Strategies for Dealing with Landlord / Tenant Dynamics

There are over forty-five million renters in the United States. With this number of renters (tenants) there are going to be disputes between tenants and landlords. Some of these disputes can raise to a level of physical violence. We recently had a situation where a garbage disposal was late being replaced and the tenant was so mad the workman was attacked with a crowbar.

What Can We Do?

At Metropolitan Mediation Services the most common disputes tenants have with landlords is:

• Disputes about rent payments, security deposits
• Repairs going unaddressed.

Common landlord issues usually revolve around:

• Missed or late rent payments
• Damage to the property

To protect both parties it is imperative that there is a lease in place before move in. The lease must include local ordinances. If you are the renter, ask questions and get the answer(s) on the lease. TAKE PICTURES, lots of them! We deal with damage issues all the time.

What do we do when a problem with the property arises?

With so many rental properties you can expect an issue to come up from time to time. Your best protection is to send a polite registered letter advising of the problem and request a response on fixing the issue.

When is it time for Mediation?

There are times when communication brakes down and a solution cannot be reached between the landlord and tenant. This is a good time to contact a neutral mediator who can assist with resolving the dispute. The courts are also an option but have long dockets and many times refer you to mediation anyway