Being a good tenant is fairly easy. It’s important if you want to keep a pleasant relationship with your neighbors and landlord. It also helps in getting things fixed and well-maintained in your own apartment if you are consistently a good tenant and considerate in your actions inside and outside your private apartment.
The Basics
Pay your rent on time. Although late payments are inevitable occasionally when tough times hit, do your best to set money into savings for emergencies, so that the rent always gets paid, even if a job is lost. Communicate with your landlord clearly about any delay in rent payments, indicating your sincere regret and assurance that it won’t happen again.
If you can’t pay your rent on the first of the month, try to get it paid by the fifth day of the month. After that, the landlord starts to consider taking further measures, and some landlords may start to think of ways that he may replace tenants whose payments are chronically late. Protect yourself by planning payments as much as possible.
Respecting Common Areas
One of the most important things that you need to learn is that common areas should still be considered part of your own apartment in the sense that they should be respected and left in better condition than when you arrived. Don’t litter in common areas. If a pet relieves himself in any common area, make sure that it’s completely cleaned. Use pathways in common areas; don’t simply walk over carefully designed gardens or lawns.
Follow the Rules
When you signed your lease agreement, it’s likely that you received a list of “house rules” for the apartment complex. Basic rules of the apartment complex were likely also indicated on your lease. Do not move into a place that has a no pet policy if you may end up with a pet. That’s a sure way to anger the landlord and fellow tenants, and you may lose your apartment as a result.
Keep your music at a respectable level, especially after 10 p.m. If you have a party, let your landlord know in advance, and make sure that you only invite people that understand the need for respecting other tenants in an apartment complex. You may need to stretch the truth when inviting guests, such as emphasizing the need for a low volume in your apartment complex, even if no actual rule exists. Your fellow tenants will thank you, and your landlord will be happy if he doesn’t receive complaints from loud noise in your apartments.
Maintaining Your Apartment
A landlord usually ends up coming into your apartment at some point for basic repairs or maintenance concerns. When he does so, he will want to see that you are caring for your apartment as though it was your own. Keep things neat and tidy. If the apartment came furnished, polish it and take care of it. Keep all areas of your apartment in great shape, and your landlord will notice and appreciate that. He’ll be more likely to want to keep you as a tenant and avoid things like raised rental rates.