Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I have been having problems with a tenant and his lease is up at the end of Feb so I've decided not to renew it. In the letter I informed him that i would be showing the apartment in February for march rental. He's a first year law student and thinks he knows everything. He came back with this: "you have a merger clause in your contract and didn't reserve the right to show the premises to prospective tenants." according to this section (kind of in the middle of this paragraph) of the lease, I did reserve this right: 13. INSPECTION OF PREMISES. Landlord and Landlord's agents shall have the right at all reasonable times during the term of this Agreement and any renewal thereof to enter the Premises for the purpose of inspecting the Premises and all buildings and improvements thereon. And for the purposes of making any repairs, additions or alterations as may be deemed appropriate by Landlord for the preservation of the Premises or the building. Landlord and its agents shall further have the right to exhibit the Premises and to display the usual "for sale", "for rent" or "vacancy" signs on the Premises at any time within forty-five (45) days before the expiration of this Lease. The right of entry shall likewise exist for the purpose of removing placards, signs, fixtures, alterations or additions that do not conform to this Agreement or to any restrictions, rules or regulations affecting the Premises. I am correct? Regardless, I am not going to show the apartment until he's gone. I need to clean it up anyway. I just wanted to know if he's correct. What say you?

sorry about the lack of paragraphs! I don't know what happened.

Posted by Barbara S, PA on Sunday, January 29, 2012

If it was me, I'd say to him "See you in court." Make sure you give him proper notice of entry and if it were me, I'd make sure that someone was with me whenever I met him or visited the property.

Posted by Bob R, CA on Sunday, January 29, 2012