Landlord's Responsibilities

In addition to the rules and responsibilities you will have as a tenant, your landlord also has some basic rules to follow such as:

• Obey all health and safety laws and regulations.
  Make all repairs needed to maintain the property in good condition.
• Keep all common areas safe, clean and in good repair.
• Maintain all electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning fixtures and applications that the landlord provides or is required to provide.
• Provide and maintain garbage cans and provide for trash removal where there are four or more units in the building.
• Supply running water and enough hot water and heat at all times, unless there are separate heating or hot water units for each dwelling unit and the utility fees for the heating and hot water are paid directly by the tenant to a public utility company.
• Give at least 24 hours notice to a tenant before trying to enter his or her apartment and enter only at reasonable times unless there is an emergency.
• Do not abuse the right to enter.

There are also certain actions your landlord is not allowed to take, no matter what the situation. A landlord cannot shut off utilities, take anything that belongs to a tenant, change the locks or otherwise lock a tenant out of his or her apartment to force the tenant to pay rent or leave the apartment. A landlord also cannot raise the rent or threaten to evict a tenant for taking legal action against the landlord. A landlord is not permitted to abuse the right to enter the apartment, meaning that the landlord is not allowed to harass a tenant with repeated visits.

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