Portland, OR asked in Contracts, Real Estate Law and Landlord - Tenant for Oregon

Q: Do apartment managers NOT have to disclose the lease-length of known, quiet neighbors? I'm trying to avoid future noise.

I'm trying to decide whether to stay on month-to-month rent or get a lease, and future neighbor NOISE is the main wildcard. My current neighbors are luckily quiet (for the most part) but new ones could be bad. The managers say they can't legally tell me when the quiet people's lease ends, or if they're renting month-to-month also. I think I have some right to know.

I'd want to break my lease if new neighbors are noisy, since noise rules are only enforced in extreme cases. It took them months to evict an obnoxious drunk. It's a trade off between lease-break fees and extra costs for month-to-month, which has historically been worth it. The problem is that a pending 10% rent-hike will create financial hardship unless I sign a 12-month lease at the same cost as my current month-to-month rent.

Thanks for any details.

1 Lawyer Answer
Gregory L Abbott
Gregory L Abbott
Answered
  • Landlord Tenant Lawyer
  • Portland, OR
  • Licensed in Oregon

A: Sorry but you have no legal right to know anything about the rental agreement between a neighbor and the landlord. You may want to know; you may have use for the information; but you have no right to know. Ask your neighbors, perhaps they will tell you. Only you can make the decision as how to balance the various options. Do note that you can always get out of a fixed term lease, the only question being the cost of doing so. Many such leases offer an early termination fee of 1 1/2 months rent. Whether that is more than paying the "extra" rent for going month to month for however many months is one way to evaluate your preference but there are obviously many ways to consider the whole deal. Like most things in life, however, in the end you make an educated guess but it is still a gamble with no guarantees. Make your decision; pay your money; take your chances on the outcome.

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