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Rental Property Management Charleston | What You Need to Know About Landlord Harassment (Scott Properties)

Rental Property Management Charleston | What You Need to Know About Landlord Harassment 

Rental Property Management Charleston | Every property manager has horror stories to tell about stressful tensions between themselves and their tenants. No property manager wants to have a conflict with the people renting from them, but sometimes confrontation with tenants is unavoidable if they are committing lease violations. There’s a fine line to cross before property manager actions cross over into landlord harassment. Here’s what you need to know about landlord harassment and what your rights as a property manager are:

  1. What is Landlord Harassment? When a landlord is trying to pressure or intimidate a tenant, or using aggressive methods of communication towards the tenant, this is considered landlord harassment. To prove a property manager is committing landlord harassment the behavior usually must be ongoing. 
  2. What Constitutes Landlord Harassment? There are many different ways a landlord could be harassing a tenant. Some of the most common forms of harassment towards tenants include:
  • Illegal entry
  • Turning off utilities
  • Taking away services or amenities that are included in the lease
  • Refusing maintenance requests
  • Changing the locks
  • Taking personal possessions out of the rental home 
  • Increasing rent
  • Not giving proper notice for entry, eviction, or lease violations
  • Trying to buyout a tenant
  • Threatening a tenant verbally 
  • Threatening a tenant physically 
  • Refusing rent payments
  • Filing false charges against tenants
  • Serving fake eviction notices to the tenant
  • Sexual harassment 

This list is not exhaustive of everything a landlord can do that is considered harassment. If you’re a property manager concerned about harassment allegations, the best way to protect yourself is to follow the rules in the lease precisely as written. 

  1. What Isn’t Harassment? Landlords do have legal rights to the properties they are managing. Some things that are not landlord harassment include:
  • Emergency entry into a home
  • Filing evictions in accordance with the rules outlined in the lease
  • Raising rent with proper notice for all units or to increase the value of a unit to match others in the area
  • Sending notifications of legitimate lease violations
  • Turning off Utilities for nonpayment per lease terms
  • Sending a buyout request to a tenant
  • Changing locks for victims of domestic violence

If you’re looking for a property manager that has no risk of committing landlord harassment, contact Scot Properties of Charleston at 843-790-4929.