Landlord Guides
Plain-English answers for the situations the standard rental advice never covers. Each guide ends with the right lease type for what you are doing.
Month-to-Month Lease Termination Notice by State
How much notice a landlord or tenant must give to end a month-to-month tenancy, how to count and serve it, just-cause exceptions, and a 50-state table.
Read the guide →How Long Can a Guest Stay Before Becoming a Tenant?
A long-term guest can quietly gain tenant rights. What the law actually looks at, why accepting money is the biggest trigger, and the guest clause that keeps you in control.
Read the guide →How to Read a Lease Before You Sign
A clause-by-clause walkthrough: the four numbers that cost you money, the terms that surprise tenants, the red flags to negotiate, and what your state protects no matter what the lease says.
Read the guide →Is Renters Insurance Required by Law?
No state mandates it, but your landlord can require it in the lease. What it covers, what a landlord can and cannot demand, and how to write the clause.
Read the guide →Marijuana Clauses in Residential Leases
Recreational legalization does not strip landlord authority. Defensible clauses target smoke, cultivation, and commercial activity rather than blanket bans.
Read the guide →Self-Help Eviction: Why Lockouts Backfire
Changing locks or shutting off utilities is illegal in every state. Statutory damages typically exceed three months rent plus attorney fees. The proper court process is faster anyway.
Read the guide →Joint and Several Liability for Roommates
How multi-tenant leases actually allocate liability, the AND/OR distinction, and the difference between joint and several and several-only leases.
Read the guide →Renting to Family or Friends
Why a written lease matters even when you trust the tenant, and how to keep the relationship intact when something goes wrong.
Read the guide →Renting Out a Basement Apartment
Room rental versus full lease, egress and CO requirements, separate utilities, and how to set house rules that hold up.
Read the guide →What Happens to the Lease When a Tenant Dies
Who is responsible for rent after a tenant passes away, how to handle belongings legally, and how to re-rent the unit fast.
Read the guide →Breaking a Lease Early
Military orders, domestic violence protections, uninhabitable conditions, and mutual release: the four legal paths out of a lease before it ends.
Read the guide →Roommate Moves Out Mid-Lease
Joint and several liability explained, how to remove a tenant from the lease, and how to document a replacement roommate properly.
Read the guide →Subletting: When Allowed and How to Document It
Landlord consent requirements, how sublease differs from assignment, and why the original tenant stays on the hook throughout.
Read the guide →Pet Rent vs Deposit vs Assistance Animals
What you can charge for pets, what the Fair Housing Act prohibits for ESAs and service animals, and how to document your pet policy.
Read the guide →Rent Increases: Notice and Rent Control
Notice requirements by lease type, rent control versus rent stabilization, and how to raise rent the right way at renewal.
Read the guide →Inheriting Tenants When Buying a Property
The lease survives the sale: what buyers must honor, how the security deposit transfer works, and what to do at renewal.
Read the guide →Squatters and Unauthorized Occupants
Why self-help eviction is illegal, how to avoid accidentally creating a tenancy, and the correct removal procedure by state.
Read the guide →Section 8 / Housing Choice Voucher Tenants
How the HAP contract works alongside the lease, inspection requirements, source-of-income laws, and rent amount approval.
Read the guide →Tenant Wants to Use the Deposit as Last Month's Rent
Why most leases prohibit this, how to respond when a tenant asks, and what to document if you choose to agree.
Read the guide →Co-Signer or Guarantor Requirements
When to require a co-signer, how to qualify them, what the addendum must say, and how to collect if the tenant defaults.
Read the guide →Move-In Inspection: What to Document
A signed move-in inspection report and timestamped photos protect the security deposit. Room-by-room checklist for tenants and landlords.
Read the guide →Move-Out Walkthrough and the Deposit Timeline
Pre-move-out inspection rights, state deposit return deadlines, itemized deductions, and the disputes process when something goes wrong.
Read the guide →Lease Renewal vs New Lease vs Month-to-Month
When the term ends, three paths open: renew, sign a new lease, or convert to month-to-month. Notice rules and trade-offs for each.
Read the guide →First-Time Landlord: Minimum Paperwork
Lease, required disclosures, deposit handling, insurance, and tax setup for new landlords. The bare-minimum checklist that keeps you legal.
Read the guide →Habitability and the Implied Warranty
What the implied warranty of habitability covers, what tenants can do when it fails (repair-and-deduct, withhold, vacate), and the notice rules.
Read the guide →Tenant Screening Without Fair Housing Violations
Protected classes, what you can and cannot ask, application fees, denial documentation, and consistent screening that survives an FHA complaint.
Read the guide →Lead Paint, Mold, and Asbestos Disclosures
Federal lead disclosure for pre-1978 properties, state mold and asbestos rules, and the disclosures that must go in every lease packet.
Read the guide →Service Animals, ESAs, and Pets
Three categories, three sets of rules. What landlords can and cannot ask, when pet fees apply, and how to write a lease that handles all three.
Read the guide →Short-Term Rentals and Lease Language
Lease clauses that block Airbnb, the city permit layer, and how to structure the lease if you want to allow short-term subletting with rules.
Read the guide →Adding a Roommate Mid-Lease
Screening, lease amendment vs new lease, joint-and-several liability, and security deposit adjustments when a tenant adds a roommate.
Read the guide →Landlord Entry Rules and Notice Requirements
How much notice you have to give, what counts as an emergency, and the lease language that keeps entry legal in every state.
Read the guide →Eviction Notice Mistakes That Void the Eviction
Wrong timeline, wrong service, wrong amount, mixed violations, missing parties: the five mistakes that get evictions dismissed and how to draft a notice that holds up.
Read the guide →Repair and Deduct: When Tenants Can Fix and Bill
Habitability repairs, statutory caps, notice requirements, and the rules each state uses to govern when tenants can deduct repair costs from rent.
Read the guide →Lease Auto-Renewal vs Holdover Tenancy
What happens when a lease ends and the tenant stays. Auto-renewal clauses, statutory month-to-month conversion, holdover at sufferance, and double-rent clauses.
Read the guide →Allowing Subleasing Without Losing Control
Why outright bans fail, the controlled-sublease structure, screening subtenants, sublease vs assignment, and the Airbnb-specific clause every lease needs.
Read the guide →Late Rent: Grace Periods and Late Fees
Grace period requirements, state late-fee caps, NSF fees, partial-payment acceptance, and how to draft a late-rent clause that actually holds up in court.
Read the guide →Ready to Draft the Lease?
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