It’s late in the morning and you jump in the shower. You’re in the middle of sudsing up when the bathroom door creaks open. That’s funny — you weren’t expecting any visitors. Peeking from behind your shower curtain, you see your landlord’s real-estate agent, prospective buyers in tow. Figuring you weren’t home, he let himself in without notifying you in advance.
This isn’t an extreme example — according to Green Party representative John Eder, this actually happened to a West End tenant. Violations of tenants’ rights (including too little notice before a visit from a landlord or agent, relentless phone calls, and unannounced showings) are commonly reported to Maine housing rights advocates like Eder and Heather Curtis, president of the Portland Tenants Union. And then there are the unnoticed violations that occur while tenants aren’t home.
Maine law explicitly prevents landlords from entering an apartment without at least 24 hours' notice and requires them to enter at a time deemed reasonable by the tenant. Emergencies and incidents causing property damage (like a broken water pipe) are the only exceptions to the rule. This law extends to real-estate agents and property managers working on a landlord’s behalf.
Yet, in a booming housing market where absentee landlords are common, real-estate agents are cutting landlords out of the rental equation and contacting tenants directly to show apartments to potential future buyers and renters. When harassed or given unreasonably short notice, tenants are put in the unfortunate position of accepting inconveniences to appease their landlord.
“What you’re doing is renting that to be your personal space and that’s what the rules regard,” says Curtis. “The 24 hours' notice would still apply. To violate the rule is certainly not acceptable.”
According to the US Census Bureau, more than half (approximately 31,000) of the city’s inhabitants were renters in 2000. Despite PTU-led campaigns to educate the public on renters’ rights, many remain unaware of the legal protections they have, including that a tenant's approval does not make legal an otherwise illegal practice.
“There are a lot of rights that tenants don’t know that they have, and a lot of rights that realtors and property managers don’t know that [tenants] have,” says Ed Democracy, treasurer of the PTU, citing state law. “[Tenants] don’t have time to do all the research. It’s understandable for people who don’t have law degrees and large bank accounts.”
Disgruntled tenants are advised not to take matters into their own hands — the PTU’s Web site (www.portlandtenants.org) offers suggestions to peacefully solve problems between renters and their landlords. A tenant cannot be evicted for complaining about violations of the law.
Curtis emphasizes that housing conflicts caused by aggressive, incompetent landlords are not typical. Plenty of Portland’s landlords actively oversee their properties while carefully abiding state laws, but problems can still result from ignorance or misunderstanding.
“There are people who are trying to be good landlords. It’s not easy for them and we sympathize with that,” she says, adding that her group also tries to help teach landlords their responsibilities. “The more we can support conscientious landlords, the more everyone’s going to benefit.”
