a copy of your driver’s license
Performance Property Management has a large number of beautiful Denver area properties in its portfolio, and our available listings can be found here, with pictures, descriptions, and maps. If you are looking for a clean, well-maintained place to call home that comes with reliable residential management services in Denver, look no further. We are sure to have a property that fits your needs.
The Application Process
To expedite the application and screening process, we like to let our potential renters know what we’ll need when you want to live in one of our homes. Gather the following documentation and then make your way over to our easy, efficient, and completely secure online application:
- Identification
- Income Verification
a copy of a recent pay stub
- Vehicle Information
make, model, license plate number of your vehicles
- Security Deposit
usually the equivalent of one month’s rent, and we never use this as rental payment for your last month in the property
Once you are approved for the home you want, we’ll talk about your lease and what it includes. Communication is important, and the best way to work with your property management company is to be open and ask questions. We’ll go over all of our expectations for how you need to take care of the property. We’ll explain how to make a maintenance request, and what you should do to protect yourself and ensure you get your security deposit back.
Before you move in, we’ll talk to you about the move-in inspection report, how you can protect yourself with renter’s insurance, and how you can contact us when the need arises.
Available Properties
Take a look at the Denver rental homes we have available, and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or you’d like to schedule a showing. We love working with responsible, high quality tenants, and we’ll do everything we can to exceed your customer service expectations.
10 Tips for Renters
1. Bring Your Paperwork
The best way to win over a prospective landlord is to be prepared. To get a competitive edge over other applicants, bring the following when you meet the landlord: a completed rental application; written references from landlords, employers, and colleagues; and a current copy of your credit report.
How to Get a Copy of Your Credit Report
You can order your credit report by mail, phone, or online at www.annualcreditreport.com or directly from the websites of the three major national credit bureaus:
- Equifax: www.equifax.com
- Experian: www.experian.com
- TransUnion: www.transunion.com
For information on dealing with credit problems, see the Credit Repair for Bad Credit area of Nolo’s website.
2. Review The Lease
Carefully review all of the conditions of the tenancy before you sign on the dotted line. Your lease or rental agreement may contain a provision that you find unacceptable — for example, restrictions on guests, pets, design alterations, or running a home business. Want help reviewing your lease or rental agreement? see Signing a Lease or Rental Agreement FAQ.
3. Get Everything In Writing
To avoid disputes or misunderstandings with your landlord, get everything in writing. Keep copies of any correspondence and follow up an oral agreement with a letter, setting out your understandings. For example, if you ask your landlord to make repairs, put your request in writing and keep a copy for yourself. If the landlord agrees orally, send a letter confirming this.
4. Protect Your Privacy Rights
Next to disputes over rent or security deposits, one of the most common and emotion-filled misunderstandings arises over the tension between a landlord’s right to enter a rental unit and a tenant’s right to be left alone. If you understand your privacy rights (for example, the amount of notice your landlord must provide before entering), it will be easier to protect them. For more information, see Tenants’ Rights to Privacy and Repairs FAQ.
5. Demand Repairs
Know your rights to live in a habitable rental unit — and don’t give them up. The vast majority of landlords are required to offer their tenants livable premises, including adequate weatherproofing; heat, water, and electricity; and clean, sanitary, and structurally safe premises. If your rental unit is not kept in good repair, you have a number of options, ranging from withholding a portion of the rent, to paying for repairs and deducting the cost from your rent, to calling the building inspector (who may order the landlord to make repairs), to moving out without liability for your future rent. For more information, see the NOLO article Renters’ Rights to Minor Repairs.
6. Talk To Your Landlord
Keep communication open with your landlord. If there’s a problem — for example, if the landlord is slow to make repairs — talk it over to see if the issue can be resolved short of a nasty legal battle. Resolving Landlord-Tenant Disputes FAQ provides some advice.
7. Purchase Renter’s Insurance
Your landlord’s insurance policy will not cover your losses due to theft or damage. Renters’ insurance also covers you if you’re sued by someone who claims to have been injured in your rental due to your carelessness. Renters’ insurance typically costs $350 a year for a $50,000 policy that covers loss due to theft or damage caused by other people or natural disasters; if you don’t need that much coverage, there are cheaper policies. For more information about renters’ insurance, see the article Renters: Protect Yourself From Crime.
8. Protect Your Security Deposit
To protect yourself and avoid any misunderstandings, make sure your lease or rental agreement is clear on the use and refund of security deposits, including allowable deductions. When you move in, do a walkthrough with the landlord to record existing damage to the premises on a move-in statement or checklist. For more information, see the article Protect Your Security Deposit When You Move In.
9. Protect Yourself
Learn whether your building and neighborhood are safe, and what you can expect your landlord to do about it if they aren’t. Get copies of any state or local laws that require safety devices such as deadbolts and window locks, check out the property’s vulnerability to intrusion by a criminal, and learn whether criminal incidents have already occurred on the property or nearby. If a crime is highly likely, your landlord may be obligated to take some steps to protect you. For more information on this subject, see the article Renters: Protect Yourself From Crime.
Additional Information
Learn more about how to protect yourself from crime — and get your landlord to intervene if necessary — in Every Tenant’s Legal Guide, by Janet Portman and Marcia Stewart (Nolo). This book also covers important steps you can take in inspecting a place to live, negotiating a lease or rental agreement, getting your security deposit back, and more.
Every Tenant’s Legal GuideKnow your rightsMarcia Stewart, Attorney Janet Portman April 2009, 6th Edition |
10. Deal With An Eviction Properly
Know when to fight an eviction notice — and when to move. If you feel the landlord is clearly is the wrong (for example, you haven’t received proper notice, the premises are uninhabitable), you may want to fight the eviction. But unless you have the law and provable facts on your side, fighting an eviction notice can be short-sighted. If you lose an eviction lawsuit, you may end up hundreds (even thousands) of dollars in debt, which will damage your credit rating and your ability to easily rent from future landlords. For more information on eviction, see the Renters’ & Tenants’ Rights area of Nolo’s website.
Renter’s Guide
What Is A Lease?
A lease is an agreement, either written or oral, between a landlord and a renter. The lease or rental agreement creates the legal relationship between the two parties. For the length of time the rental agreement specifies, the renter has the duty to pay rent and live in a way not harmful to the premises or the neighbors. The terms of the rental agreement are subject to state rental statutes and ordinances. It is important to note that rental applications and agreements to hold an apartment are usually not the same as an apartment lease; however, their terms and conditions may be legally binding.
Read Your Agreement Carefully
Before signing any rental agreement, read it carefully. Remember that it is a legal document that may commit you to circumstances with which you don’t agree. If you do not fully understand any part of the rental agreement, get advice before signing it. BYU Off-Campus Housing officials are a good source of free information and help. Bring a copy of the lease in for review.
Beware Of Verbal Agreements
In an oral agreement, both parties agree to rental terms without having anything in writing. Obviously, this can cause problems if one party remembers the agreement differently from the other. We advise that lease agreements always be in writing, including any additional verbal promises made by the parties that are not in the written lease. A rental agreement for more than one year must be in writing to be enforceable. If a landlord and renter have made any agreements about changes to the unit, such as new furniture or renovation, get them in writing. Those really intending to follow through on such promises should not object. Some may balk at the idea, however, and you will have to decide if you want to risk going ahead and then dealing with problems, if they do develop, once the tenancy begins.
Types Of Rental Agreements
In general, almost all rental agreements fall within two categories: (1) fixed-term agreements and (2) periodic or month-to-month agreements. Both fixed-term and periodic agreements have advantages and disadvantages for landlords and renters.
Fixed-Term Agreements
The fixed-term agreement allows the renter to occupy the premises for a specific period of time, including a date of commencement and a date of termination. To be released from the fixed-term agreement, the renter must have the permission of the landlord to assign the contract to another person. Finding a replacement tenant in the middle of a semester is very difficult. If a renter abandons the rental unit before the expiration date of the agreement without finding a replacement, he or she could be held liable for the rent the landlord loses. Landlords usually include clauses in their contracts allowing students to terminate before the contract expires provided they find suitable replacements. Most rental agreements are of this type.
Periodic Agreements
The periodic agreement has the advantage of flexibility. Renters can, with proper notice, terminate the agreement for any reason and in any month they desire. Landlords can do the same and can raise the rent any month they wish. A periodic agreement usually extends from month to month. Unless stated otherwise in the contract, the notice required to terminate such an agreement is at least 15 days before the end of the rental month.
Apartment Rules & Regulations
The landlord has the right to set reasonable rules and regulations for the management of dwelling units, shared areas and facilities, and the grounds. Such rules must be designed to ensure the convenience and safety of renters, to preserve the property, or to allocate or govern the fair use of joint services and facilities such as laundry rooms, storage areas, swimming pools, or parking areas. Such rules and regulations concerning the renter’s use and occupancy of the premises are usually enforceable against the renter only if:
- The purpose is to promote the convenience, safety, or welfare of all renters on the premises; to preserve the landlord’s property from abusive use; or to make a fair distribution of services and facilities for all renters.
- They apply to all persons occupying the premises in a fair and nondiscriminatory manner.
- They are sufficiently explicit in their prohibition, direction, or limitation of your conduct.
- They are not for evading the obligations of the landlord.
- The renter has been given notice of them at the time he or she entered into the rental arrangement.
- They do not directly contradict lease provisions.
Unlawful Contract Provisions
Although most landlords are fair, there may be some who will take unfair advantage of a renter. Consequently, some leases may contain some provisions generally forbidden by law. The following are examples:
- A provision permitting the landlord to exert unfair leverage on the renter, such as requesting and failing to return “security deposits” or “prepaid rent” under false pretenses or unproved evidence.
- A provision permitting the landlord to take possession of the renter’s personal property for lack of payment of rent without following legal procedures.
- A provision freeing the landlord from responsibility for negligence in causing the renter or renter’s guests injury.
- Even though these unlawful clauses may not be binding, the renters may be forced to go to court to pursue their rights, and therefore, it is a better practice to try to strike illegal clauses before signing the lease agreement. A landlord who offers a lease containing illegal clauses and refuses to strike them when asked may not be the type you wish to rent a unit from.
If You Move Before The Rental Agreement Expires
If you, as a renter, move from the apartment before the contract expires, please realize this breaches a legal agreement, and the landlord may be entitled to damages. Although your reasons seem valid to you, you might forfeit your security deposit and be sued for the rent owing through the end of the contract. The signed rental contract is a legally binding document that can be terminated only for reasons expressed in the contract. Marriage, mission, or moving to another apartment are not valid reasons for breaching a rental agreement unless written in the contract. A contract should never be signed with the intent of breaking it before the expiration date.
The renter should not assume that he or she may vacate the apartment anytime without penalty just because there is no language in the agreement about early termination. When a contract does not express any terms for early termination, it implies a legally binding commitment to pay rent from its commencement date to its termination date. If you must move, you may lessen the damage of breaking your contract and reduce your risk in the following ways:
- Negotiate – You can try to negotiate with the landlord to allow you to move and to lose only your deposit or prepaid rent. If you and your landlord reach a compromise, make sure that the agreement is in writing and signed by both parties.
- Find a Replacement Renter -To be released from your contract obligations, you must find a person who is willing to “buy” the remainder of your contract. However, do not rely on the landlord to find your replacement renter. Make arrangements with the landlord to either (1) assign your contract to the new renter or, better, (2) create a new contract between your replacement renter and your landlord. By the way, a landlord can refuse either method if the cause is just. If a new contract is created, your contract obligations terminate; however, if your contract is assigned to the new renter, your obligation remains. If the new renter defaults you can be held liable. After the transfer is complete, you are entitled to your security deposit, less damages and other contracted deductions, within 30 days after moving out and leaving a forwarding address.
- Subletting– No Subleasing is permitted.
OUR OFFICE
1788 South Broadway
Denver, CO
80210-3102
p: 303-698-1900
f: 303-698-9699