"Legal" would depend on the laws that govern landlord/tenant relations in your state. I would agree that hanging notices of a "legal" nature, such as lease renewal, on the door seems a bit odd. In years past, such things were mailed to me.

I would think that the landlord is trying to minimize his costs so I don't see him installing a mail slot in every door.

The landlord could be putting himself at risk because the tenant could claim he/she didn't receive something left on a door which multiple tenants or visitors might access.

Unless I suppose the hallways are security-camera monitored and the landlord keeps the data and can show the tenant taking the document off the door.

If you live in California, one of the ways to notify a tenant of an eviction is to post on the door and send certified mail-see the link below. And yes it HAS to be conspicuous

Do they pay for the heating in your unit? Would you want a mail slot in the door that also lets in cold air or allows people to peak in?

If you think it is quick to call 115 tenants to tell them you posted something on the door, you must have never tried it.

If you think calling or texting would be better, does your landlord have your current number?

If you think email is better, how many update landlords when your email changes? How many do not check email regularly.

If you think 24 hours notice by mail is better, when has the post office delivered a letter mailed faster than posting it on your door?

If you think they should just slip it in your mail box, that is mail fraud unless it goes via the post office.

Just how do you think the management should let you know? Maybe a note on your door?

And bet you can guess what I do!

Here is a link that might be useful: Service of Notice

Kippy the Hippy--why not just mail the notice to the tenants? After all, you have their addresses.

In fact, I've lived in states where the law requires certain notices be mailed to tenants in specific ways.

It just seems like notices put on doors have a lot of ways of going astray--other tenants taking them off, kids thinking it is a fun idea to remove them all, falling off the door, etc.

If you really want to be sure that a tenant gets a notice, it should be mailed.

In 30 years of renting, I've never once lived anyplace that communicated with me by a note left on the door. Letters in the mail, phone calls, and as technology improved, emails and texts. But never a note on the door.

Kippy the Hippy--why not just mail the notice to the tenants? After all, you have their addresses.

In fact, I've lived in states where the law requires certain notices be mailed to tenants in specific ways.

It just seems like notices put on doors have a lot of ways of going astray--other tenants taking them off, kids thinking it is a fun idea to remove them all, falling off the door, etc.

If you really want to be sure that a tenant gets a notice, it should be mailed.

In 30 years of renting, I've never once lived anyplace that communicated with me by a note left on the door. Letters in the mail, phone calls, and as technology improved, emails and texts. But never a note on the door.

Camlan

Why not mail? Because the law requires 24 hours notice. If I have a repair I need to have done tomorrow and I choose to mail, you will not get notice prior to the repair. I have to wait 6 days (the time the state thinks it would take for the mail) to make that repair which may cause a lot of damages while we wait a week. Besides, if you had something that needed fixing tomorrow, would you want to wait week for us to do it because rather than post we chose to mail?

If I give you 6 days notice verbally, will you remember?

You would be amazed at the number of people that don't check their mail. And I am the one that ends up picking up most of the certified mail after the tenant fails to bother to pick it up.

Trust me, I would much rather mail notices! It is a lot more work and time consuming to walk to each door and post. For things like a rent increase, we do both "nail and mail" but the everyday, "please put your trash IN the trash can and not next to it" type letters we post on doors (I usually tape to knob and deadbolt so you can't miss it)

I do watch the weather, holidays etc to try and avoid times when notices might be lost or left on doors.

The main problem I have with texts, is the younger set has no problem with texting you at 2am and no one wants their numbers in a group text so you have a lot of texting to do

Same with email, you do a lot of blind copies with many people thinking you are sending out their email address and the ones that have not used that email address since they applied.

It is not as simple as one thinks

For an example:

The large commercial water heater that supplies the building with hot water springs a leak. I contact the plumber and they order a new water heater to be installed the next day.

If I mail and wait six days, your unit is now considered uninhabitable because you have no hot water. And for 6 days I will have a building full of upset people that they have to take cold showers.

If I call, do I call each resident of a unit? Several have extremely important jobs who work overnight. They can not be contacted at work, do you call and wake them up?

Or do you post a notice on each door and at all the entry points to the building letting everyone know? Will there be some that don't see the notice at the entry and on their door, yes but there are some that would not have opened or checked their mail too, did not pick up phone or listen to the voice mail, gave you the spam email address they never checked or changed phone numbers so your text is landing on some random strangers phone who now knows your name and address.

Nothing is perfect for everyone.

Kippy-the-Hippy wrote on Sat, Feb 7, 15 at 18:14:

"If you live in California, one of the ways to notify a tenant of an eviction is to post on the door and send certified mail-see the link below. And yes it HAS to be conspicuous"

I'm not in CA but eviction is a special case, I understand that. No risk of eviction in my case.

"Do they pay for the heating in your unit? Would you want a mail slot in the door that also lets in cold air or allows people to peak in?"

I pay for the heating. We drop rent envelopes through the office door slot all the time. A tenant slot only needs to be about 1/4" x 5" to handle what they post. It could be lined with brushes or a metal flap to keep weather out (very common). If they really want to reach tenants ASAP they should know that some might be housebound for whatever reason over the course of a few days. Much easier to see a note on your floor than on your door. They could at least knock vs. placing notes silently.

"If you think it is quick to call 115 tenants to tell them you posted something on the door, you must have never tried it."

I get that angle, but if the tenant is going on vacation it would be common courtesy to call. Otherwise the tenant has to find someone to check door notices and that person might forget, etc.

"If you think calling or texting would be better, does your landlord have your current number?"

Yes, definitely, and my email address.

"If you think email is better, how many update landlords when your email changes? How many do not check email regularly."

I make sure they know of any phone or email changes. Others might not, but that's a red herring.

"If you think 24 hours notice by mail is better, when has the post office delivered a letter mailed faster than posting it on your door?"

Mail is best for rent notices, not 24-hour entry notices. Door notices mainly annoy me for privacy reasons.

"If you think they should just slip it in your mail box, that is mail fraud unless it goes via the post office."

The cost of mailing might deter them, I understand. A door slot is my solution. These particular doors are too well sealed to allow for slipping notes under them.

"Just how do you think the management should let you know? Maybe a note on your door?"

Again, a slot in the door or a phone call when I've told them I'll be away for several days. This complex barely even answers the phone, even though they claim to be always available. It's not just one issue with them.

"And bet you can guess what I do!"

Ayuh! Your questions are fair, but I will repeat: Slot in door! I could see notices with my indoor IP camera when I'm on vacation, then call the landlord and ask what it was about. No way to view my door from outside remotely without trusting someone else to check it. That can be problematic for various reasons. It comes down to privacy, again.

This post was edited by Jck507 on Sun, Feb 8, 15 at 19:13

Jck

Do you have a link to a weather tight cover and mail slot that fits the size you are suggesting? Is the office rent drop slot bigger than what you are suggesting?

I am glad you let your landlord know you are on vacation, I think out of the entire complex I have 2 tenants that are pretty good at letting me know if they are leaving the country for more than a month. But that is the only time they do let me know. And yes it is a requirement in the Rental Agreement.

I am glad you keep your landlord up to date on contact info, I can tell you that my tenants don't bother to do that unless they have an emergency and it is important to them.

FYI an eviction notice left up for a long time either means the tenants took off with out notice and the landlord has to complete the process to not get sued or the tenant was too lazy to take the notice down.

Kippy-the-Hippy:

http://www.homedepot.com/s/mail%2520slot?NCNI-5

It might require a custom thin mail slot but it has to be possible. I was guessing about the 1/4" opening. If there's an unmet need someone could market one. It would obviously have to not compromise door security.

I'm sure you've run into hassles with obtuse tenants. It takes cooperation on both sides to make life simpler.

Maybe you could offer to pay to have a door slot installed in your door. You maybe asked to put up money to restore the door once you move Make sure you get permission in writting from the person who pays the deposits back.

Note the cost, when you add the order time, installation, paint touch up, clean up etc looks to be in the neighborhood of $200 When you multiply that by 110 units, that is a chunk of change and probably not worth the rent increase....

Or alternately supply the office with a stack of self addressed stamped envelopes and explain your concerns

Personally I try to keep things uniform because I can not remember all the personal requests Tenants forget, they have one office to deal with and the office has lots of tenants. Imagine you worked at an office with 110 cubicles some with two people in each. Your job is to deliver everyone a cup of coffee. Some people want cream, others sugar, some both and others black. Would it be more efficient to bring back 200 coffees and a sack of creamer and sugar packages or try and remember what each and every person wanted?

Complain to management. Tell them how you want to be notified.

We lived in a large apartment complex for 10 months. We were notified of things by phone. What surprised me is how little time they allowed for someone to answer the door when doing this maintenance. More than once the maintenance man walked in while I was still walking to the door to open it. He barely allowed more than one knock.

A friend lives in a complex, about 75 apartments, I'd guess. There are often notes on the door, but they are always items that apply to the whole complex, or at least a section, such as maintenance issues, water will be off for two hours during repairs, reminders about hours for the laundry rooms, etc. Never anything personal to just one tenant.

As others have written - it is a legal form of communicating with tenants, in fact a requirement if landlord is unable to reach them by any other means or they refuse to answer the door.

Where I live, it seems like notices are only left for when tenants need to renew their contract, or for maintenance stuff...however I have noticed the local gas company will leave notices on people's doors when they are late in making payments. How does that play into all this?