"Landlord Laws: An Introduction"

As a multifamily property investor, you must be aware of the landlord laws in your state. Many states refer to this as landlord-tenant law, and have a "landlord tenant act" in place to govern rental property activity.

FUNCTION OF RENTAL PROPERTY LAW

Your state's landlord tenant act represents the "rules of the game" that you as a landlord must abide by at all times. Generally speaking, the rules govern things such as:

• Tenant rights
• Landlord legal responsibilities
• Property maintenance
• Security deposits
• Leases
• Rent increases
• Discrimination
• Landlord registration / certification
• Property / apartment inspections

Failure to follow the rules could hinder your ability to evict a bad tenant, and could even expose you to litigation risk.

The good news is that these days, just about every state has its rental property laws posted online. A good resource to find the landlord tenant act in your state can be found here.

GENERAL COMMONALITIES

Even though landlord laws differ by state, they tend to share 3 common characteristics:

• Landlords always have the right to receive the rent on time according to the terms of the lease.
• Landlords are always responsible for providing safe & functional rental units for tenants.
• Rental property law is the vehicle to resolve disagreements between landlords and tenants.

The best thing to do is to familiarize yourself with your state's laws, use common sense, and make sure you follow through on all your responsibilities. Click here to learn more about your responsibilities as a landlord.

EVICTIONS

Oftentimes, the biggest difference between the state laws relates to the notification requirements for the eviction process. But typically, the grounds for eviction are pretty similar from state-to-state. Click here for more detail.

Irrespective of your state, you are never allowed to simply change the locks, shut off the utilities, or coerce the tenant into leaving. Obey all your landlord legal requirements. Otherwise, your eviction case could get thrown out of court. You could also get sued for an unlawful eviction.

So again, as you familiarize yourself with the landlord laws in your state, pay particular attention to the eviction requirements.

GETTING AN ATTORNEY

In some states, you may need an attorney for every buy or sell transaction. In New Jersey, which is my state, an attorney is not necessary to close a deal because a title company serves the same function.

If you are lucky enough to be located in a state where an attorney is not needed for regular real estate transactions, then you'll only need one if/when an issue arises.

Click here for more information on the need for an attorney.

BOTTOM LINE

You can't play this game without understanding the rules. Do not just read your state's landlord laws. Study them. Strive to follow your state's rental property law to a "T." Doing this, as well as a few other things, will greatly reduce your business risk.

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