Everyday Law in Everyday Terms You Can Understand

This is a very fine line.   You and your buddies may think it’s hilarious to yell your co-workers name, Harry Wang, and laugh each time you see him, but that officially is harassment.   Sure, it doesn’t really fit into any of the characteristics protected by federal law (race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, and citizenship status).  However, this is likely expressly forbidden in your employee handbook.  Companies usually strictly enforce this not because they don’t want you getting in trouble, but because there have been incidents of the company being held liable for the damages.  Usually when an employee is pissed enough to file a suit, the teasers are included.  If the victim can prove that the teasers created a hostile and offensive workplace, then you’re probably in for a lifetime of regrets.

The rules regarding landlords entering a rental property always needs to be spelled out in a lease or rental agreement. It’s one of those sticky situations where the landlord has rights to his or her property, the tenant has rights to his or her privacy, and the collision of those two concerns can cause a lot of headaches. If you are a landlord, be sure to clearly spell out and protect your rights. If you are a tenant, be sure the landlord clearly indicates what they want to be able to do so that you’re both on the same page.

Emergency Entry, Repairs

Outside of the legal document, in general, landlords are permitted to enter the premises in case of emergency or in order to make repairs to the property. In some states the landlord can enter the property just to determine if repairs are needed. In some other states, landlords can enter a property in the case the tenant is away for an extended period, 7 days or more.

On the tenant’s privacy protection side, the landlord can’t enter the property just to “check up” on someone.

Notice of Entry

The landlord usually must give 24 hours of advance notice. If the landlord doesn’t then they can only enter for emergencies (such as fire, flood) or when given permission by the tenant. The amount of advance notice varies by state.

Again, these rules vary by state but in general the rule is that the landlord needs to return the deposit within 14 to 30 days of the move out date. Landlords are allowed to take deductions from the security deposit provided they can justify the reasons for the deductions. Some states require a written itemized account of those deductions (unpaid rent, damages beyond normal wear and tear, etc) as part of that justification, either way you should demand that itemized list even if the law doesn’t require it.

If your landlord doesn’t return the deposit in a timely fashion and are unresponsive to requests, bring them to small claims court. If the landlord was especially negligent, you may get as much as two or three times your deposit back plus fees and additional damages. Some states are more friendly to renters!

Every single state in the union lets a landlord collect a security deposit from a tenant but only half of the states limit how much the landlord can charge (not more than a month or two of rent). The point of a security deposit is to assure that the tenant pays rent on time and keeps the property in good condition, if they fail to do that then the security deposit could be, in part or in total, forfeited to the landlord. As for what happens to the money in the interim, some states require that it be put in escrow and interest be paid to the tenant.

The specific law varies by state so you’ll have to research that.

You don’t have to be a Supreme Court judge to be accused of workplace harassment.  By definition, harassment is any unwanted interaction that creates an uncomfortable, hostile, or offensive.  Under federal law, harassment is only illegal when it involves race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, or citizenship status.  That pretty much covers anything that anyone would bother harassing someone else about.

Only four states have areas in which rent control ordinances have been put into place: California, Maryland, New Jersey and New York. If you don’t live in one of those areas, you don’t have a rent control ordinance in place as of this writing.

The point of rent control ordinances, also known as rent stabilization, maximum rent regulation; is to limit how much rent can be raised. The laws usually are there to protect renters from a landlord that wants to jack up rates, so in order for them to do so they must have a “legal or just cause” for the increase or termination.

The laws vary, even within the states listed, so you’ll have to dig deeper for the specific laws in your area.

With fierce competition between employers for the highly sought after employees, this is a very common situation in today’s job market.  Non-compete agreements are created by employers to protect them from spending lots of money training you just to have to go to one of their competitors.  Factor in the likely fact that you would be bringing (and applying) proprietary information/intellectual property, you can imagine why some companies are especially paranoid.

A former employer had me sign a non-compete.  At first, I was rather wary.  Our line of business was offering professional services in a very niche market so I understood.  I eventually signed it after doing some research for the following reasons:

• Usually employers don’t pursue damages for breaches of non-compete agreements if the separation was amicable.
• The language of the non-compete was not especially out of line.
• Non-competes are VERY HARD to enforce!

I think that that last item answers the question posed in the title of the post; yes, you should sign it.  State law is usually friendly to employees.  Non-competes are all but out of the question in California, Colorado, and Oregon.  Georgia and Wisconsin strike the entire non-compete if any item is deemed too broad (e.g.  employee is not allowed to work for any competitor).  Note that if you live in Florida, Texas, Michigan, or New Jersey courts there are more likely to enforce the non-compete.  In the end, courts are usually reluctant to stop someone from applying their skills in the job market.

In situations where you are looking to jump to another company, if disagreements arise regarding your switch, ask your new company to get into the mix.  Depending on what you bring to the new company, the company may be willing to settle, on your behalf, with your former employer.

In the article on how much a landlord can charge for rent, I mentioned that some states have lows that govern the date rent is due, how it can be paid, how to treat late rent, and rent increases.

Rent Due Date

In general, rent is paid in advance and paid monthly on the first day of the month. There is often no “grace period” involved and the landlord can, if they want to, opt to terminate the lease if rent is a single day late. Some states have laws governing grace periods but there is no federal law. Also, a grace period could be worked into the lease if the landlord feels especially forgiving. Remember, landlords like renting out property and they like on-time payment. They aren’t going to terminate your lease because you forgot one day, unless it’s systemic and it becomes a problem they feel won’t fix itself.

Late Rent Payment

I mentioned earlier that one day late could mean lease termination (though this rarely happens), but one day late could also mean fees. There are laws governing late payment fees and they vary from state to state. Review the state laws to see what the limit is though chances are your landlord has it right (trust, but verify!).

Rent Increases

If you have a lease, the landlord can’t change it without your consent (you probably wouldn’t consent to a rent increase!). On rental agreements, which refresh every 30 days, the landlord can increase it with written notice within 30 days. This usually means that you get one period under the “old” rate and then the new rate kicks in. If they notify you mid-way through a rental period, you get that period plus one more period. They can increase it by however they want though.

Unless there are rent control laws in place, a landlord can charge whatever they want for rent - ahhh, the beauty of the capitalist society. If you’re already in a place, your landlord can opt to increase the rent after the lease has expired and can increase it by as much as they want (again, as long as there are no rent control laws in place). Now, if they raise your rent, you move out, and then you somehow find out that the next tenant isn’t paying that higher rent then you may have a cause for complaint - the landlord may have wanted you, specifically, out and could face discrimination issues. However, since discrimination lawsuits are often expensive and a headache, if I were to find out that that scenario had happened to me… I’d probably let it go. Why would I want to pay someone to live in their place if they didn’t want me to live there in the first place?

Now, some states do have rules about increasing rent and rules governing when and how payment of rent can be made. As for how much? That’s wide open.

If you feel that you were wronged and denied tenancy on one of the discriminatory factors, then you should contact the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (often called the HUD), which is the agency that enforces the Fair Housing Act. Call the HUD’s Fair Housing Information Clearing House (800-343-3442) to locate the closest office or check their website. They will provide you with a complaint for and conduct the investigation to decide whether your claim has merit. You must file your claim within a year of the discrimination.

If the HUD determines your suit has merit, a mediator will be appointed to adjudicate the claim. They will contact the landlord and tenant and negotiate a settlement, or conciliation.