Questions to Ask a New Potential Landlord
This question comes from Mia on Facebook. There are lots of questions you can ask! Just like the section of a job interview where the interviewer asks you “do you have any questions for us?” — the answer should always be yes, and here are some common questions that can help you ensure a high-quality tenancy.
“Tell me about how you came to be a landlord, I would love to hear your story.” Even if the story is not particularly interesting to you, there is often a sense of pride that a good landlord will have in their property. A bad landlord will not have an answer to this story.
“Have there been any major maintenance problems in the last five years?” The answer to this question is usually easily verifiable, by searching the property records through your county’s website. (San Francisco website). If the landlord answers honestly, it tends to show that they are actively engaged in the physical care of their home. If the landlord says no, but a property search reveals otherwise, you have a major red flag.
“Can you show me all of the utility intake points into the house?” The places where water pipes, circuit boards, and cables enter and exit the property are important to know for emergency maintenance purposes, but they can also reveal serious preexisting maintenance issues.
Inspired by Shaun on Facebook: “Do you own the property, and if not, who does?” Renting from big corporate landowners often sucks for numerous reasons. It shouldn’t be an automatic bar, especially in major cities where there are often few other options. But this is another inflection point where you can gauge just how much heart and pride the landlord and/or property managers have in the property.
“Who is responsible for paying utilities and how do those payment arrangements work?” This one is really important. Yes, these arrangements are often listed specifically in a lease. But especially in urban settings, where construction is sometimes done haphazardly and without proper permits, your unit may or may not have its own utility meters. Ideally, either your unit will have its own utility meters for water, gas, and electric and you pay for only your own usage, or, even better, the landlord pays for all utilities. But if the answer involves paying money to another neighbor, or arbitrary percentages, or even worse, a flat fee, these are signs that you should be wary of the tenancy.
“Do you know the neighbors? What are they like?” If the answer is “no,” ask yourself why the owner does not know any of the neighbors. If the answer is “yes,” it can confirm the safety and desirability of a location, or, at least, give you valuable information about the neighbors.
This is especially important where you are renting from a master tenant: “What is your relationship with the landlord like?” It is also very important to ask to see the master tenant’s lease with the landlord. It is a very bad legal situation to be in, even in cities like San Francisco with rent control and eviction control, to be a subtenant in a home where subtenancies are forbidden.
“When was the last time the appliances were replaced, including the water heater, the heater, thermostats, refrigerator/freezer, stove, toilets, sinks, smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors?” Assuming the landlord answers honestly, this will give you insight as to how active the landlord is in the maintenance of the property, and can otherwise provide information that the landlord doesn’t actively replace things and what you should be on the look out for in regard to maintenance requests.
“If we agree that I should move in, can we perform a pre-move-in inspection together?” Any good landlord will say “yes.” This is the single most important method of prevention of security deposit lawsuits. Insist on a move-out inspection, too, whenever you move out of the place. Ideally, take lots of date-stamped photos, particularly of any damaged areas, or even a narrated video. HUD has a great inspection worksheet for free online, click here to access it.
Inspired by Owen on Facebook: “Can I come back to view the property in the evening soon?” Flaws with a particular property may not be apparent during the day but will be obvious at night, such as neighbors’ habits, light and noise issues, and street safety.
“How do maintenance requests work?” There’s not one best answer to this question; the important part is that there is an answer to this question. The answer might be “send me a text,” or “send so-and-so an email,” or “use our online portal.” Regardless of what the answer is, make sure they have an answer.
Bonus question, inspired by Gretchen on Facebook: “Is this property rent-controlled?” I don’t actually recommend asking this question to a landlord, primarily because it is an answer gleaned from some due diligence that you should be performing prior to renting a housing unit anyway. Tenants Together has a great resource on California rent control laws, listed by city. In San Francisco, you can click the link in Question 2 of this post to learn whether your property is rent-controlled. Most other California counties also have similar web search functions to determine the factors of whether your unit is rent-controlled or not. If you can’t figure it out, send Alex an email and they’ll help you figure it out for sure.
Do you have a legal question you want Alex to answer? Email Alex now or tag them on Facebook!