Landlord wants to show our rental during a pandemic.
I'm writing to see if any of you can assist with some advice on a dilemma we are having with our rental. We are currently looking to move out of our rental in North Berkeley. Our lease is up June 2021, but we may leave earlier, which the landlord is fine with. The landlord would like to show the house, but we have 2 toddlers and are in a POD with strict covid-19 protocols. What rights do we have around the landlord having people come into the house for a showing prior to us moving out? Ideally we would not like anybody to view the house while occupied due to covid-19, but I don't know what our rights are. Any advice would be wonderful. Thank you!
Mar 18, 2021
Parent Replies
Your landlord must notify you at least 24 hours before a showing. Assuming you have a positive relationship, maybe you can propose some mutually convenient times when it would be easier to be out of the house (weekend mornings?) If you know for sure you will be leaving by the end of April but have to pay rent through June anyway, you could propose that the landlord wait to show it until after you move out. But they will need to show it a month or two before the lease start date for the new tenants, especially in the current rental market, so that won't work if you plan to stay through your lease's end or if you are hoping not to pay rent after you leave. You can certainly ask (and the landlord should enforce) that any prospective tenants wear masks, though, and can leave windows open during the visit.
I feel for you. It's sounds like a lot of work to get your kids and partner out of the house--a major inconvenience. Someone else can chime in on the actual rental laws right now, but I did a quick search on a landlord -focused that allows for showings if COVID precautions are taken: only one person in unit at a time, masks, etc. There may be more current restrictions not mentioned here; https://www.bpoa.org/qa.php?pid=12
I guess what I would ask for if I were in your shoes--and Berkeley rent control law doesn't give you more rights than I'm aware of-- would be for the landlord to show the house for a limited period, say 12pm-4pm on a weekend so that you and your family could head to a favorite park for a picnic and not have your work disrupted along with all of the other inconveniences. This is similar to what realtors are doing when a house is being sold, so I'm told by friends. Good luck and hope it's not too inconvenient. - Sarah
Ask the Rent Board.
Perhaps you could offer video tours with good candidates to try to minimize who views in person? As someone in the market for a new rental (in North Berkeley ideally!), I would personally be very open to that, from the perspective of a future renter.
As previously stated, you have the right to 24 hours notice before a showing. But you could negotiate with the property owner. Ask them how much money they would want to put off showings until you move out. For instance, you could let them keep your deposit in exchange for not showing the rental until you move.