The most common landlord tenant disputes that arise between landlords and tenants comes about when a tenant complains the landlord has failed to fix a furnace, or leaking roof or other feature of the household and decides to retaliate by withholding rent. In Indiana, that is what the Judge might describes as a “big No No”. Under Indiana law, when their are landlord tenant disputes, the tenant must bring his claim in a court of law and seek some form of legal or equitable remedy from the Judge, before he can withhold rent money. Even if the tenant has a legitimate complaint, withholding rent in Indiana, will typically lead to an order of eviction under landlord rights. Therefore, tenants who want to redress their “injury” to a neutral party with the authority to grant them relief, should in most cases, continue paying rent while bringing their action before a court. This is not to say that in landlord tenant disputes, the landlord will always win when a tenant withholds rent. It is not unusual for the complaints of a tenant to result in a counter-complaint for which a Judge might award damages that exceed the landlord’s damages resulting in a judgment due the tenant. There are a lot of nuiances that are found within the landlord rights law related to landlord tenant disputes in regards to eviction and either party would be well advised to present their case with the assistance of a landlord tenant lawyer.

In landlord tenant disputes, a landlord has 45 days from the move out date to present the former tenant with an itemized list of damages he or she claims are due. The 45 days, however, does not begin on the move out day, if the tenant has not provided the landlord with a forwarding address where such itemized damages can be mailed. In any event, if the landlord has failed to provide the tenant with an itemized list of damages within the statutory 45 day period, then in that event, the landlord is obligated to refund the security deposit in full. Failure to do so may entitled the tenant to recover his or her deposit in an amount equal to three times the original deposit, plus recover attorney fees necessitated by landlord’s refusal to refund the original deposit. With their landlord rights, landlords should take great care to avoid this common pitfall.

Pursuant to Indiana law the party who has the obligation to make repairs and maintain the property is responsible for injuries caused by a failure to repair or maintain the property. While there are sure to be exceptions to any factual circumstances you might think of, the landlord rights law is sufficiently certain to at least cause landlords and tenants to give all due consideration to the maintenance provision when it comes up while negotiating a lease. You should contact a landlord lawyer to help with any dispute or to explore your landlord rights.

Where there is a contract, there is a potential dispute and a qualified landlord tenant lawyer can help. When dealing with landlord rights, a lease is a contract and one that is quite suited to litigious disputes. Few people to a contract, or a lease for that matter, know what to look for within the agreement and you should talk with a landlord tenant lawyer to make sure you have landlord rights in order. While there are many provisions one might look for and expect to see, none are potentially more important than a mutual provision for the payment of landlord tenant lawyer fees. Unless there is a statute that would grant you the right to recover attorney’s fees, there is no such right without an express provision being inserted into your lease. If an attorney fee clause does exist, make sure it at least favors you. It is not uncommon to find one sided attorney fee clauses that state that if the landlord is forced to sue for rent or possession, that the tenant agrees to pay the landlords attorney fees. Regardless of what side of the fence you are on, be sure that you are not on the wrong side of one of those fee provisions. Know your landlord rights.