Boise-area renters, read your leases. This agency says they might have illegal clauses

Boise-area renters, have you noticed a clause in your lease that says your landlord can remove utilities and heat if you fail to pay rent on time? Or one that says your landlord can take your personal property and sell it if you don’t?

Jesse Tree, a nonprofit that tries to prevent eviction and homelessness in the Treasure Valley, says ithas found these illegal clauses and more in leases in the Boise area.

Landlords have a lot of power over prospective renters in Boise’s tight rental market, said Ali Rabe, executive director of Jesse Tree, in an interview with the Idaho Statesman.

“The rental market is so competitive that tenants have very little bargaining power in the rental process, and landlords can kind of do whatever,” Rabe said by phone.

Jesse Tree helps tenants going through the eviction process. Rabe said illegal and unethical lease clauses it found were from cases Jesse Tree had taken on. The examples of what the organization found are just some of what exists, Rabe said.

In an email, Rabe said illegal clauses include (improper language in italics):.

• Wave Property Management: “Resident acknowledges that some rooms in the premises may not conform to requirements of City Code for bedrooms, and are therefore nonconforming. Nonconforming includes but is not limited to lack of legal egress for fire escape and lack of closets.”
  
  By phone, Joy Luedtke, an attorney for Wave Property Management said the company has a clause in leases saying that some rooms may not conform to city code, because many of Wave’s units are affordable and do not meet today’s building code standards. She said old units were grandfathered in, meaning they were allowed to remain out of compliance when old building codes were updated.

• Riverside Management: “It is expressly agreed by Resident that in the event of Resident’s default in payment or rent hereunder, management shall be relieved from all obligation to furnish heat, water or other utilities to residents as long as such default shall continue.”

  Riverside Management did not respond to an emailed request Monday for comment

• Realty Asset Management: “Landlord will have a lien upon the baggage and other personal property of tenant for rent, accommodations, and services and tenant hereby grants to landlord a lien on all personal property brought in or on said property. Landlord may enforce said lien by entering said Property and removing possessions contained therein and storing them at tenant’s expense. If after 10 days of enforcement of lien, tenant still owes charges, landlord may dispose of (at landlord’s discretion) any or all of the personal property as provided herein and apply all monies received against such charges, including moving and storage fees. Any monies in excess of the amount owed will be returned to tenant. The parties agree that there is often a difference of opinion with regard to the value of any property which is abandoned. Therefore, the parties agree, as liquidated damages, that the maximum value of any property deemed abandoned by the landlord shall not exceed $500.00 in the aggregate.’
  
  In an email, Trish Callies with Realty Asset Management said, “I assure you that we are not disposing of any tenants’ belongings outside of the law. We rarely experience abandonment of any kind, and this is a nonissue for our company.”

• Eagle Point Community: “To secure payment of rent and other liabilities, landlord shall have an innkeeper’s lien upon all lessee’s property in the same manner and for the same purpose as statutory innkeeper’s liens. The lien applies to personal property left upon or around the some site, and landlord shall have the right to detain the personal property until the amount of unpaid rent, late charges, legal fees and any other amounts due to landlord have been paid in full. If any such amounts are not paid, landlord shall have the right to sell the personal property at public action in compliance with state law.”
  
  Eagle Point Community did not respond to an emailed request Monday for comment.

• Realty Asset Management and DJW: “Each party acknowledges and agrees that any controversy which may arise under this agreement or other transaction documents is likely to involve complicated and difficult issues and, and therefore, each such party irrevocably and unconditionally waives any right they may have to a trial by jury in respect to any legal action arising out of or relating to this lease or rental agreement, the other transaction documents or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby. Each party to this agreement certifies and acknowledges that (a) no representative of any other party has represented, expressly or otherwise, that such other party would not seek to enforce this waiver in the event of a legal action, (b) such party has considered the implications of this waiver, (c) such party makes this waiver voluntarily, and (d) such party has been induced to enter into this agreement by, among other things, the mutual waivers and certifications in this section.
  
  DJW said in an email that its attorney would be commenting to the Statesman, but the newspaper did not receive a comment by Tuesday.

Rabe said all of the illegal lease clauses Jesse Tree found were from large investment firms.

“There are a lot of big investment companies that have come into Idaho in the last few years and bought up a lot of properties and are managing them,” Rabe said. “So some of them might be newer to Idaho and might not fully understand the laws.”

According to the Idaho attorneys general’s office, Idaho law says tenants have a right to privacy, and landlords must maintain the health and safety of their units.

The attorney general also says a lease cannot include provisions that:

• allow the landlord to seize a tenant’s personal property if the tenant fails to pay rent

• misrepresent or conflict with the tenant’s right to appear in court and defend against a landlord’s allegations

• require the tenant to pay the landlord’s attorney fees if a dispute goes to court, unless the judge rules in the landlord’s favor

• allow the landlord to enter the rental unit without providing proper notice as provided by law or the lease agreement.

Idaho law also says that a landlord must provide a written notice of a rent increase at least 30 days before the increase is effective/, and 30 days’ notice that a tenant’s lease would not be renewed for any reason. The law places no limit on what rent a landlord can charge or how much the rent can increase.

As Jesse Tree case managers work with tenants facing eviction, Rabe said the managers also points out to landlords when lease clauses are illegal or unethical.

She recommends that landlords make sure they know the laws to ensure their leases are fully legal, and she encourages renters to read their leases and take pictures of their units to make sure the law is not broken in case tenants must go through the eviction process.

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