable.

#3. Landlords cannot charge or increase rent which contradicts the contract

In the event a long-term lease is signed, the term and conditions under which the landlord can raise the rent are strictly limited. However, the term can be changed only if the increase meets the predefined criteria in the lease itself.

Those prospects could include a new tenant joining the household; buying a pet; or if the landlord remodels some part of the property to the advantage of the client.
Another exception that could be made for a landlord to increase rent is if the property is located in a city with rent control or rent-stabilized edicts that will allow these changes.

#4. Landlords should not discriminate

If you’re a landlord, you cannot under any circumstances discriminate who you will let to based on age, race, creed, ethnic background or any other form of discriminatory basis. In the same vein, you cannot provide different terms or agreements for members of different protected classes than you do for other tenants.

Even though landlords are the main owners of a rental property, tenants also how the right protect themselves from any form of discrimination, nuisance, illogical rent increase and unlawful eviction.