5 Situations Where Material Noncompliance Is Triggered

When a tenant is in violation of the agreed terms of the lease, you might start thinking about eviction.

This can be a straight-forward case if the problem is unpaid rent. But if the rental agreement contains terms stating calls for material non-compliance, the solution might not be as simple as you think.

This is because material noncompliance refers to breaches of contract that, if you should choose the eviction route, requires you to put the tenant on notice of the possibility of eviction proceedings.

Couple that with various states who views a breach of rental agreement as a correctable problem which tenants should be given the opportunity to rectify, this can create huge headaches for landlords.

Partly because any eviction procedure that you wish to start has to wait until the period of time a tenant has to rectify the problem has passed.

Some of the common material noncompliances that run into these barriers include the below.

1) Disturbing the peace in the neighborhood

There always seem to be a thin line that separates reasonable amount of noise and too much noise. A lot depends on the threshold of tolerance of other residents in the area.

So making excessive noise is not necessarily a case of noise levels reaching or bursting past a specific decibel.

It almost comes down to how much complaints residents are making about disturbances coming from your rental house.

2) Unauthorized occupants

Unless you are a rookie landlord who has no idea what you are doing, every lease should name the occupants residing there.

And if necessary, the number guest allowed in the premises.

A landlord has the right to implement and enforce restrictions stated in the terms of agreement.

Where there is no clear guideline or rule that stipulates how long a guest needs to stay in the house before being categorized as an occupant, the common practice of landlords is a limit of 14 days.

3) Pets

Pets can be a tricky issue for landlords.

For one, many landlords have their own dogs and cats living in their house. So why would an animal lover want to prevent tenants from having their furry friends at home?

But from a business point of view, pets can cause a variety of management problems for the property manager, whether it’s the landlord or not.

If you allow pets, it should be clearly stated in the rental agreement how many is allowed. And how many.

And from a legal standpoint, if the tenant’s pets procreate, it is not necessary for the landlord to allow the offspring in the premises.

4) Lack or absence of maintenance

The failure of residents to reasonably maintain the property can lead to 3 potentially big issues:

1. Degeneration of the value of the property
2. Higher restoration costs for repairs and maintenance
3. Safety and health hazards

These types of breaches should not be taken lightly by any landlord.

5) Personal property outside premises

Your personal property should be kept in the house and not spill out onto public property.

The above statement can be easily understood by almost every adult. But sometimes people, whether their tenants or homeowners, feels that it is implied that the driveway outside the house belongs exclusively to them too.

Because of these mindsets of residents, they can sometimes place huge items outside the house like on the driveway.

These items can include vehicles, mowers, electrical generators, etc.

While these things can seem like regular items, they can pose safety hazards to unsuspecting residents and passer-bys. Especially curious children!

Need to physically inspect rental property

Because of the potential for material noncompliance, landlords should make it a point to regularly inspect their rental properties physically.

But do bear in mind that after delivering a written non-compliance notice, if the tenant corrects the violations within the given time frame, the relationship between tenant and landlord will continue without changes according to the lease.

Meaning a landlord will not be able to proceed with eviction.

But according to the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA) created in 1972, should tenants repeat similar offenses at a later date, a landlord will have the right to terminate the tenancy after serving a second notice.

Other options of action

Eviction is not the only choice available to landlords when there is material noncompliance on the part of tenants.

An alternative that is most commonly practiced is to just warn the tenants that their behavior have not gone unnoticed. And that you might not look the other way should the violations repeat itself.

This option is a better choice if you put retaining the friendly relationship you have with the tenant as much as possible.

A formal notice can create awkward situations between you.

Another easier option is to just decide not to renew the tenancy when the current lease expires.

You May Also Like...

Latest Singapore home loan rates	Hidden items that bring up mortgage costs	Hiring a competent agent	How to burn more calories in the office