Renting, Uncategorized

Odds are when you’re apartment hunting, you don’t know much about the building beyond what you see in the ad.

This blissful obliviousness raises a series of questions about your prospective new apartment:

• Has the building had problems in the past?
• Are there hidden safety issues?
• What were the previous tenants like?

While your potential landlord won’t detail the rental history in the ad—and may not even bring it up on the walkthrough—you don’t have to sign the lease without knowing at least the basics about your rental unit.

And you can find out a lot more.

Required Disclosures About Your New Apartment

Legally, your landlord is required to include a few disclosures about the rental’s history to you before you sign the lease. The disclosures vary by state and usually include potential safety hazards, like the following:

• Flood zone locations and any recent flooding in the rental
• Installation of smoke detectors and alarms
• Previous methamphetamine laboratory within the building
• Current housing code violations stemming from past problems
• Existence of asbestosFederal law also requires your landlord to tell you if anyone used lead-based paint in your building.

Differences in State Laws

Some state and municipal laws go beyond detailing safety hazards stemming from past construction.

In California, for example, landlords are required to disclose any death on the property in the last three years, with the exception of AIDS-related cases.

In New York City, landlords must tell you if your apartment has had bedbugs in the last year, and several states require the landlord to inform you of any registered sex offenders in the building or surrounding area.

How to Find Out More About Your New Apartment

If you want to know more, you can find out a surprising amount about a property—especially older or historic buildings—by doing your own research:

Visiting your library’s local history section.

Books may contain little-known facts about different neighborhoods and historic properties.

Searching newspaper archives.

Try entering the property address, name of the building or neighborhood into the search bar on your newspaper’s website.

Searching property records.

Your county tax assessor’s office will have information about the property including previous owners, sale dates and other information. Many offices will let you find this information online.

Locating the original building permit.

A building permit, bought from the county courthouse, will have information on the original building design, lot size and other architectural details.

Contacting your local historical society.

Historical societies are treasure troves of information and most are happy to share their knowledge.