Owning a rental property can provide an Amherst property owner with an abundant passive income stream. However, that also means dealing with tenants and those relationships do not always turn out as intended. Evictions happen for a variety of reasons, but they must fall within the law.

It may be tempting for some property owners or managers to begin eviction proceedings for reasons that do not fall under the law. For example, personality conflicts occur often. However, landlords and tenants do not have to be friends in order to do business. If there is any hint that the eviction resulted from the landlord’s discrimination against a tenant with a protected status, it could easily backfire.

Some landlords will try to evict tenants because they made complaints about the property. Complaints to the health department or the local housing authority cannot be cause for eviction. In the same vein, a tenant cannot be evicted for complaining when a maintenance issue is not properly fixed, and he or she complains. When a tenant files a lawsuit after some premises liability issue arises. In fact, beginning eviction proceedings within six months of any of the above may be seen as retaliation by the proprietor.

The laws regarding evictions are there to protect landlords, but tenants as well. Property owners or managers need to be careful when they believe that a tenant needs to go to make sure they have a valid legal reason to do so. Even when a definitive reason such as nonpayment of rent is present, it would still be beneficial to make sure that everything is in order and falls within the law before initiating proceedings whether here in Amherst or elsewhere.