CMPD reminds landlords, tenants they both have rights

Amy Cowman

Anyone who’s ever rented a place or been the landlord renting knows sometimes major issues can arise.

Both have rights to protect them but CMPD wants to make sure landlords know all the resources and rules for them to follow, so they held a training class for landlords and property managers on Wednesday.

“The entire security deposit was $2,500, and they came back took the entire security deposit and invoiced me for $19 because of scuff marks,” said renter Joel Lucibello.

Lucibello’s landlord issues actually came after he moved out, but losing more than $2,000 was still serious business to him after he made sure to leave the place in great condition.

“There’s no penalty for a landlord to do it. They can just take the security deposit and probably half the people fight and half don’t and they probably just make the money off those who don’t,” said Lucibello.

Huey Rowe-Anderson is a landlord and says sometimes landlords can get the raw end of the deal too, so he came to the CMPD training class so he’s aware of all this options and responsibilities.

“Even if there is a problem that a tenant causes you, as a landlord are still responsible for fixing the problem,” said Anderson.

Anderson says he’s learned a thorough lease with tenants gives him power to evict if need be. For tenants it’s not quite as cut and dry.

“According to the statutes you cannot withhold rent because the landlord is not doing what they’re supposed to. Give it to the landlord in writing what’s going on,” said Pat Barker with CMPD.

Barker says landlords are responsible for creating a safe, crime free home.

“The main thing with a tenant is let somebody know you don’t have to live that way. You don’t have to live in that situation,” said Barker.

From police to code enforcement tenants can alert agencies of landlord negligence, but you can’t just break a lease.

“The landlord is responsible. A lot of times they say, ‘How do I know what’s going on I’m not there?’ It’s not just knowing what’s going on, it’s once you find out, how do you respond to it?” said Barker.

“A police officer came and looked me up and told me there was a liquor house in one of our houses,” said Anderson.

So Anderson evicted.

In Lucibello’s case, he says persistence won in the end.

“Their only consequence is if the tenant knows enough to go down and take them to small claims court, which you have to spend $100 dollars to do,” said Lucibello.

Which he did, and they settled giving him $1,500 back.

Source: wcnc