Apartment living is more communal than living in a house. Thus, your actions have more direct influence on neighbors.
For landlords, there are two types of tenants: the ones who make life a breeze and the ones who induce migraines.
Any of the following habits can ruin landlord-tenant relationships or strain ties with your neighbors, even if conducted with the best of intentions.
Many leases carry penalties for late rent payments. Paying rent late not only makes you, the tenant, look unreliable, but it becomes a costly habit. If rent is late too frequently, or if you stop paying rent altogether, the landlord has grounds to evict you.
Renting an apartment means only a wall separates you from your neighbors. Depending on your building, you may hear people above, below, and on either side of you. Determine how thin your walls are by turning off televisions, radios, and fans and listening to the amount of sound generated by your neighbors. Use this as a gauge to determine how loud you can be, especially late at night.
It's fine if you rarely take out the trash and leave food sitting around for days. Afterall, it's your home. However, if the dirt and mess begin to attract roaches, then you have a problem on your hands. Roaches live in walls and can easily spread to other apartments. If this happens, take the time to eradicate the roach problem by notifying the landlord. Your neighbors will thank you for it.
The cleanliness state of your apartment is a matter concerning you and those you live with. Your mess, however, should not extend to the common areas, such as the gym, pool, lobby, or elevator. If the mess is traced back to you, you may find yourself in a tough position with your landlord and neighbors.
Sometimes, tenants damage the apartment. Most of the time, it's by accident. For a few folks, damage is the norm, because conscientious habits are not practiced. For example, when angered, don't take it out on the walls. Clean up cat pee, so it doesn't ruin wood floors. If the unit is damaged, inform the landlord promptly. Leaving damage unrepaired not only creates a bad living environment, it may anger the landlord who must make repairs before showing the unit.
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