Introduction: Your Landlord Companion

1. Screening Tenants: Your Most Important Decision

• Avoiding Fair Housing Complaints and Lawsuits
• How to Advertise Rental Property
• Consider Tenants Who Are Advertising Themselves
• Renting Property That’s Still Occupied
• Dealing With Prospective Tenants and Accepting Rental Applications
• When and How to Check References, Credit History, and More
• Choosing—And Rejecting—An Applicant
• Finder’s Fees and Holding Deposits

2. Preparing Leases and Rental Agreements

• Which Is Better, a Lease or a Rental Agreement?
• Clause-by-Clause Instructions for Completing the Lease or Rental Agreement Form
• Signing the Lease or Rental Agreement
• About Cosigners

3. Basic Rent Rules

• How Much Can You Charge?
• Rent Control
• When Rent Is Due
• Where and How Rent Is Due
• Late Charges and Discounts for Early Payments
• Returned Check Charges
• Partial or Delayed Rent Payments
• Raising the Rent

4. Security Deposits

• Purpose and Use of Security Deposits
• Dollar Limits on Deposits
• How Much Deposit Should You Charge?
• Last Month’s Rent
• Interest and Accounts on Deposit
• Nonrefundable Deposits and Fees
• How to Increase Deposits
• Handling Deposits When You Buy or Sell Rental Property

5. Discrimination

• Sources of Antidiscrimination Laws
• Types of Illegal Discrimination
• Valid Occupancy Limits
• Managers and Discrimination
• Unlawful Discrimination Complaints
• Insurance Coverage in Discrimination Claims

6. Property Managers

• Hiring Your Own Resident Manager
• How to Prepare a Property Manager Agreement
• Your Legal Obligations as an Employer
• Management Companies
• Your Liability for a Manager’s Acts
• Notifying Tenants of the Manager
• Firing a Manager
• Evicting a Manager

7. Getting the Tenant Moved In

• Inspect the Rental Unit
• Photograph the Rental Unit
• Send New Tenants a Move-In Letter
• Cash Rent and Security Deposit Checks
• Organize Your Tenant Records
• Organize Income and Expenses for Schedule E
• Using Email for Notices or Other Communications With Tenants
• The Bottom Line: Stick With a Traditional Mail or Delivery Service

8. Cotenants, Sublets, and Assignments

• Cotenants
• What to Do When a Tenant Wants to Sublet or Assign
• When a Tenant Brings in a Roommate
• Guests and New Occupants You Haven’t Approved
• Short-Term Rentals Like Airbnb

9. Landlord’s Duty to Repair and Maintain the Premises

• Your Duty to Keep the Premises Livable
• How to Meet Your Legal Repair and Maintenance Responsibilities
• Avoiding Problems With a Good Maintenance and Repair System
• Tenant Updates and Landlord’s Regular Safety and Maintenance Inspections
• Tenants’ Options When the Premises Is Unfit
• Tenants' Responses to Unfit Premises: Paying Less Rent
• Tenant Responses to Unfit Premises: Calling Inspectors, Filing Lawsuits, and Moving Out
• Minor Repairs
• Delegating Landlord’s Responsibilities to Tenants
• Tenants’ Alterations and Improvements
• Cable TV Access
• Satellite Dishes and Antennas

10. Landlord’s Liability for Tenant Injuries From Dangerous Conditions

• How to Prevent Injuries
• Liability and Other Property Insurance
• Your Liability for Tenant Injuries
• If a Tenant Was at Fault, Too
• How Much Money an Injured Tenant Might Recover

11. Landlord’s Liability for Environmental Health Hazards

• Asbestos
• Lead
• Radon
• Carbon Monoxide
• Mold
• Bedbugs
• Electromagnetic Fields

12. Landlord’s Liability for Criminal Activity

• Comply With All State and Local Laws on Security
• Keep Your Promises About Security
• Prevent Criminal Acts
• Protect Tenants From Each Other
• Protect Tenants From Your Employees
• Deal With Drug-Dealing Tenants
• If You Are Sued

13. Landlord’s Right of Entry and Tenants’ Privacy

• General Rules of Entry
• Entry in Case of Emergency
• Entry With the Permission of the Tenant
• Entry to Make Repairs or Inspect the Property
• Entry to Show Property to Prospective Tenants or Buyers
• Entry After the Tenant Has Moved Out
• Entry by Others
• Other Types of Invasions of Privacy
• What to Do When Tenants Unreasonably Deny Entry
• Tenants’ Remedies If a Landlord Acts Illegally

14. Ending a Tenancy

• Changing Lease or Rental Agreement Terms
• How Month-to-Month Tenancies End
• How Leases End
• If the Tenant Breaks the Lease
• A Tenant’s Death: Consequences for Cotenants and the Landlord’s Duties
• Condominium Conversions

15. Returning Security Deposits and Other Move-Out Issues

• Preparing a Move-Out Letter
• Inspecting the Unit When a Tenant Leaves
• Applying the Security Deposit to the Last Month’s Rent
• Basic Rules for Returning Deposits
• Deductions for Cleaning and Damage
• Deductions for Unpaid Rent
• Preparing an Itemized Statement of Deductions
• Mailing the Security Deposit Itemization
• Security Deposits From Cotenants
• If a Tenant Sues You
• When the Deposit Doesn’t Cover Damage and Unpaid Rent
• Ex-Tenants Who Have Moved Out of State
• What to Do With Property Abandoned by a Tenant

16. Problems With Tenants: How to Resolve Disputes Without a Lawyer

• Negotiating a Settlement: Start by Talking
• When Warning Notices Are Appropriate
• Understanding Mediation
• Using Arbitration
• Representing Yourself in Small Claims Court
• How to Avoid Charges of Retaliation

17. Late Rent, Terminations, and Evictions

• The Landlord’s Role in Evictions
• Termination Notices
• Late Rent
• Other Tenant Violations of the Lease or Rental Agreement
• Violations of a Tenant’s Legal Responsibilities
• Tenant’s Illegal Activity on the Premises
• How Eviction Lawsuits Work
• Illegal “Self-Help” Evictions
• Stopping Eviction by Filing for Bankruptcy

18. Lawyers and Legal Research

• Finding a Lawyer
• Types of Fee Arrangements With Lawyers
• Saving on Legal Fees
• Resolving Problems With Your Lawyer
• Attorneys' Fees in a Lawsuit
• Doing Your Own Legal Research
• Where to Find State, Local, and Federal Laws
• How to Research Court Decisions

Appendixes

A.   State Landlord-Tenant Law Charts

B.   How to Use the Downloadable Forms on the Nolo Website

• Editing RTFs
• List of Forms Available on the Nolo Website

Index

Introduction: Your Landlord Companion

Whether you own one rental property or a hundred, you want to run a profitable business, protect your investment, and avoid legal hassles. Your success depends heavily on knowing and complying with dozens of state, federal, and local laws. Fortunately, you don’t need a law degree—just this book.

We’ll take you step by step through everything from accepting rental applications to returning security deposits when tenants move out. Learn how to prepare a lease, handle repairs, and deal with tenants who pay rent late, make too much noise, or cause other problems. This book covers not only straightforward procedures (such as how to legally reject a prospect) but also advises you on how to deal with more complicated situations (like what to do when a tenant threatens to withhold rent until you make certain repairs). This book also provides:

State-specific legal info. Use the book’s comprehensive State Landlord-Tenant Law Charts to find your state’s laws on: security deposits, required landlord disclosures, rent withholding, how to handle
abandoned property, unconditional quit terminations, and much more.

Legal forms and letters. This book includes dozens of forms, letters, notices, checklists, and agreements for you to use in your landlord business. Each form is easy to complete and has comprehensive instructions. You’ll find filled-in samples in the text and downloadable forms on the companion page for this book on the Nolo website (see below for details). With these forms, you’ll be able to create your own rental applications, leases, letters to tenants on issues such as repairs, security deposit forms, termination forms, and much, much more.

Getting Expert Help

Throughout this book, we’ll alert you to situations in which it’s wise to get expert help beyond this book, including: Preparing eviction papers. We explain how to terminate a tenancy, but if you need to pursue an eviction lawsuit, get more help. Evictions are governed by very specific state and local laws and procedures. Rentals in mobile home parks and marinas. In most states, completely different sets of laws govern these rentals. Renting out a condo or town house. Many owners will find this book helpful, but additional rules will apply to your rental situation, courtesy of your homeowners’ association’s CC&Rs (covenants, conditions, and restrictions). Sometimes CC&Rs clash with or go beyond, federal, state, or local laws, and an attorney can help you evaluate which rules the judges in your area are most likely to uphold. Live-work units. If you’re renting out these units, you’ll find this book helpful, but be aware that local zoning regulations we don’t cover in this book might apply. Section 8 housing. If you participate in the Section 8 rent-assistance program, you’ll find most of the day-to-day recommendations of this book usable, but you’ll need to use the lease addendum supplied by the housing authority that administers the program. Short-term rentals. Because many landlord-tenant laws specifically exclude short-term, hotel-like rentals, much of the advice and rules discussed here will not apply to rentals on Airbnb, VRBO, or other online services. But we can tell you this: If you intend to run such a business, first check with your local government. Many municipalities require registration, limit the number of short-stay days per year, or otherwise restrict short-term rentals. See Chapter 8 for more on the subject.

 

Time-tested and timely. This book, which first appeared in 1996, has been updated many times since to keep up with the constantly changing world of residential landlording. Ours is the only book on the shelf that combines current, comprehensive legal information and practical advice usable by landlords in every state. In addition, when important laws change during the life of this edition, you’ll find updates on this book’s companion page (described below).

Our approach to running a residential rental business rests on recognizing that tenants are your best asset and the key element in your financial success. Our approach will guard your legal and financial interests and, at the same time, make your customers—your tenants—feel that your practices are fair and reasonable.

In a nutshell: Choose tenants carefully; keep good tenants happy; teach mediocre tenants how to improve; get rid of bad tenants by applying policies that are strict, fair, and legal; and back up everything with good records and paperwork. Follow that simple philosophy, and you can run a business that’s both satisfying and profitable.

Get Legal Updates, Forms, and More on This Book’s Companion Page on Nolo.com This book includes three dozen useful forms and worksheets, including a lease, a rental application, and security deposit itemizations. You can download any of the forms and worksheets in this book at: (Instructions available with book purchase) When there are important changes to the information in this book, we’ll post updates on this same dedicated page (what we call the book’s companion page). See Appendix B, “How to Use the Downloadable Forms on the Nolo Website,” for a list of forms available on Nolo.com.

 

Other Helpful Nolo Books and Resources for Landlords

Nolo publishes a comprehensive library of books for landlords and property managers. Besides Every Landlord’s Legal Guide, Nolo offers: Every Landlord’s Guide to Finding Great Tenants, by Janet Portman. Focuses solely on advertising and showing your rental, evaluating prospects, and choosing and rejecting tenants, with over 40 forms, including a credit report evaluation, marketing worksheets, and departing tenant’s questionnaire. Especially useful for landlords who own multiunit properties or have a lot of tenant turnover. Every Landlord’s Guide to Managing Property, by Michael Boyer. Provides practical and legal compliance advice for small-time landlords who manage property and tenants on the side (while holding down a day job). Includes do-it-yourself advice on handling day-to-day issues, such as nitty-gritty maintenance and conflicts with tenants regarding late rent, pets, and unauthorized occupants. Explains how to manage and grow a successful rental property business with minimal hassle and cost. Every Landlord’s Tax Deduction Guide, by Stephen Fishman. Includes all the information you need to take advantage of tax deductions and write-offs available to landlords, such as depreciation, legal services, travel, and insurance. Includes instructions on filling out Schedule E. Leases & Rental Agreements, by Marcia Stewart and Janet Portman. Includes a lease, rental agreement, and several other basic forms. If you own Every Landlord’s Legal Guide, you don’t need Leases and Rental Agreements. The California Landlord’s Law Book: Rights & Responsibilities, by Nils Rosenquest and Janet Portman and The California Landlord’s Law Book: Evictions, by Nils Rosenquest. Contain all the information California landlords need to run their business and handle an eviction in court by themselves. Every Landlord’s Legal Guide covers residential landlord-tenant law in all 50 states, including California, but these books provide more details, including rent control rules in California cities and step-by-step instructions on how to file and handle an eviction lawsuit. First-Time Landlord: Your Guide to Renting Out a Single-Family Home, by Janet Portman, Ilona Bray, and Marcia Stewart. Covers the basics that first-time or “accidental” landlords need to rent and manage a single-family home or condo, including how to determine if a property will turn a profit, renting out a room in a house when owners are still living in it, and how to use a lease-option-to-buy contract. You can order these books from Nolo’s website (Nolo.com) or by phone (800-728-3555). You can also find Nolo books at public libraries and bookstores. In addition to these books, Nolo offers many single-copy interactive online forms of interest to landlords, such as state-specific leases and rental agreements. Be sure to check out the Landlords section of Nolo.com for a wide variety of articles of interest to landlords, including state eviction rules. Nolo’s website includes other useful resources, including legal updates on this book’s companion page (described above). You can also find an experienced landlord’s attorney at Nolo’s Lawyer Directory (see Nolo.com/lawyers).

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This Book Comes With a Website

Nolo’s award-winning website has a page dedicated just to this book, where you can:

DOWNLOAD FORMS - All forms in this book are accessible online. After purchase, you can find a link to the URL in Appendix B.

KEEP UP TO DATE - When there are important changes to the information in this book, we will post updates

And that’s not all. Nolo.com contains thousands of articles on everyday legal and business issues, plus a plain-English law dictionary, all written by Nolo experts and available for free. You’ll also find more useful books, software, online services, and downloadable forms.