Tenant Tips
20 articles in this category
What Happens to Your Security Deposit When the Rental Is Sold
When your rental changes owners mid-lease, your deposit does not disappear. Here is how it transfers, what the new owner owes you, and what you should document to protect it.
14 States Owe You Interest on Your Security Deposit, and Most Renters Never Collect It
In 14 states plus DC the law requires your landlord to pay you interest on the deposit they are holding. It is real money, and most tenants walk away without ever asking for it.
How to Legally Break a Lease Early: A Tenant's Guide
Breaking a lease early is not always a default. Federal and state law protect certain reasons, and many landlords must try to re-rent. Here is how to leave without owing the rest of your lease.
Is Renters Insurance Required by Law? What Renters Actually Have to Carry
No US state forces a tenant to buy renters insurance, so the legal answer is no. The reason so many renters carry it anyway is that a landlord can require it in the lease, which turns it into a contract obligation rather than a legal one. Here is what that distinction means for you.
How to Handle a Security Deposit Dispute as a Tenant
A landlord keeping more of your deposit than you think is fair is one of the most common renting disputes there is, and tenants lose them constantly for one reason: no proof. The deductions you can fight come down to what you documented, and most of that happens before you ever move out.
Can a Landlord Enter Without Notice? Tenant Rights by State
Your landlord owns the building, but once you sign a lease, the right to enter is not unlimited. A legal right to privacy comes with the tenancy. Here is when a landlord can come in, how much notice they owe you, the one situation where they can walk in unannounced, and what to do if they overstep.
What to Do If Your Landlord Is Harassing You
Most landlord-tenant problems are disputes about money or maintenance. Landlord harassment is something different. It is deliberate conduct designed to make the tenant's living situation uncomfortable enough that they give up their lease and leave without the landlord having to go through a legal eviction. It happens in every state, it is illegal in every state, and tenants who experience it have real legal remedies if they know how to use them...
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...