Anyone had to show their rental for a landlord?

[y4m]

Our landlords are selling the house we rent. Our lease has the standard boilerplate about allowing the landlords access with 24 hours notice or in emergencies, and it does say that one of the permissible reasons is to show the property to a prospective buyer. Our landlords came out here to check it out (they live in a different state) and discussed their hope that we would be flexible about showings, allow an open house, etc, and show with less than 24 hours notice. We agreed to try being flexible and see how it went, but made it clear that we were not ok with the house being shown without us here to handle our dog.

It's been a week. We disappeared for a whole afternoon for an open house, and I've shown it 6 more times this week, including to someone without an appointment. But I've also said I couldn't be here for a few showings because I had work or other conflicts. In these cases I've suggested other times (e.g. She asked me to do showings at 11, 2, and 4 tomorrow and I asked that she try to get them all in the same hour because I have other things I need to leave the house for.

The landlord just emailed to ask if we'd consider letting them show the house via lockbox with the dog alone here if I can't be home. I want to tell her we've been more than accommodating already and draw a very hard line here.

An I being unreasonable? What would you expect of a tenant with a dog?

[beckylynn]

I think you've been pretty accommodating, honestly.

You left for open houses and you've shown it six times in one week (and I've done that - it's a ton of work keeping everything tidy and being on the ball nonstop).

But no, I wouldn't allow it to be shown with my dog in the house without us. I mean, that's just SO much risk. The dog isn't going to like that (what dog would?!) and it's just messy. I assume your pup would be crated, but mine would lose her mind if strangers entered the house when we weren't home. I'd worry she'd hurt herself. And she's a giant, lazy, lovable Newf - she'd not exactly high-strung! And if the dog isn't crated, what if it really stressed him/her? What if they let him/her out unintentionally?

No - I think you've been totally reasonable and I'd definitely say no to that. If they want to show the house with a lock box, any time, with no notice, they need to give you notice and the place needs to be empty.

(We own a rental, by the way - I'd never ask that of our tenants.)

[goaskalice]

No way, you're being plenty reasonable. I've had buyers change appointments many times to accommodate tenant and owner schedules. If you're not available then the buyers will need to find a time that works for you. It's not that hard.

[SusanBAnthony]

That is why most rentals are not shown until the tenant moves out.

I would say absolutely not, and I would continue to require 24 hours notice. The end.

[imojoebunny]

I think it would be hard to sell a house with a tenant in it with a dog. I understand your frustration, but in the flip side, your moving out, soon, and the landlord needs to sell. I would ask him to pay for doggie day care or give you a break on the rent, if your looking for a solution. If you want to draw a hard line, it just depends on your state/city as to your legal grounds for refusing. Here, I could put my rental on a lockbox without your permission legally, but in general, we try to be reasonable landlords, and treat people as we would want to be treated.

[Kore]

No way in hell would I allow a lock box. When we were moving out of our last place, I worked with the landlord to be home to let potential renters walk through. That was more than accommodating.

[RoxMonster]

I would say no way. Not with a dog in the house. I'm just picturing our dog who goes BSC even we are ARE home and a person comes to the house. I would worry that if the dog wasn't crated, they would let it out accidentally or that it would hurt itself going crazy in a crate. I think this is an unreasonable request from your landlord and I would let her know I wasn't comfortable with that.

[Deleted]

You've went above and beyond what I would allow, a lockbox would be the last straw.

[KaraOrNot]

Not unreasonable. I would not be comfortable allowing people in my home, w/ my dog, w/o me there. Not only would I be concerned if they got out, but what if they hurt someone? No way.

[orangeblossom]

Jan 31, 2013 21:40:57 GMT -5 imojoebunny said:

I think it would be hard to sell a house with a tenant in it with a dog. I understand your frustration, but in the flip side, your moving out, soon, and the landlord needs to sell. I would ask him to pay for doggie day care or give you a break on the rent, if your looking for a solution. If you want to draw a hard line, it just depends on your state/city as to your legal grounds for refusing. Here, I could put my rental on a lockbox without your permission legally, but in general, we try to be reasonable landlords, and treat people as we would want to be treated.

Then the landlord needs to wait until they don't have a tenant to sell.  Y4M has been more than accommodating.  Unfortunately, I think a tenant not being able to accommodate multiple showings is just par for the course of being a landlord.  Also, it sounds like the landlord has had lots of people show interest, so it doesn't sound like the house will be empty long.

It's hard enough dealing with a dog day-to-day during a normal routine, let alone trying to manage with potential tenants in an out when you are there, let alone if they're not there.   I have a dog, and I am a landlord and I would not ask this of my tenant.  In fact, when we do have to sell, we will likely not put the house we primarily reside in on the market until after we've left because of our dog and our desire to clean the carpet and other things that will just be easier when the house is empty or near empty.

I do have a question for you about the lockbox issue in your state/area, since you said it was legal.  Does that absolve you from the 24-hour notice rule?

[vanillacourage]

You are acting as their agent. Tell them that if they want YOU to continue running the showings, you want a cut of the sale. I'm only partly kidding.

Stand firm on the lockbox, require 24 hours notice and don't feel a bit bad about it. And I say that as a landlord. Yes, I want to get my places filled but until the tenant has fulfilled their lease it is still their home.

ETA - do they have an agent or are you really the ones letting people in and showing them around? If its the latter, how exactly would a lockbox work anyway?

[Deleted]

Jan 31, 2013 22:07:39 GMT -5 vanillacourage said:

You are acting as their agent. Tell them that if they want YOU to continue running the showings, you want a cut of the sale. I'm only partly kidding.

Yeah, I feel the same way.

The lease spells out each party's rights and responsibilities. They want to change your obligations. You should receive consideration for any changes. Imagine if you asked the landlord to just discount your rent by $150 next month without getting anything in return. This is essentially the same situation, just reversed.

[y4m]

Jan 31, 2013 22:07:39 GMT -5 vanillacourage said:

ETA - do they have an agent or are you really the ones letting people in and showing them around? If its the latter, how exactly would a lockbox work anyway?

There is already a lockbox--I just got home one day and it was here. We have been completely clear that it is not to be used without our knowledge and permission and so far that has been respected.

Their agent personally handled the open house (at our request, because we had gone to another of hers that was staffed by an associate while looking and it was chaos). But she doesn't come to these other showings. The prospective buyers show up with their agents. I pick up the dog, who is inevitably losing his mind, ask that they look at my office first, and then lock us in there.

[fbf2006]

We allowed our landlord to show our apartment in our absence. I actually preferred it that way. We don't have a dog though.

[mskitkat]

I had a landlord show my apartment with zero warning. I was in the shower and freaked out when I came out and heard the door opening.

[mollybrown]

Jan 31, 2013 21:40:57 GMT -5 imojoebunny said:

I think it would be hard to sell a house with a tenant in it with a dog. I understand your frustration, but in the flip side, your moving out, soon, and the landlord needs to sell. I would ask him to pay for doggie day care or give you a break on the rent, if your looking for a solution. If you want to draw a hard line, it just depends on your state/city as to your legal grounds for refusing. Here, I could put my rental on a lockbox without your permission legally, but in general, we try to be reasonable landlords, and treat people as we would want to be treated.

The tenant could also leave the house filthy and trashed looking, so I can't imagine many landlords would install and use a lockbox knowing that the tenant was opposed to it.

I think the landlord paying for doggie daycare and some kind of rent reduction is the best solution.  Sounds like the OP has already been accommodating.  It was annoying enough having tons of showings when I was selling my own house...I can't imagine being asked to put up with 3 or more showings a day for a sale that I don't even benefit from.

[Balki.Bartokomous]

No way. As a landlord, I would never ask my tenants to show the house, let alone ask what they're asking. I'd be firm with them and tell them no more showings without 24 hours' notice.

[beckylynn]

Jan 31, 2013 22:40:08 GMT -5 mskitkat said:

I had a landlord show my apartment with zero warning. I was in the shower and freaked out when I came out and heard the door opening.

Holy flashback - I'd forgotten about that but that happened to me in our first apartment. I came dashing around the corner in a robe with a towel wrapped around my head.

Suffice it to say, those people didn't take the apartment. 

Who the hell wants a landlord who barges in? Stupid and short-sighted, not to mention totally inconsiderate!

[y4m]

I've thought about insisting on going back to 24 hours notice, but then I worry I'd lose my ability to say no to the really inconvenient times. Like what if today they say I have to be here Saturday at 1, 3, 5, and 7. That's 24 hours notice right?

[hbomdiggity]

OMG. this is exactly why the mere mention of our LL's name to this day makes me get ragey.

our state requires 24 hour notice and it must be during normal business hours and LL must be present. at first we recognized that weekends would be easier for us because we both worked and have a dog, so we thought we'd be accommodating. but after an ill-fated open house we learned that H's cell had been put on the listing as the contact and the agent never showed up, leaving us to field multiple calls. no bueno.

after that we defaulted to the legal minimum. while in theory it would suck more for us, in reality, no one looks at homes M-F during normal business hours so it was a non issue. LL ended up taking the only offer he got, and it still hasn't closed, 8 months later (short sale). asshole.

also, while typically the LL has right to access, nothing requires you to 1) be the one to let them in or 2) vacate. so yes, there is minimal notice, but (at least in my state, blah blah blah, not legal advice) nothing prohibits me from sitting on my couch in my skivies watching tv while the place is shown.

[heygrey]

Are you planning to stay until they sell?

I'd ask for a discount on rent or doggie daycare expenses... Something, I love my landlord and would work hard to be accommodating, but this is too much.

[y4m]

Our lease is up at the end of march, but we'll probably close on our new place in mid-Feb.

Although when I mentioned to the landlords during their visit that we might find a place and leave early, they acted a little put out that our furniture wouldn't be here for them to use for free staging.

[aspentosh]

I think you're within your rights to say you need 24 hours notice and you need to be there. No lockbox.

[vanillacourage]

Jan 31, 2013 23:05:51 GMT -5 y4m said:

I've thought about insisting on going back to 24 hours notice, but then I worry I'd lose my ability to say no to the really inconvenient times. Like what if today they say I have to be here Saturday at 1, 3, 5, and 7. That's 24 hours notice right?

I would look closely at what your state tenant law requires. Are you saying that you have to be there because of the dog? Because otherwise you don't have to be the ones to let them in.

Anyway, hopefully the plethora of showings means there is a lot of interest and your LL will rent it out soon.

ETA - you likely don't have legal standing to insist on being there as a PP has suggested.

[SusanBAnthony]

Well, there is no reason for you to leave the house. Or clean. Or anything.

I would tell your landlord that this is too many showing s and they have a couple choices. They can work with you by keeping showings on weekends and grouping them together, and you will be happy to keep the place clean and leave during showings. Or they can be a pain, and you will act accordingly, not cleaning, and not leaving.

We looked at a house with tenants. They did not leave, and they told us a long detailed list of what was wrong with the house, and what the owner had offered to sell it to them for (130k vs 150k) so a big discount. Clearly the owner was an ass and these people had no desire to do anything to help him. You can make it very difficult for the landlord to sell, if you want to. In return, you should ask for their consideration.

[scout8]

When I have a tenant occupied listing I require 24 hour notice for showings and I am present at all the showings, even if the buyer's agent is there too. I also recommend to the owner/LL that they offer a rent reduction to the tenant as compensation for all the hassle.

I think you should nicely, but firmly tell them that you need 24 hour notice and you need to approve the time before it is shown.

[Deleted]

Feb 1, 2013 0:46:15 GMT -5 y4m said:

Our lease is up at the end of march, but we'll probably close on our new place in mid-Feb.

Although when I mentioned to the landlords during their visit that we might find a place and leave early, they acted a little put out that our furniture wouldn't be here for them to use for free staging.

Your landlord is a douche.