There’s a silent war going on in America. In fact, it’s going on everywhere in the Western world. This war isn’t fought with guns or ammo, but court battles, arguments and both sides simply trying to annoy each other. It’s the battle that’s on between property owners and tenants. If you’re an investor in Telluride, for instance, you may have contacted your Telluride real estate on many occasions to complain about tenants you’re not happy with, who aren’t making payments on time and who are damaging the contents of your property. If you’re a tenant in such Telluride properties, however, you’re probably complaining about the intrusive nature of the landlords visits, their difficult attitude towards the way you treat your own home, and their constant maneuvering to get out of giving the bond back. These battles go on every day in every country that has landlords and tenants, and it doesn’t seem like it will end soon.

If you’re a tenant in such a situation, there’s no doubt that you’re in a difficult spot. Landlords can and do cheat the law in order to make things more difficult for you. Trying to make you pay more money, or maybe kick you out if they think they can have someone else to pay more, these are common occurrences in the world of real estate. What you must do is remember tenant rights. Landlords will gladly walk over those they think will allow it, and if you don’t show that you’re aware of your rights as a tenant, they’ll see you as ripe for exploitation. Find out the laws in your state in relation to the tenant and landowner relationship, and see exactly what limits you are and are not able to cross.

For example, don’t allow them to simply drop in any time they want to. This is a violation of your rights, and you are allowed to shut the door on them and not let them in. Even if your home is clean, it’s still not a good idea to let them come in, because now they’ll feel it’s their right to come into what is really your home unannounced. It’s a violation of your personal space.

Landlords, if your tenants are hurting your property, paying rent late or in some way behaving in a negative manner, it’s vital that you stick to the legal options you have available. Testing these laws, for example by making threatening phone calls to the tenants who are damaging your property, can be utilized against you at a later time. Think properly about what you can do to get the tenants out or treating the place well.

We don’t often consider that land owning is quite an unnatural idea. For some reason, humans have decided that through the exchange of green pieces of paper, we can decide that an area of land is now a part of a single person. Maybe it’s useful to take a step back and look at the wierdness of the whole situation before worrying too much about whether your tenant or owner is giving you trouble.

Connor Sullivan considered purchasing several Telluride properties last summer before the recession. He and his wife made an appointment to see a Telluride real estate agent and was thrilled with the available properties.