www.dotcomhunter.com Decorating a Rental House Those who opt to rent a house as opposed to an apartment may still b e held to certain restrictions regarding the type of decorating whic h can be done on the property. These restrictions may be stricter or more lenient than those typically enforced when a renter is renting an apartment property. This will largely depend on the preferences of the homeowners. Homeowners who do not want to see major modificat ions done to the property may place strict restrictions while those who want to see the property improved may allow the renter a great d eal of freedom in their decorating options. How Much is Too Much? This can be a difficult question to answer when used in reference to how much decorating is permissible in a rental house. Many renters op t for a situation where they are renting a house as opposed to an apa rtment strictly because they are looking for more freedom in their de corating options. However, the renter may find this desired freedom i s not available to them. Some homeowners may allow the renter to make minor decorating chang es such as painting the walls, hanging up pictures or installing de corative shelving. However, more extensive decorating items such as new flooring, knocking down walls or putting in windows might not be considered acceptable by some homeowners while others may allow the renter to perform such actions. Still others may require this t ype of work to be done but may place restrictions which specify all improvement work shall be done by a qualified professional. Check with the Homeowner When considering doing some decorating in a rental house, the renter should first carefully review all of their contract documents. This is important because the contract may clearly prohibit certain item s. In this case the renter would know for sure that they are not all owed to perform these actions. However, the renter should not count on the contract documents to spell out every possible scenario. Ther efore if a renter is considering making modifications to the rental house they should consult the owner before performing any work. They should also ask the homeowner to provide a written statement expres sing their approval of the work to be completed. The homeowner is the renters best resource of these types of questio ns because the homeowner has the best understanding of their intenti ons when they wrote the rental contract. They might have specified t hat no renter can alter the appearance of the apartment without the consent of the homeowner but they may have meant for this statement to only apply to certain situations. In these cases, seeking clarifi A gift from www.dotcomhunter.comwww.dotcomhunter.com cation and written approval can be very beneficial to the renter. When in Doubt; Leave it Out If renters are in doubt about whether or not to perform a specific d ecorating action and are unable to reach the homeowner for clarifica tion, they should opt not to make the changes. This can save the ren ter a great deal of time and money in the long run by preventing the m from incurring excess charges for repair of the apartment and wast ing a great deal of time making an improvement which the homeowner m ay ask to have reversed in a short period of time. This is why rente rs should assume an action is prohibited unless they have concrete p roof otherwise. PPPPP Word count 550 A gift from www.dotcomhunter.com