Blog Laws and rules
Laws and rules
The rules landlords have to follow. Plain explanations of fair housing, notices, and the laws that trip people up.
Posts
46 posts-
The pre-move-out walkthrough is the cheapest dispute insurance there is
A walkthrough two weeks before the tenant leaves gives them a chance to fix things and gives you a witnessed record of what was wrong. California requires the offer. Everywhere else it is optional and still worth doing. Laws and rules -
Your move-in photos are only evidence if you can find them
How many photos to take, what each one has to show, how to name and store them so they are still usable in three years, and why California now requires them at the start of a tenancy. Laws and rules -
Write the emergency maintenance policy before you need it
At 2am nobody reads a lease. What decides how an emergency goes is whether your tenant already knows the number to call and you already know who answers. A working policy, the lease language that supports it, and the four failures it prevents. Laws and rules -
The legal case for answering a repair request the same day
Speed on maintenance is not customer service. It is the cheapest defense you have against rent withholding, repair-and-deduct, a habitability claim, and a deposit dispute you cannot document. What the record needs to show, and when it needs to be created. Laws and rules -
A tenant disputes your deposit deductions: what to do in the first week
Most disputes arrive as an email a few days after the statement goes out. What you do in that first week decides whether it ends there or in small claims. Here is the response order, the concession that is usually worth making, and what small claims actually looks at. Laws and rules -
Normal wear and tear vs damage: the line landlords keep crossing
Wear is what happens when someone lives in a place. Damage is what happens when something else does. Here is the test that separates them, an item-by-item list for the arguments that actually come up, and the depreciation math that keeps a fair charge fair. Laws and rules -
The tenant left no forwarding address. The deposit clock is still running
A missing forwarding address does not pause a deposit deadline anywhere. Here is where to send the statement instead, what to do with an uncashed check, and why the unclaimed property office is usually the correct final step. Laws and rules -
The move-in checklist that settles most deposit disputes
A deposit dispute is usually decided by paperwork that was created on day one, not by anything that happened at move-out. Here is the checklist that does that work, why Washington makes it a condition of collecting a deposit at all, and how to get it signed. Laws and rules -
Security deposit deductions: what you can take, what you can't, and what guessing costs
Most deposit fights are not about the law. They are about a landlord who decided on a number at the kitchen table and wrote it down afterward. Here is the order to work in, the one test that settles most line items, and what a wrong guess is worth in court. Laws and rules -
How fast does a landlord have to fix something?
Some states put a clock on it. Most say reasonable time and leave the rest to a judge. Four states with the statutes side by side, what reasonable time means in practice, and the rule of thumb that keeps you out of the argument entirely. Laws and rules