If there is one thing that is common to anyone who is renting a Makati apartment – or one anywhere in the world – it is the necessity of dealing with landlords. The landlord is the owner of the apartment complex and the person a tenant pays the rent to. He is also the one responsible for calling for repairmen whenever something is wrong in the building, taking the problem off of the shoulders of the residents. However, the landlord plays a major role in the daily life of a tenant, and it would be useful for someone to have an idea of how best to deal with them and keep things positive.
The rent
The Philippine real estate market is a tough environment and not all apartments are the same. For those who want to keep a good apartment, it is advisable to always pay the rent on time. Withholding rent can lead to an eviction, as it will violate even the most basic of agreements. Prompt payments keep the landlord-tenant relationship positive and most landlords pleased with the tenant, taking a lot of potential stress off of the situation.
Know the law
There are laws that protect renters from overly abusive landlords, and it would be useful for anyone renting an apartment to know these. This can help counter a lot of the potential abuse that a landlord can do to an uninformed tenant, as well as provide an advantage when negotiating an extension on the lease or getting something repaired. It can also allow a tenant to get out of a really bad situation without completely losing out.
Stay calm
A lot of tenants make the mistake of getting angry at their landlords when there is a dispute. This has numerous intangible effects. The first is that people make poor decisions when upset and the apartment owners have a position of advantage. That means the tenant is likely to be feeling the brunt of the consequences of an argument. Staying calm also helps in dealing with the inevitable paperwork that a problem can cause.
Wear and tear
It is important that people renting an apartment have a good idea of just how much wear-and-tear the landlord is expecting from them. It is to be expected that a certain amount of damage is going to be done to anything in the apartment, even if most of it will be cosmetic. Keep a detailed inventory of everything when the lease began, along with dated photographs. This can help decrease the chances of being unable to prove that the damage to the property was someone else’s fault.
Landlords can be difficult to deal with, but they are not impossible to handle. A clear head and some basic advice can go a long way to making life easier for someone renting an apartment. At the very least, tenants should know what laws protect them and define their rights.
