Blog
Guides, tips, and state-specific information about lease agreements and rental transactions.
How to Price Your Rental Property to Attract Tenants and Stay Competitive
Setting the wrong rent price is one of the most expensive mistakes a landlord can make. Price too high and the unit sits vacant while the right tenants sign leases down the street. Price too low and you leave real money on the table every single month, compounded over the entire lease term. Getting the number right requires more than a gut feeling or a single Zillow search. It requires a systematic look at your market, your property, and your costs...
Paul Oak · April 12, 2026 at 2:24 PM ET 
Tenant Red Flags Landlords Should Catch Before Signing the Lease
A bad tenant can cost a landlord anywhere from $3,500 to $10,000 once you factor in legal fees, lost rent, property damage, and turnover costs. Most of those problems could have been caught at the application stage. Here's what to look for before you hand over the keys...
Jill Stradley · April 11, 2026 at 1:53 PM ET 
Georgia Lease Agreement: What Landlords and Renters Need to Know
Georgia has a reputation as one of the more landlord-friendly states in the country, and that reputation is mostly earned. There is no statewide rent control, no mandatory just cause requirement for evictions, and local governments are barred by state law from enacting their own rent control ordinances. But Georgia is not a free-for-all. A series of significant updates took effect in 2024 and 2025 that changed some of the rules landlords and tenants have operated under for years. If you are renting in Georgia, either side of the lease, here is what the law actually requires....
Paul Oak · April 10, 2026 at 5:31 PM ET 
What to Do When a Tenant Refuses to Pay and Won't Leave
A tenant who stops paying rent but refuses to leave is one of the most financially damaging situations a landlord can face. The unit is occupied, no income is coming in, and the path to resolving it runs through a legal process that takes time and patience to execute correctly. The good news is the law gives landlords a clear set of tools. The bad news is those tools only work if used in the right order...
Jill Stradley · April 9, 2026 at 2:34 PM ET 
What Landlords Can Do When a Tenant Wants to Break the Lease Early
Here is what landlords need to know when a tenant wants out before the lease ends...
Paul Oak · April 8, 2026 at 3:36 PM ET 
Landlord Insurance vs. Renters Insurance: Who Covers What When Something Goes Wrong?
When something goes wrong at a rental property, the first question both the landlord and the tenant ask is usually the same one: whose insurance covers this? A pipe bursts and floods the unit. A tenant's guest slips on an icy walkway. A fire destroys the tenant's belongings. The answers are not always what either side expects, and the gaps between the two policies is where people get hurt financially...
Jill Stradley · April 7, 2026 at 4:22 PM ET 
Why Landlords and Renters need a Lease Agreement
Most of the conflict in landlord-tenant relationships comes down to one thing: a disagreement about what was agreed to. The tenant says the landlord promised to handle pest control. The landlord says repairs to the dishwasher are the tenant's problem. Nobody can prove what was said because nothing was written down. A lease agreement exists to prevent exactly this...
Paul Oak · April 6, 2026 at 2:03 PM ET 
How to Handle a Tenant Who Won't Leave After the Lease Ends
The lease end date has come and gone. Your tenant is still there. They are not paying new rent, they are not responding to messages, and they show no signs of leaving. This is a holdover tenancy, and it is one of the more stressful situations a landlord can face. The good news is that the law gives you a clear path forward. The key is knowing what that path is and, just as importantly, what it is not...
Jill Stradley · April 5, 2026 at 2:24 PM ET 
Texas Lease Agreement Requirements: What Landlords Must Include
Texas is one of the most landlord-friendly states in the country when it comes to things like rent control and security deposit limits. But that does not mean landlords can put together any lease and call it done. Texas Property Code Chapter 92 lays out specific requirements for what must appear in a residential lease, what disclosures are mandatory, and what rights tenants cannot be asked to waive...
Paul Oak · April 4, 2026 at 2:35 PM ET 
How to Read a Lease Agreement Before You Sign
Most people spend more time reading the terms and conditions on a streaming service than they do reading a lease agreement. That is a problem, because a lease is a legally binding contract worth thousands of dollars that governs where you live for the next year or more. Every clause you skip is something you have already agreed to...
Jill Stradley · April 3, 2026 at 2:47 PM ET 
How a Sublease Agreement Protects Both the Original Tenant and the Subtenant
Subleasing happens for all kinds of reasons. A tenant takes a job in another city for six months, a student goes home for the summer, or someone needs to break a lease early without losing it entirely. Whatever the situation, subleasing puts three parties in a relationship that most people do not fully think through before it starts. A written sublease agreement is what keeps that relationship from becoming a problem...
Jill Stradley · April 2, 2026 at 12:45 PM ET 
What Happens If You Rent Without a Lease Agreement?
Some rental arrangements start without a written lease. A landlord lets a friend move in on a handshake deal. A lease expires and neither party bothers to renew it. A tenant keeps paying rent month after month after the original agreement ends. These situations are more common than most people realize, and they come with real legal consequences for both sides...
Paul Oak · April 1, 2026 at 12:07 PM ET 
States With the Strictest Landlord-Tenant Laws (And What That Means for Your Lease)
Landlord-tenant law is not the same from state to state. In some places, a landlord can raise rent with 30 days notice and no cap on the increase. In others, the law dictates exactly how much rent can go up, what reasons are required to end a tenancy, what disclosures must appear in the lease, and what happens if the landlord gets any of it wrong. If you rent in one of the states below, your lease agreement needs to...
Jill Stradley · March 31, 2026 at 2:13 PM ET 
Red Flags in a Lease Agreement Every Renter Should Know
Most renters sign a lease in a hurry. You found a place you like, you want to lock it in before someone else does, and the paperwork feels like a formality standing between you and the keys. That mindset is exactly how people end up stuck in bad rental situations for a year or more...
Paul Oak · March 30, 2026 at 5:59 PM ET 
California Lease Agreement Requirements: What Landlords Must Include
California has some of the most detailed landlord-tenant laws in the country, and that complexity flows directly into the lease agreement. A generic lease template will not cut it here. California landlords are required by law to include specific clauses, disclosures, and terms that go well beyond what most other states mandate. Miss something and you could be looking at fines...
Jill Stradley · March 29, 2026 at 4:15 PM ET 
Required Disclosures Every Lease Agreement Must Include in Your State
Signing a lease without the right disclosures is not just an oversight. In many states, it is a legal violation that can expose a landlord to fines, lawsuits, or even a tenant's right to walk away from the lease entirely. Disclosure requirements exist to make sure tenants know what they are getting into before they sign. The problem is that...
Paul Oak · March 28, 2026 at 1:52 PM ET 
Security Deposit Rules by State: What Landlords Can and Can't Keep
Security deposits are one of the most argued topics in landlord-tenant law. Tenants want their money back. Landlords want protection for damages. And somewhere in between, state law draws the line. The problem is that line looks different depending on where the rental property sits...
Paul Oak · March 27, 2026 at 11:27 PM ET