Letter to Landlord
The Legal Route

You tried the phone call with no success...

A letter to landlord may spur him into action and will keep you within the law. Or your rental agreement specifies that you have to put certain things in writing.

There are many occasions when you may need a letter to landlord and even though it may not specifically be covered here, you may be able to edit one of them to suit your requirements.

Remember to keep copies of all correspondence and it is always better to send it by registered mail as further proof that you indeed did send it.

Does your Property Rental Agreement require you to leave a forwarding address when the lease expires or do you just want to confirm in writing that you will not renew your lease?

You can use this Letter with Forwarding Address

Do you need to request repairs in writing?

Letter Requesting Repairs

If the landlord did not effect the requested repairs within a reasonable amount of time, you can notify him that you will be withholding part or all (depending on the severity of the problem) of the rent, until such time as the problem is fixed.

Letter Withholding Rent

Another reason for withholding rent may be because you are in financial distress and are looking for some relief from your landlord. In this letter you'll have a couple of options to consider, when drafting a Letter to Landlord to Request a Reduction of Rent.

Normally a landlord will take action if a tenant is withholding rent and your problem should be solved.

If another period of time has gone by without anything happening, you need to notify him that you will be taking it upon yourself to effect these repairs. You will also be deducting the costs from the rent.

Letter to Self Repair

You have now written three times to the landlord, you've submitted three quotes for repairs and you still get no action from the landlord within the time stipulated.

You either go ahead with the lowest bid and pay them, after which you write a Letter to Deduct for Repairs

Or you decide that you will not be doing the repairs yourself, that you are getting nowhere with this landlord, that you can not carry on living there under those circumstances - and you write a Letter to Terminate the Lease

Maybe you are withholding rent due to repairs not being done by your landlord and you've followed proper procedure.

Next thing you receive an eviction notice from your landlord due to nonpayment of rent. (Refer to Renters Rights for information on retaliation).

You now need to write a Letter as Defense against Eviction

The landlord may send you a letter at the end of your rental agreement (within 30 days of your vacating the property) with a list of damages, which he intends to deduct from your security deposit.

If you do not agree with it, you need to respond in writing in a letter to landlord within 7 days with a Letter to Dispute Damages Claimed

If you wish to extend your rental period, your lease may require you to do so in writing.

Negotiate! If you've been a good tenant, you'll be coming from a position of strength. Point out to the landlord that if you stay, he will be saving money on advertising, tenant screening and background checks, no vacancy period and agents fees. So, ask for discount - nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Letter to Extend a Lease

Just maybe, you are on this page because you have a really fantastic landlord that looks after his property investment and tenant in an exceptional way. You therefore wish to write him a letter expressing your appreciation.

We think we'll leave that special letter to landlord for you to do!

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