5 Must Do's While Renting an Apartment

Using a realtor is one of the safest and smartest ways to find new digs, but some chose self-reliance over convenience, speed and sometimes, personal safety. If you insist on roughing it, at least cover the following bases to avoid financial loss, injury or sudden eviction:

1.Make sure that the person renting the apartment actually owns the apartment and has authority to rent. Every Spring the newspapers fill with stories of hopefuls who rented through Craigslist only to find themselves standing on the sidewalk while scores of others show up at "their" apartment. Sounds obvious, but the scam is as old as selling the Brooklyn Bridge.

2.Make sure your apartment is in compliance with local ordinances. The City can and will move you with one day's notice-right into a homeless shelter. A host of regulations insure your safety and keep you from becoming a problem for others. An apartment with one exit, illegally sub-divided or in a basement is a one-way ticket to the street. Likewise a co-op apartment that the owner never got the Board's permission to rent or an illegal tenant in a one-family zoned area. All of these situations become more common as rents zoom and mortgage payments lapse on homes bought during periods of irrational exuberance.

3.Make sure your dwelling is violation-free. Many landlords pick up unskilled labor by van at the street corner. Your neighbor's toilet may drip on your head and his sewage back into your sink. Load-bearing walls may be removed and floors sag under your weight. In New York City, consult the records of the New York City Housing Preservation Department and New York City Department of Buildings for violations and permits.

4.Legal rent. In New York City multiple-family dwellings such as small apartment houses are often rent-controlled or stabilized and regulated by the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR). A formula sets rent increases and base rent. The formula looks at tenant turn-over, major repairs to the building structure such as new roofs and windows and upgrades to individual units such as new stoves and refrigerators. The landlord is required to register his unit with this agency, and you are to be sent written confirmation annually. If you are illegally overcharged, you have a limited time to recover your damages and reduce your rent. Always confirm determine whether you are entitled to these protections.

5.Make sure that neither your landlord nor neighbors are madmen. Button-hole existing tenants and neighbors. Stop by the local coffee shop or diner for a friendly chat with a waiter during off hours. Tip generously. Take the information with a grain of salt too.

If all else fails, reconsider your decision to do it alone. Sometimes cheap is very costly. A good Realtor may be the best investment you will ever make.

Sources:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/home/home.shtml
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/html/home/home.shtml
http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/