No matter which side of the equation you’re on, if you are looking at resolving a dispute between parties in a rental agreement, you may need the services of a good landlord tenant lawyer. But how do you secure the help of a skilled professional that will result in your best chances of acceptable outcome? Some general guidelines can help property owners or tenants to find the legal counsel they need to resolve tricky problems when elements of a lease or rental agreement are in question.
Finding a Good Landlord Tenant Lawyer Through Referrals
One of the best ways to get good legal counsel in a rental dispute situation is to go through some of the other skilled professionals that you may have already dealt with. This generally includes mortgage professionals and real estate agents who may be privy to some details about the property, or simply involved in the industry enough to be able to help find good rental lawyers. Other landlord tenant lawyer referrals might come through a general practice attorney who you turn to for other kinds of legal advice.
Looking for Specific Expertise
Lots of legal experts recommend that you look for a landlord tenant lawyer with 3 to 5 years of experience in providing legal counsel relative to real estate or rental issues. In addition, you can profit from hiring a landlord tenant lawyer with specific knowledge of state and local laws, including municipal ordinances, as well as your state’s adoption of aspects of the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, a national law that governs the interpretation of leases and rental agreements.
Looking for Affordability
Another big issue that you want to bring up at the outset is the costs and the billing structure for your landlord tenant lawyer. Avoid lawyers asking for huge retainers upfront, and be sure to specify what kind of hourly billing structures are in place. The best landlord tenant lawyers will give you a lot for your money, and try to keep down the costs, since they are aware that clients are seeking counsel in order to limit their liability costs in resolving an issue.
Communications
Just as in hiring other skilled professionals, a client can often tell if a lawyer will be an effective representative by how he or she approaches the situation. Seek out landlord rental lawyers who listen to the specifics of the situation and provide good, sound responses to specific questions about either the method of resolution, the price of services, or anything else.
Landlord rental lawyers and attorneys who provide the kinds of value mentioned above can be extremely effective in bringing lease or rental agreement disputes to a close without adding a lot of additional cost into the mix. Some kinds of big problems in a rental situation will be worth seeking counsel for, and those with an eye on the final result can often get great representation through “due diligence” in selecting those who will represent them in a legal situation.