Usually your rental agreement will state this. If your agreement requires you to get approval for improvements, get it. If your lease doesn't require landlord approval, you'll still have to be careful because improvements are in the eye of the beholder. You may decide that something's an improvement, but your landlord may believe that you've harmed the premises instead. Go ahead, ask the lawyer.
Answers appear here every two to four weeks.
Tenant attorney Larry Beach Becker has fielded our first batch of questions.