Rules regarding brokers showing my occupied apt

I am in the same position. The owner of my condo is trying to sell it so I have had to deal with open houses, extra showings and even had to move some of my stuff to storage to accomodate some awful new decor and furniture by a stager (truly ridiculous). In any event the broker is Corcoran and they proposed 24 hours notice and set times (in the evening) to show the place. Fairly reasonable.

All of the info you need to know should be in your lease. They typically need to provide 24 hours notice, or something along those lines. Then again, you may have gotten screwed and it could just say "owner may show unit. period."

However, you as a tenant have rights. And lease or no lease, you can pretty much tell everyone to go and screw themselves. The worst thing that can happen is the owner/landlord telling you that you need to let people in, and then you can tell him to go screw himself too. Evictions take months, and you won't be evicted. You are a human and deserve to be treated as one.

With all that said, if someone called ahead and requested a showing, that's one thing. Buzzing at random is not good though, and I would personally talk to the landlord and demand prior notice.

hmm, a disadvantage to renting?

the disadvantage of renting a condo and the owner always having the right to sell at any time.

if the tenant is cool (think f-ckbuds) i usually buy him some pinkberry or let him kiss me while sexing. if not so sexy, ill toss him a couple hundred bones.

You should set reasonable rules -- appropriate notice and proscribed hours/ days. If your lease does not stipulate any level of respect and your landlord decides not to treat you with any respect, then simply answer the door in your best naked Anthony Weiner imitation and the brokers will either stop showing the apt, or give you plenty of notice in the future.

thank you all for the info.

i did check my lease and it does address this topic. states the landlord can enter to show the apt up to 4 months in advance at reasonable hours and with reasonable notice.

i'm ok with that- although they haven't been providing notice. however, they've been really nice about it. i just wanted some more info just in case i needed to say something.

apt23 - haha! funny stuff. it has crossed my mind.

to gcondo- one of the advantages is every now and again a fairly attractive broker arrives to show my apt and ask if she may be of service with my search.

this in fact happened just the other day. i'm still trying to figure out the best way to attack this lead. was thinking of sending her an email to ask if she'd like to discuss possible rentals over dinner.

female brokers - am i being overly ambitious?

Even if the lease is silent on the subject, the rules are still subject to your peace and enjoyment. I think 24 hours' notice is reasonable, feel free to say no to anyone who doesn't respect the rule.

I've never heard before that the landlord can make the tenant put his stuff in storage and/or generally "stage" the apartment around the tenant. Is this a trend?

>apt23
about 2 hours ago
ignore this person
report abuse You should set reasonable rules -- appropriate notice and proscribed hours/ days. If your lease does not stipulate any level of respect and your landlord decides not to treat you with any respect, then simply answer the door in your best naked Anthony Weiner imitation and the brokers will either stop showing the apt, or give you plenty of notice in the future.

Definitely listen to this nutcase. Once she didn't like her neighbor so she called the police and said her husband had a gun and was going over there. Obviously "reasonable rules" depends on who judges "reasonable".

>I've never heard before that the landlord can make the tenant put his stuff in storage and/or generally "stage" the apartment around the tenant. Is this a trend?

No, its about as absurd as apt23 opening her front door with her? Anthony Weiner showing.

Sometimes I'll go to an open house just to use the bathroom.

Hey apt23. Looks like the souvlakis are getting pretty spicy. Like my re call in 2005. The sovereign debt crisis will take a bit to explode. But explode it will

I this an example of you helping everyone to get along?

yeah w67thstreet, columbiacounty is right on this one.

> Like my re call in 2005.

Really, you made a real estate call in 2005? What was it? Were you just a commercial property owner then or was that the period when you also owned residential?

Cuntersburg...are you now helping everyone to get along?

I assume I'm "cuntersburg". Well that's rather Junior High School of you. Do you really need help to get along? What does your ex say? What do your estranged kids and grandkids say?

So one again.

You've made up all this stuff.

Why does this make you feel good?

Made what up?

Your a living example of how the mind-altering medications and "anti-anxiety" medicines that lucille is supporting never work out in the long term.

You don't know anything about me. You just make shit up. Why?

Columbiacounty, I only know what you've revealed on streeteasy. Some poeple would pray for you because of your afflictions.

i have revealed nothing. you make everything up. why?

YOu dind't lose the majority of your money in 2009?
You aren't estranged from your family?
You dind't burn all of your professional bridges?

you made all that shit up.

Streeteasy, why is columbiacounty still allowed to post? Is the thread where he wrote "fuck you" "fuck you" over and over not enough evidence for you to disable his account?

nice interlude, hfs.

columbiacounty!

67, Even a broken clock is wrong twice a day. See the connection?

way to go hfscomm1

Death, taxes, and cc calling other folks "hfs".

other folks?

hilarious.

Streeteasy, why is columbiacounty still allowed to post? Is the thread where he wrote "fuck you" "fuck you" over and over not enough evidence for you to disable his account?

apparently not....but your repeating it over and over and over is certainly fascinating.

Freedom of speech Jim. Even the lowest of the low of society are allowed to express themselves.

where's lucille?

Where are your kids? How long since they last invited you for a Thanksgiving or Easter Sunday dinner?

Hunter, you do realize that he thinks you and I and a few others are all the same person right?

Yes.

I see dead people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSNyiSetZ8Y

so, asked owner if we could shoot for 1 hour notice. that sounds like a generous definition for the "reasonable notice" required in the lease.

for several days, things were reasonable. however, with no new tenant and July 1st right around the corner, i'm back to having jerk-offs laying on my buzzer at random.

forget anthony weiner- i'm about to go r kelley and pee on the next broker who shows up unannounced!

"Your a living example of how the mind-altering medications and "anti-anxiety" medicines that lucille is supporting never work out in the long term."

hey i missed this one! i never said columbiacounty needs anti anxiety meds. columbiacounty needs anti psychotics.

ok. officially pushed over the edge. just had words that were a lot less polite after my SECOND unannounced showing this a morning, including a nasty remark in front of the client and broker.

it was explained to me that, while the bldg encourages brokers to make appts, it's not policy to turn them away if they're at the door.

i said they should and it's been done to me in my search. we then parted ways.

i wonder if i'm going to get my security deposit back after running that prospect out of my apt? maybe i should shoot some video before i check out of this place.

Unless you have date-stamped video from the day you moved in with which to compare it, shooting video now won't really help.

Matt, brings up an interesting idea. Shoot a video tour of the apartment, put it on DVD and leave it on a table just outside your front door with a note to just hit play.

leave it on a table (with a portable DVD player) just outside...

I am not an expert on landlord/tenant law, but I believe you have some rights in this situation. If you haven't done so already, the forum where you should be looking is www.tenant.net. If you find any answers, please share with us.

Simple, get some cotton, paint it black and dark green. Tape it in various corners of the rooms and exhibit symptoms of being exposed to mold when they come.
By the second visit, you'll have a brief conversation with the landlord and everyone will be following your instructions on the apprpriate way to bother you.

Bedbugs have a really good work ethic.

As a broker I would advise you to never allow anyone in the apt who blindly knocks on your door. The listing agent should put in the listing by appt. only and you should tell the owner you will not allow it to be shown unless you have at least 2-3 hrs. notice. Good luck. I know this is not easy.

haha! thank you all for sharing your time and comments. much appreciated. i think i've finally figured this out; it's me that needs to change.

after spending too much time pondering all of the reasons i'm right and exerting all of this angry energy (leading to a bad day), i finally came to my senses and realized i'm fighting a losing battle.

the landlord's stance is that of malcolm x; he's finding a tenant by any means necessary. i'm just an impediment to his ultimate goal; one that he's not willing to accommodate.

now, i can justifiably push back and piss him off while simultaneously wasting my time, pissing myself off, and risking a portion of the security deposit that he currently controls. but, at the end of the day, we all lose. so, i basically decided that, for the next 8 days, i will forgo any semblance of privacy between noon and 6pm and do so with a smile on my face.

now, i do have another issue. is it ok to flirt/ask out any attractive brokers showing my apt while dangling the opportunity for a big commission check on my new residence?

is that frowned upon??

For your entertainment value, I found an old e-mail I sent to a broker after he threatened to sue me for not allowing him to show the apartment we were leaving......

In response to your email, we believe we have been more than accommodative in your "numerous" requests to show the unit, although by my count you have only asked to show the unit twice and then cancelled one of those. I believe I quickly responded with approval, please let me know what you believe you saw on your planet.

Unfortunately you are now threatening legal action because we just denied showing the apartment with a 2 hour notice period sent to an email I have asked you not to use.

While I tire of repeating the same thing to you, a request in the middle of my work day would require me to stop my work call my family, round them up and get them out. Here's where I think we have the disagreement: you believe this is a reasonable action for me to take and I believe you need to get yourself better organized.

I understand your reluctance to involve the lawyers and appreciate your looking out for my interests in only warning me about potential for a lawsuit for my actions. Unfortunately, I did recieve legal advice from my wife, who is a lawyer with a bit of free time. I've cc'd her above and I'd appreciate it if you would include her on any reply.

Needless to say, this may get expensive for both parties which was why I asked to speak with someone senior in your office so that we could come to a new agreement.

For the record, my interpretation of the old agreement was that you would send an email to my HOME address with 48 hours notice and we would positively confirm. It now seems your interpretation was you would do whatever you felt like doing and threaten a lawsuit if I complained.

I don't care if you only give 24 hours notice, but if that's what you wanted it's usually a good idea to let me know instead of agreeing to 48 hours. I recognize the FIDI area is booming and people are lining up to rent the apartment at a 20+% rent increase and I don't want to stand in the way of your "numerous" showings.

So I see 3 possible directions from here:

1. Call in someone more senior at your firm to oversee what you are doing in order to minimize future legal threats and costs for both sides. This would be my preferred solution.

2. Agree to the terms above and stop sending emails to my work and give reasonable notice.

3. Continue doing whatever you want in the belief you're going to win a big lawsuit.

Just let me know what you want to do.

Best regards,

I would have just sent back a photo of Arnie Becker or that guy from Channel 9 John Roland.

haha!! now, that's classic sh!+ right there. great story. i'm not an expert in conflict mgmt, but i'd like to take a stab at the broker's choice.

1- ugh! you went for the jugular there. that sort of comment makes one question their self-worth and may induce a cost/benefit analysis on life/suicide. probably not a winner.

2- i think option 2 makes sense- but only from YOUR point of view! no consideration for the broker, who actually suggested it in the first place. this option falls just short.

3- i really like where this option is going. i mean, we're not living in an era where merit, accountability, and hard work really amount to much. hello!! have you even watched one episode of FLAVOR OF LOVE?? yes, not living up to the agreed upon arrangement and suing you for holding the broker to it is definitely the option chosen.

i mean, it is the best path to earning the most money with the least effort exerted. isn't that the "new" american dream!!