(no subject)
Jan. 12th, 2005 11:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickWell, I get full fucking points for being an idiot. Doctor appointment is next Wednesday, not this one. I did take the opportunity of fucking up on the appointment date to pick up the extensive forms so that I can have them all filled out when I go in on NEXT Wednesday. Still, I hate changes in plan that wind up with me showered, dressed in work clothes, and ten minutes from work three hours before I really need to be there. It's irritating, but I came to work early instead of driving back home, changing out of work clothes, hanging out for an hour, changing back into work clothes, and driving back into work. What the hell -- work has broadband.
I have to be at work early (9:15 AM instead of my more usual 1:00 PM) tomorrow, too. I have a landlord-tenant complaint hearing to go to (I'm the landlord). Fortunately, the tenant isn't going to be at the hearing because he just got his butt thrown in jail today for being lippy, uncooperative, and somewhat violent to the local chief of police. The chief of police had visited upon him to encourage him to stop making death threats against the neighbors (also tenants of ours). Even if the tenant is out of jail by tomorrow to make it to the hearing, he will not have any money for the rent because he'll have had to post bail to get out of jail. This will simplify the hearing considerably, so that's a plus.
Also, I just got off the phone with the guy who bought the building with the sewer pipe issue. He wanted landlord technical support, and I suppose he figures we are supposed to provide it. *sigh* I'm not sure we are obligated to provide him with landlording technical support, but what the hell. His question for today was if he had the right to show an apartment to prospective renters while the current tenants were still there. *sigh* I asked him what it said in the lease his tenant signed. (It's the same as ours, he bought the rights to use our state-approved plain-language lease from us.) He said he did not have a copy of it handy, so I flipped to page 4, item 10, and read it aloud to him over the phone.
10. The landlord or his employees may enter the apartment at any time for the following reasons:
1. To inspect the apartment
2. To make necessary repairs
3. To protect the apartment from damage, and
4. To show the apartment to prospective Tenants or Buyers.
I think it's pretty clear that, yes, he is allowed to show an apartment to prospective renters while the current tenants are still there. This isn't even in scary, difficult legalese. It's in English. I do not know why this man does not have a full and complete knowledge of what the lease he is signing says. After all, he's obligated to abide by the terms of the lease just as much as his tenant is. If I were in his shoes, I'd think understanding the lease was sort of important and I'd have a copy ready-to-hand in the event of a lease emergency.
On a related note, why do tests of reading comprehension measure how well the reader has understood a couple of fictional paragraphs? That is so bullshit. I have never, in my non-academic life, needed to pass a test on the events in a novel or short story. I have, however, needed to read stuff so that I could answer questions like "How much notice do I need to give my landlord if I decide to move?" and "My car has a Pennsylvania tag and I've just moved to Maryland -- what do I do to get Maryland tags on it?" and "What documentation do I need to have to prove that I'm an in-state student to the bursar of my university?" and "On my tax return, how do I report interest income generated by small, unsecured loans to regular people?" I think reading comprehension should quit with the fiction and focus on the comprehension of nonfiction material that relates to everyday life.
I have to be at work early (9:15 AM instead of my more usual 1:00 PM) tomorrow, too. I have a landlord-tenant complaint hearing to go to (I'm the landlord). Fortunately, the tenant isn't going to be at the hearing because he just got his butt thrown in jail today for being lippy, uncooperative, and somewhat violent to the local chief of police. The chief of police had visited upon him to encourage him to stop making death threats against the neighbors (also tenants of ours). Even if the tenant is out of jail by tomorrow to make it to the hearing, he will not have any money for the rent because he'll have had to post bail to get out of jail. This will simplify the hearing considerably, so that's a plus.
Also, I just got off the phone with the guy who bought the building with the sewer pipe issue. He wanted landlord technical support, and I suppose he figures we are supposed to provide it. *sigh* I'm not sure we are obligated to provide him with landlording technical support, but what the hell. His question for today was if he had the right to show an apartment to prospective renters while the current tenants were still there. *sigh* I asked him what it said in the lease his tenant signed. (It's the same as ours, he bought the rights to use our state-approved plain-language lease from us.) He said he did not have a copy of it handy, so I flipped to page 4, item 10, and read it aloud to him over the phone.
10. The landlord or his employees may enter the apartment at any time for the following reasons:
1. To inspect the apartment
2. To make necessary repairs
3. To protect the apartment from damage, and
4. To show the apartment to prospective Tenants or Buyers.
I think it's pretty clear that, yes, he is allowed to show an apartment to prospective renters while the current tenants are still there. This isn't even in scary, difficult legalese. It's in English. I do not know why this man does not have a full and complete knowledge of what the lease he is signing says. After all, he's obligated to abide by the terms of the lease just as much as his tenant is. If I were in his shoes, I'd think understanding the lease was sort of important and I'd have a copy ready-to-hand in the event of a lease emergency.
On a related note, why do tests of reading comprehension measure how well the reader has understood a couple of fictional paragraphs? That is so bullshit. I have never, in my non-academic life, needed to pass a test on the events in a novel or short story. I have, however, needed to read stuff so that I could answer questions like "How much notice do I need to give my landlord if I decide to move?" and "My car has a Pennsylvania tag and I've just moved to Maryland -- what do I do to get Maryland tags on it?" and "What documentation do I need to have to prove that I'm an in-state student to the bursar of my university?" and "On my tax return, how do I report interest income generated by small, unsecured loans to regular people?" I think reading comprehension should quit with the fiction and focus on the comprehension of nonfiction material that relates to everyday life.
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no subject
Date: 2005-01-12 05:53 pm (UTC)That lease excerpt hits a hot button for me. It's illegal in MA, and I would not sign it as a tenant even if it were legal. It may be the landlord's property, but it's my home as long as I'm renting it; barring emergencies, he'd better give reasonable notice before entering, provide a good reason, and make an effort to agree on a time that's convenient for me. (MA requires 24 hours' notice and agreement on a reasonable time, and defines "good reason" as approximately what that lease says.)
My last landlady demonstrated to me very thoroughly why it's good that the law is that way. (Irritating story available upon request.)
no subject
Date: 2005-01-12 06:30 pm (UTC)As far as rights to enter the apartment, I honestly understand your concerns. More than a few tenants have asked if we planned to "inspect" or "visit" to root through their stuff. The first couple of times someone asked that, I was shocked. Apparently there are a lot of nosey landlords out there, but I have better things to do with my time than root through the detritus of someone else's life.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-12 06:43 pm (UTC)