As landlords learn to be better landlords and tenants learn to be better tenants, frustrations, costs, unnecessary complexity, and animosity wane from the historically bitter tenant/landlord relationship, breaking new ground in the way rent is approached.

The most critical responsibility of the tenant is to comply to the rental agreement that he has entered into with the landlord. The one thing that the landlords are particularly fussy about is receiving the rent in full and on time. Make sure as a tenant you do not give a chance to your landlord to crib about late receipts of rentals. I am sure once the landlord gets an assurance and comfort based on your track record of timely payments he would do everything possible to keep you in good humor by fulfilling his duties and responsibilities. The second big responsibility that the tenant has is to keep his rented premises clean and in good shape. The tenant must respect and adhere to the HOA rules applicable for his residence. The tenant must not abuse the various fixtures and equipment that has been provided for by the landlord. The tenant should be careful in exercising his right to usage of essential equipments like Air conditioning, smoke detectors, heating equipments etc. In case when any of any high value equipment requires repair and maintenance work, the tenant and the landlord must give adequate attention to the aspect of a malfunctioning of equipment related to misuse or normal wear and tear. The best way to handle this in making suitable mention of the items for which both the parties would be responsible in the rental agreement. The other big responsibility that the tenant has towards the landlord is to ensure that he keeps him informed in case he is going to be absent from his rented premises for a prolonged period. This would just make matters easy for the landlord and he would not wrongly assume the tenant’s long absence as a case of tenant abandonment. It would be wise for the tenant to purchase the renters insurance. The landlord is not responsible for the safety of the personal belongings of the tenant inside his premises. The tenant must allow the landlord to visit his premises in case an advance notice has been given by the landlord. The tenant reserves the right to use the premises for his personal use only and should not invite additional people without the consent of the landlord.

As far as rights of a tenant go, the landlord cannot increase the rental amount without providing him adequate notice period. The same holds good in case the landlord wants to tenant to vacate his premises. It is a good idea to include these important points related to rights of the tenant in the rental agreement. The landlord must respect the tenant’s right to privacy and must not pay him frequent visits.