Introduction: Your Tenant Companion

1. Finding a Place to Rent

• Setting Your Rental Priorities
• How to Find Available Rentals
• Visiting Prospective Rentals
• Checking Out the Landlord and Manager
• Checking Out Other Tenants and the Neighbors
• Rental Applications and Credit Reports
• Consumer Relief After the Coronavirus Pandemic
• How Landlords Reject Tenants
• Finder’s Fees and Holding Deposits
• Choosing Roommates

2. Leases and Rental Agreements

• How Leases and Rental Agreements Differ
• Oral Leases and Rental Agreements
• Typical Provisions in Leases and Rental Agreements
• Negotiating With the Landlord
• Changing a Lease or Rental Agreement
• Signing a Lease or Rental Agreement
• Cosigners

3. Basic Rent Rules

• How Much Can Your Landlord Charge?
• Rent Control
• When Is Your Rent Due?
• Grace Periods for Late Rent
• Where and How Rent Is Due
• Late Charges and Discounts for Early Payments
• Returned Check Charges
• Negotiating Partial or Delayed Rent Payments
• Rent Increases
• Talking the Landlord Out of a Rent Increase

4. Security Deposits

• Dollar Limits on Deposits
• Paying Recurring Fees in Place of a Deposit
• How Landlords May Increase Deposits
• Last Month’s Rent
• Nonrefundable Deposits and Fees
• Interest on Deposits and Separate Accounts
• How Landlords May Use the Deposit
• When Your Landlord Sells the Property

5. Discrimination

• Federal Law vs. State Law
• Kinds of Discrimination Prohibited by Federal Laws
• Kinds of Discrimination Prohibited by State and Local Law
• How to Fight Back

6. Inspecting the Rental Unit and Moving In

• How to Inspect the Rental Unit
• Photographing or filming the Rental Unit
• How to Handle Problems
• Clarifying Important Terms of the Tenancy
• Organizing Your Rental Records
• Using Email or Text Messages for Notice or a Letter of Understanding

7. Roommates, Guests, and Airbnb

• Renting a Place With Others
• Adding a New Roommate
• Guests
• Tenant Rights to Use Airbnb and Similar Vacation Rental Services
• Taking in a Roomer

8. Major Repairs and Maintenance

• Your Basic Right to Livable Premises
• State Laws and Local Housing Codes
• Court-Imposed Rules
• Your Repair and Maintenance Responsibilities
• Making Tenants Responsible for Repairs
• How to Your Landlord to Act
• What to Do If the Landlord Won’t Make Repairs

9. Minor Repairs and Maintenance

• Minor Repairs: What Are They?
• Sources of the Landlord’s Responsibilities
• Tenant Responsibilities
• Getting the Landlord to Make Minor Repairs
• Making Minor Repairs Yourself

10. Making Improvements and Alterations

• Improvements That Become Part of the Property
• Improving Your Rental Unit Without Enriching Your Landlord
• Cable TV Access and High Speed Internet
• Satellite Dishes and Other Antennas

11. Your Right to Privacy

• Entry by the Landlord
• Entry by Others
• Other Invasions of Privacy
• What to Do About Invasions of Privacy

12. Injuries on the Premises

• What to Do If You’re Injured
• Is the Landlord Liable?
• If You’re at Fault, Too
• How Much Money You’re Entitled To

13. Environmental Hazards

• Asbestos
• Lead
• Radon
• Carbon Monoxide
• Mold
• Bed Bugs

14. Crime on the Premises

• The Landlord’s Basic Duty to Keep You Safe
• Problems With Other Tenants
• Illegal Activity on the Property and Nearby
• Getting Results From the Landlord
• Protecting Yourself

15. How Tenancies End or Change

• Changing Terms During Your Tenancy
• How Month-to-Month Tenancies End
• How Fixed-Term Leases End
• Retaliation and Other Illegal Tenancy Terminations
• How to Stay When Your Landlord Wants You Out
• Getting Out of a Lease
• Condominium Conversions
• When the Landlord Sells or Goes Out of Business
• When the Landlord Declares Bankruptcy
• When the Rental Property Is Foreclosed

16. Moving Out and Getting Your Security Deposit Back

• Basic Rules for Returning Deposits
• Deductions for Cleaning and Damage
• Deductions for Unpaid Rent
• Avoiding Fights Over Deposits
• Security Deposits From Cotenants
• How to Handle Deposit Disputes
• Suing Your Landlord in Small Claims Court
• If Your Deposit Doesn’t Cover What You Owe
• Your Abandoned Property

17. Termination Notices Based on Nonpayment of Rent and Other Acts

• Termination Notices
• Other Violations of the Lease or Rental Agreement
• Violations of Your Legal Responsibilities as a Tenant
• Illegal Activity on the Premises
• Negotiating With the Landlord
• Getting Help From a Mediator
• Refusing to Move Out
• Cutting Your Losses and Moving

18. Evictions

• When to Fight—And When to Move
• Illegal “Self-Help” Evictions
• How Eviction Lawsuits Work
• Stopping Eviction by Filing for Bankruptcy

19. Resolving Problems Without a Lawyer

• How to Negotiate a Settlement
• Using a Mediator
• Suing in Small Claims Court
• Tenants Working Together

20. Lawyers and Legal Research

• How a Lawyer Can Help You
• Finding a Good Lawyer
• Fee Arrangements With Lawyers
• Resolving Problems With Your Lawyer
• Doing Your Own Legal Research

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

Chapter 1
Finding a Place to Rent

A good apartment or house should provide more than shelter, warmth, and a place to lay your head; it should be a true home.

Yet many renters make bad choices—they spend too much in rent, pick the wrong location, or settle for a place that doesn’t truly meet their needs. Although you might not be able to afford your dream rental in a tight rental market, you can take steps to find a solid apartment or house that meets your needs and budget.

Perhaps the most important bit of advice is to take your time. One of the worst—and most costly—mistakes you can make is to sign a lease or put down a hefty deposit at the end of a long, frustrating day of apartment-hunting, only to realize later that the place is completely unsuitable. Consider staying with friends or family for a few weeks or finding a short-term rental to give your self more time to examine what’s out there. Never, ever, send a deposit to a landlord you haven’t met for a rental you haven’t seen (almost always, you’re being scammed).

Whether you’re looking for your first or tenth rental, living by yourself or with others, this chapter shows you how to:

• set clear priorities before you start your search
• use a variety of resources to tap into available rentals, and
• beat the competition by pulling together the information landlords want to see—good references and credit information—before you visit prospective rentals.

This chapter also explains your legal rights and responsibilities regarding the rental application process, credit reports, credit-check fees, and holding deposits. (For details on antidiscrimination laws that limit what landlords can say and do in the tenant selection process, see Chapter 5.)

RELATED TOPIC
Preparing for a move. If you’re moving from one rental to another, be sure you understand all the legal and practical rules for ending a tenancy, getting your deposit returned, and moving out. See Chapters 15 and 16 for details.

Setting Your Rental Priorities

Most people start their housing search with some general idea of how much they can afford to pay, where they want to live, how big a place they need, and whether the style of the unit (older and classic, or simple and modern) is important. To find the best rental for your needs though, go further: Set guidelines in advance, being realistic about your budget and what’s available for rent.

Here’s our approach to finding a rental house or apartment you can afford and will enjoy living in:

Step 1: Establish priorities. Know your maximum rent, desired location, and ideal number of bedrooms before you start looking. If you’re renting with one or more other people, make sure you agree on the basics. The list “Rental Priorities,” below, suggests factors to consider.

Step 2: Rate your priorities with a Rental Priorities Worksheet. Once you’ve identified your priorities, rank them. Designate your “must-haves,” and be realistic about what would be “nice to have.” To make this simple, we’ve prepared a Rental Priorities Worksheet, shown below. There’s space for you to write down the “must-haves,” “nice-to-haves,” and your absolute deal killers.

Don’t limit yourself too much: try to have only one or two “must-haves.”

FORM
The Nolo website includes a downloadable copy of the Rental Priorities Worksheet. See Appendix B for the link to the forms in this book.

Step 3: Prepare (and don’t forget to review) your Rental Priorities Worksheet. Once you complete the priorities section of the Worksheet, save it to your phone or tablet, or make several copies for use when looking at apartments or rental houses.

Step 4: View potential rentals. Complete a Worksheet for each rental unit you’re seriously considering, as follows:

• Enter the address, contact person, phone number, email, rent, deposit, term (month-to-month or year lease), and other key information on the top of the form.
• As you walk around the rental unit and talk with the landlord or manager, indicate the pluses and minuses and how it stacks up against your mandatory and secondary priorities (as well any deal-killers) that apply.
• Note whether you think some factor of the rental can be adjusted to better accommodate your needs—for example, “Rent is high, but there’s enough space for an extra (rent-paying) roommate.”
• Jot down additional features in the section for Other Comments, such as “Neighbors seem very friendly” or “Tiny yard for kids to play, but great park is just a block away.”

Step 5: Evaluate your options. Ideally, you’ll have found at least one option that meets your must-haves. Make sure that these must-haves aren’t canceled out by any deal-killers, though. Settling for a rental with a true deal-killer could have you wanting to move out as soon as you move in. Especially if you’re renting in a tight market, focus on avoiding your deal-killers rather than capturing all of your must-or nice-to-haves. For example, if a high-crime neighborhood is a deal-killer for you, you’re probably going to be happier living in a smaller apartment in a safe, walkable neighborhood than you would be if you prioritize your “must-have” of a spacious apartment.

How to Find Available Rentals

As you begin your search, you’ll need to be realistic about your time and financial constraints and how they will influence your search. For example, the housing search of a well-paid couple who wants to move to a bigger apartment sometime in the next six months will look very different from that of a graduate student on a limited budget who has only a few weeks to find a place before school starts.

How you go about finding available rentals will also depend on other factors, most importantly where you want to live and whether you want a lease for a year or more or prefer a month-to-month rental agreement. In some cities, Craigslist is your best resource (though be aware of rampant rental scams—more on that later). In others, you might want to work with a real estate broker. In all areas, it always makes sense to assertively and creatively use your own personal contacts and networks. Of course, the tighter the rental market you face, the more important it will be to pursue as many search options as possible. Here’s a rundown of your choices.

Personal Contacts

If you know people who live or work near where you want to live, ask them for leads. Using personal contacts as housing scouts can be quite effective, because when people plan to move, friends, neighbors, and business associates almost always know about it before a for-rent sign goes up.

Prepare a brief description of exactly what you want (your rental priorities). Send this to friends, coworkers, and your social media networks. Don’t forget local businesspeople with whom you have a friendly relationship—doctors, shopkeepers, tradesmen, and insurance brokers might all have good leads for available rentals. If your company has an internal online employee portal, get the word out this way. Let as many people know of your housing search as possible. You never know who might come through with the perfect apartment.

Online Apartment and Rental Listings

For many tenants, Craigslist.org will be the best place to find an apartment or rental housing. It’s free for both landlords and tenants.

Local online services might also be available.

Some services focus on large metro areas. If you’re looking for a rental in a major city, ask around to see what websites are most commonly used.

Many websites offer national listings for small and large towns alike, including:

• Zillow (Zillow.com)
• Hotpads (a Zillow company; Hotpads.com)
• Zumper (Zumper.com)
• Apartments.com
• Apartment List (Apartmentlist.com)
• ForRent.com, and
• Rent.com.

Many of these sites provide more than apartment listings, offering information and links covering renters’ insurance, moving tips, and more. Useful phone apps are also free for some of these sites.

Another online option is to see if the area you’re looking in has a presence on social media. Many communities have designated Facebook groups for rentals. You might also check out Nextdoor.com to see if any owners in the area have posted their property for rent (real estate agents are not allowed to post on Nextdoor.com but can place paid ads).

CAUTION
Before you use any online apartment rental service, make sure it’s reputable. Check how long the company has been in business, who owns it, how they handle problems with apartment listings, and look for consumer complaints (start with your state’s consumer protection agency’s website).

If you respond to any online listings (especially those on Craigslist), be on the lookout for scams. In all cases, be cautious about giving out personal identifying information, such as your Social Security number and even your phone number, before you’re reasonably sure that there’s no shady business going on.

While the majority of advertisers are legit, a few use online listing services for scams and worse.

Common scams to look out for include:

• A person posing online as the owner or landlord who wants you to put down a deposit to hold the property (sight unseen).
• Fake listings where the scammer has stolen photos from an old rental listing or a current listing of a property for sale.
• A scammer has rented a short-term rental property and is listing it (and possibly even showing it) as a long-term rental that they own.
• Properties that are priced well below market—if it sounds too good to be true, it is. The scammer is looking to either get valuable personal information from you or to collect a deposit to hold the property.

The number one way to avoid a rental scam is to insist on seeing the property in person. Most scammers aren’t willing to take the scam as far as to meet you in person (and allow you to put an actual face to their criminal activity). In the vast majority of scams, the scammer won’t actually be able to give you access to the property. (Some scammers do go so far as to steal keys, break in, or otherwise gain access, and these ruses are more difficult to see through. Search the internet for the rental address and make sure it’s not offered somewhere else as either a short-term rental or a property for sale.) Trust your gut, and don’t give out personal information until you’re confident the rental is the real deal.

Pound the Pavement

In some neighborhoods, landlords simply post “Apartment For Rent” signs in front of the building or in one of the windows. Others put notices on neighborhood bulletin boards, such as the local recreation center, laundromat, or coffee shop.

Many tenants find great apartments or houses to rent by posting their own “Apartment Wanted” signs (sometimes offering a finder’s fee) in local stores or businesses, such as a dance studio, a health club, or even an auto repair shop.

If you want to live in a particular apartment building or complex, but there’s no sign listed, stop by anyway and talk to the manager. If there’s no onsite manager, look near the building’s entrance for signage with contact information. Also, try to talk with some of the other tenants. You might get a lead on someone who’s planning to move soon.

Classified Ads

Some landlords in smaller cities (or areas with cool or stagnant rental markets) still advertise their rental units in the newspaper real estate classified ads. The largest section usually runs in the Sunday paper. The classifieds are usually organized by city or neighborhood and include basic information such as rent, location, number of bedrooms and baths, and any special features such as a fireplace or view.

Get early editions of papers (for example, Sunday papers are available late Friday night in some areas) and start calling as soon as possible to get a jump on the competition. Better yet, go online. Many papers post their classifieds before the information hits the streets.

RELATED TOPIC
Illegal ads. Classified ads run by landlords should never mention sex, race, religion, disability, or age (unless the rental is really legally sanctioned senior citizens housing). Chapter 5 discusses the topic of discriminatory advertising.

Advertising Yourself to Landlords

While the internet is full of websites that landlords use to post rentals, only a few offer the opposite service: Letting people who are searching for a rental describe themselves, their needs, and their price range, hoping that a landlord in the area will see their post and contact them.

Craigslist offers this service (“housing wanted”), and their pages are chock-full of posts that run the gamut from sophisticated to self-defeating. If you decide to place an ad for yourself in this manner, follow the tips below. They’re geared to these twin goals:

• giving a potential landlord relevant information about your needs and nature, so that the landlord doesn’t waste time calling someone who isn’t suited for the rental—and you don’t waste time taking these calls, and
• painting an accurate picture of yourself that fits every landlord’s search for tenants who are stable, clean, and honest.

With these goals in mind, design your ad as follows:

• Describe what you’re looking for, but resist listing all of your “must-haves.” You’re likely to appear as a demanding tenant (a landlord’s worst nightmare).
• Describe your job, your interests, and how you spend your free time carefully. Any activities that spell “property damage” or “party animal” might backfire.
• Don’t play the sympathy card. You might be down on your luck, but don’t expect landlords to choose you because they feel sorry for you. Instead, emphasize the positive—your respect for your neighbors, longevity at your current rental, and so on.

Use a new and dedicated email account for your posting. That way, you will avoid having your main inbox flooded with spam.

CAUTION
Be aware of your online presence. More than one applicant has been sunk by the results of a prospective landlord’s Google search, which turned up disturbing information about the applicant’s honesty or living habits. If you can, delete compromising information and photos.

TIP
Looking for a pet-friendly rental? Go to a local park or veterinarian’s office and talk to people with animals. They might have some good leads. Also, check out www.humanesociety.org (search “renting with pets”). They provide helpful advice on how to put your best paw forward, with links to sites listing animal-friendly apartments.

Real Estate Brokers

Some local real estate offices, especially in large cities, also handle rental properties. If you’re moving into a new area, especially someplace like New York City, or have limited time to apartment-hunt, real estate brokers can be very useful. A good broker should do lots of legwork for you. The more prepared you are (by setting priorities as we discuss above), the more helpful a broker can be.

As with apartment-finding services, choose your broker carefully:

• Get full information about all fees, which can be quite hefty. In New York City, for example, real estate brokers often charge either a fee that is tied to the rent (for example, two months’ rent or 15% of the first year’s rent). Sometimes the property owner covers the real estate broker’s fee, but typically the tenant pays.
• Ask about the type and exclusivity of the broker’s listings. Why pay a hefty fee if you can find the same place through Craigslist, or for a lower price through an apartment-finding service? And don’t waste your time with a broker whose properties don’t meet your needs as to neighborhood, type of unit, or budget.
• Choose a broker with lots of experience and a good reputation. The best way to do this is through recommendations from people who have used the broker in the last few years and whose judgment you trust. Interview a few brokers and ask a lot of questions about their services, how long they’ve been in business, and their knowledge of the area. Be sure to check online reviews and see if any complaints are on file with the Better Business Bureau.

CAUTION
Avoid brokers who try to pressure you into paying their fee before you sign a lease or rental agreement. Don’t pay until the deal is final.

Management Companies

Property management companies often contract with landlords to rent units and manage all aspects of the rental property. In many areas, a handful of management companies control a significant number of rental properties. You can find the names of the bigger companies just by driving around and looking at signs posted outside apartment buildings. Or, search online for property managers in the area.

You can usually approach management companies directly. Ask for a list of their currently available or upcoming rentals.

TIP
Beat the competition by getting on a waiting list. If you want to rent in a particular big complex and you have a little time, ask the property manager if you can get prequalified or be placed on a waiting list.

University, Alumni, and Corporate Housing Offices

College housing offices can be an excellent source of rentals. If you want a short-term rental, you can often find places that never appear on Craigslist— for example, the home of a professor who’s going on sabbatical for six months. If you’re not affiliated with a university, try to find someone who is. The same holds true for housing offices available to employees of local corporations. And don’t forget to check out your college alumni association. It might also provide information on rentals in the area (or you can contact fellow alumni for leads).

If you’ll be renting in a college town, look for periodicals published by the school, aimed at alumni, students, and visiting professors. These publications often have “For Rent” sections in their classified ads. While you might not be an alum, a student, or a visiting professor, you might still be a desirable tenant. Along the same lines, look at magazines aimed at particular groups, like cyclists, runners, chefs. If your town has sizeable numbers of these folks, the periodical might have listings posted by their subscribers, which might not show up in other places.

Visiting Prospective Rentals

Everyone needs a home-hunting strategy—whether you make an appointment to see an apartment by yourself or attend an open house with dozens of others. Here are some basic tips:

Visit promising rentals as soon as they come on the market. Especially in college towns and popular neighborhoods, apartments and rental houses move fast. If a place sounds good, schedule a visit as soon as it’s listed.

Be prepared. Carrying some basic tools will help you figure out if the place is right for you. Bring a tape measure to make sure your furniture will fit, a notebook or other way to take notes, and a camera or your phone to capture photos and videos of each place. (Ask the landlord if it’s okay to take pictures.) And, bring your Rental Priorities Worksheet as discussed above.

Finally, don’t forget your checkbook. Some landlords might accept electronic deposit payments on the spot, but many will still want an old-fashioned check to hold a rental.

Show up with everything you need to fill out a rental application, including references and credit information. (See “Rental Applications and Credit Reports,” below, for more on these issues.)

Be on your best “good tenant” behavior. While you’re looking at a rental unit, the landlord or manager will be looking at and evaluating you. Show up on time for any appointment and present yourself as being both conscientious and agreeable. Realize that landlords live in fear of demanding and fussy tenants who complain about trivial things. So while we recommend checking out the rental unit’s condition (see below) and making sure significant defects are being remedied, it’s usually a mistake to ask for a long list of upgrades and repairs before you’re even offered the place. Better to save your requests until the landlord makes you an offer. But make sure you do your essential negotiating before you sign a lease or rental agreement.

Look around carefully for signs of problems in the rental unit and building. While you don’t want to come across as a nit-picking housing inspector with white gloves, do keep your eyes open. Don’t broadcast your concerns (subtlety is a strong point here), but try to check as many of the following things as possible:

• Look for obvious damage, such as loose steps, torn carpet, or shaky handrails.
• Check for dirt, mildew, and signs of insects or rodents. (But try to overlook the sloppiness of a current tenant. Piles of dishes in the sink and mounds of clothes on the floor are only temporary.)
• Flush the toilet and run water in the shower and sinks. Check the water temperature and pressure.
• Make sure the windows and doors are in good shape, open and close easily, and have secure locks.
• Walk around the building, checking out any elevators and common areas such as stairs, laundry rooms, and lobbies, as well as the parking area, garage, and yard. Again, check for general cleanliness and repair. Good lighting is especially important in common areas.
• Ask about building and neighborhood security, especially if you have concerns about the area. Get neighborhood crime stats from the local police department. If criminal incidents have occurred on the property, find out what kind and when, and what steps have been taken to provide reasonable safety to tenants and guests. If you learn later that the answers were not accurate, you might have grounds for getting out of your lease or rental agreement. Chapter 14 gives more information on your rights to a safe place to live.

At this point, you’re just trying to get a general sense of the place. Ask yourself: Does this feel safe and comfortable? Clean and in good repair? If you decide you want the rental unit, and before you actually sign a lease or rental agreement, you will want to do a more detailed inventory of the condition of the rental unit, completing the Landlord-Tenant Checklist we recommend in Chapter 6. (You want your landlord to acknowledge any existing defects so they can’t blame you later for causing them.)

If there are some minor problems, or improvements you want—for example, a new coat of paint in the living room—you might be able to negotiate before you move in. (Chapter 2 shows how.) Major problems, such as lack of heat, might be the landlord’s legal responsibility to fix. (For details on housing standards and landlords’ responsibility to provide habitable housing, see Chapter 8.) Also, see Chapter 2 for information on disclosures landlords must make to prospective tenants, such as the presence of lead-based paint in the rental unit.

Think of creative ways to use space. You might need to compromise on the number and type of rooms in exchange for a great location or lower rent.

Use your imagination or check out home design books, magazines, and websites such as Apartment Therapy for ideas on how to make the most of your living space. For example, you might be able to carve out a study at the end of an extra-large living room, using bookcases or screens to divide the space. Rolling carts with butcher block tops can add instant space to a kitchen with limited counters.

Walk, drive, and/or bike around the neighborhood. If you’re not familiar with the area, check out restaurants, shops, local businesses and schools, and bus, subway, and train stations. Do this at night (ideally, by car and with a friend) as well as the daytime.

Checking Out the Landlord and Manager

Your prospective landlord will probably check you out pretty thoroughly. Make sure you return the favor: Do the homework necessary to find out what it’s really like to live in your landlord’s building.

Ask Current Tenants

Visit the building after work. If you can, ask residents about pros and cons of living in the building. Inquire about security and noise in the building or neighborhood and if there are any problems regarding repairs and basic services such as heat and hot water. See if you can get a sense of the landlord’s personality and style of operating. An excellent indicator of whether you can expect smooth sailing is to find out how often there are vacancies in the building and, in particular, how often your prospective landlord has had to evict tenants. A low rate of turnovers and evictions suggests that tenants like living there and that the landlord has chosen considerate, law-abiding renters who will be good neighbors.

Ask Neighbors in Nearby Buildings

Other people and businesses in the neighborhood might know something about the reputation of the building, landlord, or manager. Ask if tenants seem to stay more than a year—if so, that’s the mark of a well-run building. By speaking with neighbors, you can confirm the truthfulness of the landlord’s or property manager’s representations, such as a claim that there have been no recent incidents requiring a police response.

Check Out ApartmentRatings.com

This comprehensive website has hundreds of thousands of renter reviews of individual apartments and property managers nationwide. It includes other information useful to new tenants, such as noise and safety ratings of each rental.

Google the Property

Don’t let your interest in a particular rental go too far without running a Google search on the:

• owner’s name (if you have it)
• property manager’s/landlord’s name, and
• property address.

You won’t want to rent from a manager who has received a lot of bad online reviews. And even if searching the address doesn’t tell you anything about the management, it might reveal information such as crimes that have happened on the property, notorious bad neighbors, or even ongoing challenges with the location (for example, if the intersection nearest the rental regularly floods when it rains, you might find someone griping about it online).

Check for Any Notices of Default

If you’re concerned about the landlord’s financial stability, find out whether the property you’re considering is the subject of a notice of default (the first public step toward foreclosure). Banks and other lenders must file these notices, in the courthouse of the county in which the property is located, when the owner has failed to make payments on a loan or mortgage for a specified number of months (two is common). Obviously, renting a property that’s liable to be foreclosed upon during your tenancy is not a good idea—even if you get to stay, you might end up with an owner (especially if it’s the bank itself) who will not be a conscientious landlord.

Checking Out Other Tenants and the Neighbors

Not surprisingly, many tenants are as concerned about who their potential neighbors will be as they are about the physical aspects of the prospective rental. Anyone who has lived in close proximity to others knows that a law-abiding, considerate neighbor is every bit as important as a view, a second bathroom, or a parking spot.

If you visited the rental and had a chance to talk with other residents, you might already have a rough impression of your prospective neighbors. But you might want to learn more. In particular, you might want reassurance that the tenant next door doesn’t have a dangerous criminal background. How much information can you expect to learn from your landlord and from law enforcement? In general, here’s what you can expect.

First, no law requires your landlord to investigate tenants’ criminal history. Of course, many landlords do inquire or run background checks, and most will avoid renting to those with violent criminal backgrounds. But if you ask and are told, “I have no idea,” you have no legal basis to press your landlord for more. And even if the landlord does know about a tenant’s unsavory past, no law requires disclosure (though the landlord might be held liable if you are later injured by this tenant, as the example below illustrates).

Example: Nancy and her daughter rented an apartment from Martin. When Nancy applied for the apartment, she told Martin that she was not home in the afternoon and that her daughter would be on her own until Nancy came home from work. Nancy was concerned for her daughter’s safety and asked Martin if any of the other tenants had criminal histories or had done anything to suggest that they would act inappropriately with children.

Martin told Nancy she had nothing to worry about from the neighbors. In fact, however, Martin knew that a downstairs tenant had a conviction, albeit an old one, for child molestation. Tragically, this neighbor molested Nancy’s daughter. Nancy sued the offender and Martin, on the grounds that he knew about and failed to disclose a dangerous condition— namely, the presence of a known molester. Martin’s insurance company settled the case in Nancy’s favor for a large sum.

Although you cannot count on your landlord for a full answer to your questions, you might be able look online for help. Every state has a version of “Megan’s Law,” a federal law passed in 1996 and named after a young girl who was killed by a convicted child molester who lived in her neighborhood. The original law charged the FBI with keeping a nationwide database of persons convicted of sexual offenses against minors and violent sexual offenses against anyone (42 U.S.C. §§ 14701 and following). The state versions typically require certain convicted sexual offenders to register with local law enforcement officials, who keep a database on their whereabouts.

If you are concerned about whether prospective neighbors are registered sex offenders, you can search for the rental’s address and find out if any registered offenders live within a certain distance of the address.

To find out how to access your state’s sex offender registry, contact your local law enforcement agency, call the Parents for Megan’s Law Hotline at 888-ASK-PFML, or find the state’s sex offender registry website at www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/sex-offender-registry. Keep in mind that a database search might not give you accurate information. In many states, the databases are not current, or have mistaken information, which might result in both false positives and false negatives.

TIP
Concerned about too many Airbnb guests in the rental property? Many tenants rent out their apartments on a short-term basis through websites such as Airbnb. While that might be fine with you (maybe you even hope to do the same), you might not want to live someplace where lots of different people (whom your landlord has not screened) are coming and going. At any rate, be sure you know your landlord’s policies on Airbnb and how other tenants in your building are handling their short-term rentals (if any). See “Tenant Rights to Use Airbnb and Similar Vacation Rental Services” in Chapter 1 for more on the subject.

Rental Applications and Credit Reports

Once you find a place you like, it’s time to ask the landlord what the next steps are. Most of the time, you’ll be asked to fill out a rental application. The goal of the application is to collect the information necessary for the landlord to determine whether you’re likely to pay the rent on time, keep the rental in good condition, and not cause problems.

When a landlord insists on receiving a fully completed application, checking your references, and reviewing your credit report, it’s a good thing: You’ll probably have fewer problems with other tenants in the building if the landlord is strict about screening. Who wants to move into a great building where tenants are causing trouble that the landlord could have averted by proper screening?

Rental Applications

On most rental applications, you must provide information about your employment, income, credit history (including any bankruptcies), and rental housing history (including evictions). If you are self-employed, the landlord might require the last few years’ tax returns and other documentation of income.

It’s legal to ask for your Social Security number, driver’s license number, or other identifying information (such as an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or ITIN). Except in California, Colorado, and New York City, landlords may also ask for proof of an applicant’s right to be in the United States under U.S. immigration laws.

Under federal fair housing laws, landlords who ask for such immigration information must ask all tenants, not just those whom they suspect might be in the country illegally. It is, however, illegal to discriminate on the basis of national origin. (See Chapter 5.)

Most careful landlords will make a few calls to confirm that the information you’ve supplied on the Rental Application is correct. Current and past landlords, credit sources, and employers will normally request permission from you before they’ll talk to a prospective landlord. Along with the Application, you’ll want to give your landlord a Consent to Background and Reference Check, which supplies this permission.

This consent form carefully limits the information that sources are authorized to give. In other words, you aren’t giving the landlord carte blanche to inquire about topics that don’t relate to your qualifications as a tenant, such as “Where is this fellow from?” or “Do you think there is a boyfriend in the picture?” Questions such as these are often illegal (because they tend to violate fair housing laws), and, even if they’re legal, they seek information that’s none of the landlord’s business. Hopefully, the wording on the form will remind (or instruct) both the reference and the inquiring landlord that only information directly related to the applicant’s qualifications as a tenant should be exchanged.

The landlord can make copies of the consent form and mail, email, or fax them to the references. Keep in mind that even with your consent to a reference check, you cannot force a prior landlord or an employer to provide information.

TIP
Fill out applications only when you're truly interested. Don’t waste your time (or money, if the landlord charges a credit-check fee) filling out a rental application unless you really want a place. If you are interested, but still want to keep your options open, go ahead and fill out an application. Don’t worry that this will lock you into taking a place—only signing a lease or rental agreement does so.

FORM
The Nolo website includes a downloadable copy of the Rental Application and the Consent to Background and Reference Check forms. See Appendix B for a link to the forms in this book.

Landlord References
Landlords usually want references from your current and previous landlords, and details of your rental history. In talking with your past landlord or manager, prospective landlords will ask the following types of questions:

• Did you pay rent on time?
• Were you considerate of neighbors (no loud parties; you cleaned up after your dog)?
• Did you make any unreasonable demands or complaints?
• Did you take good care of the rental property?
• In general, were you a good tenant?

If you are leaving a current rental because the neighbors, the landlord, or the manager was awful, prepare your defense in advance—by mountinga preemptive offense. Explain the difficulty and offer evidence to bolster your version, such as a letter from other dissatisfied tenants, police reports chronicling disturbances at the property, a list of the times the former landlord was hauled before the local rent board for violations, or, if problems rose to the point of litigation, a copy of a court judgment in your favor. No matter how righteous your position, however, be advised that it won’t count for much unless you can show that, aside from your use of legal tenant remedies such as rent withholding, you always paid the rent on time, left voluntarily, and left a clean and undamaged apartment or house.

Employer References
Conscientious landlords will usually want to speak with your current employer to verify your income and length of employment and to get a better sense of your character—for example, to see if you’re a responsible person.

Your employer might not talk with a prospective landlord without your written permission. Use the Consent to Background and Reference Check, explained above.

Character References

Some landlords also want character references from people (nonrelatives) who know you well. Below is an example of the type of letter that will help you beat the competition.

TIP
Alert references. Make sure that all of your references know to expect a call or email from a potential landlord. Even better, get written references first. And obviously, only give out the names of people who know you well and who have positive things to say about you— anticipate the crafty landlord who asks for four references and calls only the fourth one on the list.

CAUTION
Complete all rental applications truthfully. Prospective landlords will be able to verify much of the information you give by ordering a credit report. Nothing will hurt your chances of getting a place more than lying, whether it be by failing to reveal a previous eviction, providing the name of a friend as a landlord reference, or overstating your income.

---

We hope you enjoyed this sample. The complete book is available for sale here at Nolo.com.