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17th Edition

Every Landlord’s

Legal Guide

Attorneys Ann O’Connell & Janet Portman

SEVENTEENTH EDITION

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About the Authors

Ann O’Connell, an attorney and editor at Nolo, received an undergraduate degree from Boston College and a law degree from U.C. Berkeley School of Law. She is also a licensed Colorado real estate broker, and is a coauthor of Renters’ Rights, Every Tenant’s Legal Guide, Leases & Rental Agreements, Saving the Family Cottage, and Nolo’s Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home. Before joining Nolo, Ann focused on real estate and business matters as a practicing attorney, and represented both sellers and buyers as a real estate agent.

Janet Portman, an attorney and Nolo’s Executive Editor, received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford and a law degree from Santa Clara University. She is an expert on landlord-tenant law and the coauthor of Every Tenant’s Legal Guide, First-Time Landlord, Renters’ Rights, Leases & Rental Agreements, and Negotiate the Best Lease for Your Business. As a practicing attorney, she specialized in criminal defense before joining Nolo.

Original author Marcia Stewart, a former Nolo editor and author, was this book’s architect and first author. Marcia contributed to this book and many others over her long career at Nolo, which ended with her well-deserved retirement.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Your Landlord Companion

1 Screening Tenants: Your Most Important Decision

Avoiding Fair Housing Complaints and Lawsuits

How to Advertise Rental Property

Consider Tenants Who Are Advertising Themselves

Renting Property That’s Still Occupied

Dealing With Prospective Tenants and Accepting Rental Applications

When and How to Check References, Credit History, and More

Choosing—And Rejecting—An Applicant

Finder’s Fees and Holding Deposits

2 Preparing Leases and Rental Agreements

Which Is Better, a Lease or a Rental Agreement?

Clause-by-Clause Instructions for Completing the Lease or Rental Agreement Form

Signing the Lease or Rental Agreement

Cosigners

3 Basic Rent Rules

How Much Can You Charge?

Rent Control

When Rent Is Due

Where and How Rent Is Due

Late Charges and Discounts for Early Payments

Returned Check Charges

Partial or Delayed Rent Payments

Raising the Rent

4 Security Deposits

Purpose and Use of Security Deposits

Dollar Limits on Deposits

Accepting Recurring Fees in Place of a Deposit

How Much Deposit Should You Charge?

Last Month’s Rent

Interest and Accounts on Deposit

Nonrefundable Deposits and Fees

How to Increase Deposits

Handling Deposits When You Buy or Sell Rental Property

5 Discrimination

Sources of Antidiscrimination Laws

Types of Illegal Discrimination

Valid Occupancy Limits

Managers and Discrimination

Unlawful Discrimination Complaints

Insurance Coverage in Discrimination Claims

6 Property Managers

Hiring Your Own Resident Manager

How to Prepare a Property Manager Agreement

Your Legal Obligations as an Employer

Management Companies

Your Liability for a Manager’s Acts

Notifying Tenants of the Manager

Firing a Manager

Firing a Property Management Company

Evicting a Manager

7 Getting the Tenant Moved In

Inspect the Rental Unit

Photograph or Video the Rental Unit

Send New Tenants a Move-In Letter

Cash Rent and Security Deposit Checks

Organize Your Tenant Records

Organize Income and Expenses for Schedule E

Using Email for Notices or Other Communications With Tenants

The Bottom Line: Stick With a Traditional Mail or Delivery Service

8 Cotenants, Sublets, and Assignments

Cotenants

What to Do When a Tenant Wants to Sublet or Assign

When a Tenant Brings in a Roommate

Guests and New Occupants You Haven’t Approved

Short-Term Rentals Like Airbnb

9 Landlord’s Duty to Repair and Maintain the Premises

Your Duty to Keep the Premises Livable

How to Meet Your Legal Repair and Maintenance Responsibilities

Avoiding Problems With a Good Maintenance and Repair System

Tenant Updates and Landlord’s Regular Safety and Maintenance Inspections

Tenants’ Options When the Premises Are Unfit

Tenants’ Responses to Unfit Premises: Paying Less Rent

Tenants’ Responses to Unfit Premises: Calling Inspectors, Filing Lawsuits, and Moving Out

Minor Repairs

Delegating Landlord’s Responsibilities to Tenants

Tenants’ Alterations and Improvements

Cable TV Access

Satellite Dishes and Antennas

10 Landlord’s Liability for Tenant Injuries From Dangerous Conditions

How to Prevent Injuries

Liability and Other Property Insurance

Your Liability for Tenant Injuries

When a Tenant Was at Fault, Too

How Much Money an Injured Tenant Might Recover

11 Landlord’s Liability for Environmental Health Hazards

Asbestos

Lead

Radon

Carbon Monoxide

Mold

Bed Bugs

12 Landlord’s Liability for Criminal Activity

Comply With All State and Local Laws on Security

Keep Your Promises About Security

Prevent Criminal Acts

Protect Tenants From Each Other

Protect Tenants From Your Employees

Deal With Drug-Dealing Tenants

If You Are Sued

13 Landlord’s Right of Entry and Tenants’ Privacy

General Rules of Entry

Entry in Case of Emergency

Entry With the Permission of the Tenant

Entry to Make Repairs or Inspect the Property

Entry to Show Property to Prospective Tenants or Buyers

Entry After the Tenant Has Moved Out

Entry by Others

Other Types of Invasions of Privacy

What to Do When Tenants Unreasonably Deny Entry

Tenants’ Remedies When a Landlord Acts Illegally

14 Ending a Tenancy

Changing Lease or Rental Agreement Terms

How Month-to-Month Tenancies End

How Leases End

When the Tenant Breaks the Lease

A Tenant’s Death: Consequences for Cotenants and the Landlord’s Duties

Condominium Conversions

15 Returning Security Deposits and Other Move-Out Issues

Preparing a Move-Out Letter

Doing a Pre-Move-Out Inspection

Inspecting the Unit When a Tenant Leaves

Applying the Security Deposit to the Last Month’s Rent

Basic Rules for Returning Deposits

Deductions for Cleaning and Damage

Deductions for Unpaid Rent

Preparing an Itemized Statement of Deductions

Mailing the Security Deposit Itemization

Security Deposits From Cotenants

If a Tenant Sues You

When the Deposit Doesn’t Cover Damage and Unpaid Rent

Ex-Tenants Who Have Moved Out of State

What to Do With Property Abandoned by a Tenant

16 Problems With Tenants: How to Resolve Disputes Without a Lawyer

Negotiating a Settlement: Start by Talking

When Warning Notices Are Appropriate

Understanding Mediation

Using Arbitration

Representing Yourself in Small Claims Court

How to Avoid Charges of Retaliation

17 Late Rent, Terminations, and Evictions

The Landlord’s Role in Evictions

Termination Notices

Late Rent

Other Tenant Violations of the Lease or Rental Agreement

Violations of a Tenant’s Legal Responsibilities

Tenant’s Illegal Activity on the Premises

How Eviction Lawsuits Work

Illegal Self-Help Evictions

Stopping Eviction by Filing for Bankruptcy

18 Lawyers and Legal Research

Finding a Lawyer

Types of Fee Arrangements With Lawyers

Saving on Legal Fees

Resolving Problems With Your Lawyer

Attorneys’ Fees in a Lawsuit

Doing Your Own Legal Research

Where to Find State, Local, and Federal Laws

How to Research Court Decisions

Appendixes

A State Landlord-Tenant Law Charts

B How to Use the Downloadable Forms on the Nolo Website

Editing RTFs

List of Forms Available on the Nolo Website

Index

Introduction: Your Landlord Companion

Whether you own one rental property or a hundred, you want to run a profitable business, protect your investment, and avoid legal hassles. Your success depends heavily on knowing and complying with dozens of state, federal, and local laws. Fortunately, you don’t need a law degree—just this book.

We’ll take you step-by-step through everything from accepting rental applications to returning security deposits when tenants move out. Learn how to prepare a lease, handle repairs, and deal with tenants who pay rent late, make too much noise, or cause other problems. This book covers not only straightforward procedures (such as how to legally reject a prospect) but also advises you on how to deal with more complicated situations (like what to do when a tenant threatens to withhold rent until you make certain repairs). This book also provides:

State-specific legal info. Use the comprehensive State Landlord-Tenant Law Charts in Appendix A to find your state’s laws on: security deposits, required landlord disclosures, rent withholding, abandoned property, unconditional quit terminations, and much more.

Legal forms and letters. This book includes dozens of forms, letters, notices, checklists, and agreements you can use. Each form is easy to complete and has comprehensive instructions. You’ll find filled-in samples in the text and down-loadable forms on the companion page for this book on the Nolo website (see below for details). With these forms, you’ll be able to create your own rental applications, leases, letters to tenants, and much, much more.

Getting Expert Help

Throughout this book, we’ll alert you to situations in which it’s wise to get expert help beyond this book, including:

Preparing eviction papers. We explain how to terminate a tenancy, but if you need to pursue an eviction lawsuit, get more help. Evictions are governed by very specific state and local laws and procedures.

Rentals in mobile home parks and marinas. In most states, completely different sets of laws govern these rentals.

Renting out a condo or town house. Many owners will find this book helpful, but be sure to also review your homeowners’ association’s CC&Rs (covenants, conditions, and restrictions). Sometimes CC&Rs clash with or go beyond federal, state, or local laws. An attorney can help you evaluate which rules the judges in your area are most likely to uphold.

Live-work units. You’ll find this book helpful if you’re renting out live-work units, but be aware that local zoning regulations we don’t cover in this book might apply.

Section 8 housing. If you participate in the Section 8 rent assistance program, you’ll find most of the day-to-day recommendations of this book usable, but you’ll need to use the lease addendum supplied by the housing authority that administers the program.

Short-term rentals. Many of the landlord-tenant laws discussed in this book specifically exclude short-term, hotel-like rentals. If you offer short-term rentals as part of your business, check with your local government. Many municipalities require registration, limit the number of short-stay days per year, or otherwise restrict short-term rentals. See Chapter 8 for more on the subject.

Time-tested and timely information. This book, which first appeared in 1996, has been updated many times since to keep up with the constantly changing world of residential landlording. Ours is the only book on the shelf that combines current, comprehensive legal information and practical advice usable by landlords in every state.

We believe that finding and retaining good tenants is the key to running a successful residential rental business. Our approach will guard your legal and financial interests and, at the same time, make your customers—your tenants—feel that your practices are fair and reasonable.

In a nutshell: By choosing tenants carefully; keeping good tenants happy; teaching mediocre tenants how to improve; getting rid of bad tenants by applying policies that are strict, fair, and legal; and backing up everything with detailed records, you can run a business that’s both satisfying and profitable.

Other Helpful Nolo Books and Resources for Landlords

Nolo publishes a comprehensive library of books for landlords and property managers. Besides Every Landlord’s Legal Guide, Nolo offers:

Every Landlord’s Guide to Managing Property, by Michael Boyer. Provides practical and legal compliance advice for small-time landlords who manage property and tenants on the side (while holding down a day job). Includes do-it-yourself advice on handling day-to-day issues, such as nitty-gritty maintenance and conflicts with tenants regarding late rent, pets, and unauthorized occupants. Explains how to manage and grow a successful rental property business with minimal hassle and cost.

Every Landlord’s Tax Deduction Guide, by Stephen Fishman. Includes all the information you need to take advantage of tax deductions and write-offs available to landlords, such as depreciation, legal services, travel, and insurance. Includes instructions on filling out Schedule E.

The California Landlord’s Law Book: Rights & Responsibilities, by Nils Rosenquest and Janet Portman, and The California Landlord’s Law Book: Evictions, by Nils Rosenquest. Contain all the information California landlords need to run their business and handle an eviction in court by themselves. Every Landlord’s Legal Guide covers residential landlord-tenant law in all 50 states, including California, but these books provide more details, including rent control rules and step-by-step instructions on how to file and handle an eviction lawsuit.

Leases & Rental Agreements, by Ann O’Connell and Janet Portman. Includes a lease, rental agreement, and several other basic forms. If you own Every Landlord’s Legal Guide, you don’t need Leases & Rental Agreements.

First-Time Landlord: Your Guide to Renting Out a Single-Family Home, by Ilona Bray and Janet Portman. Covers the basic information that first-time or accidental landlords need to rent and manage a single-family home or condo, such as how to determine if a property will turn a profit, things to consider when renting out a room in an owner-occupied house, and how to use a lease-option-to-buy contract.

You can order these books from Nolo’s website (Nolo.com). You can also find Nolo books at public libraries and bookstores.

In addition to these books, Nolo offers many interactive online forms of interest to landlords, such as state-specific leases and rental agreements.

Also, be sure to check out the Landlords section of Nolo.com for a wide variety of articles of interest to landlords, including state eviction rules.

Get Forms and More on This Book’s Companion Page on Nolo.com

This book includes three dozen useful forms and worksheets, including a lease, a rental application, and security deposit itemizations. You can download any of the forms and worksheets in this book at:

www.nolo.com/back-of-book/ELLI.html

See Appendix B, How to Use the Downloadable Forms on the Nolo Website, for a list of forms available on Nolo.com.

CHAPTER

1

Screening Tenants: Your Most Important Decision

Avoiding Fair Housing Complaints and Lawsuits

How to Advertise Rental Property

Consider Tenants Who Are Advertising Themselves

Renting Property That’s Still Occupied

Dealing With Prospective Tenants and Accepting Rental Applications

Tell Prospective Tenants Your Basic Requirements and Rules

Ask Interested Tenants to Complete a Rental Application

Request Proof of Identity and Immigration Status

When and How to Check References, Credit History, and More

Step 1: Check With Current and Previous Landlords and Other References

Step 2: Verify Income and Employment

Step 3: Obtain a Credit Report

Step 4: Verify Bank Account Information

Step 5: Review Court Records

Step 6: Use Megan’s Law to Check State Databases of Sexual Offenders

Choosing—And Rejecting—An Applicant

Legal Reasons for Rejecting a Rental Applicant

Poor Credit Record or Income

Negative References From Previous Landlords

Evictions and Civil Lawsuits Involving a Tenant

Criminal Records

Incomplete or Inaccurate Rental Application

Inability to Meet Legal Terms of Lease or Rental Agreement

Pets

What Information Should You Keep on Rejected Applicants?

How to Reject an Applicant

Conditional Acceptances

Finder’s Fees and Holding Deposits

Finder’s Fees

Holding Deposits

FORM IN THIS CHAPTER

Chapter 1 includes instructions for and samples of the following forms:

Rental Application

Consent to Contact References and Perform Credit Check

Tenant References

Notice of Denial Based on Credit Report or Other Information

Notice of Conditional Acceptance Based on Credit Report or Other Information

Receipt and Holding Deposit Agreement

The purchase of this book includes free downloadable and customizable copies of all of these forms. See Appendix B for the download link and instructions.

Choosing tenants is the most important decision any landlord makes, and to do it well you need a reliable system. Follow the steps in this chapter to maximize your chances of selecting tenants who will pay their rent on time, keep their units in good condition, and not cause you any legal or practical problems later.

How Landlords’ Associations Can Help

This chapter provides all the legal and practical information and forms you need to choose tenants. You can also get a lot of advice from talking with other landlords. Also, many local or state rental property associations and landlords’ associations provide the following:

legal information and updates through newsletters, publications, seminars, and blogs

tenant screening and credit check services

training and practical advice on compliance with legal responsibilities, and

a place to meet other rental property owners and exchange information and ideas.

If you can’t find an association of rental property owners online, ask other landlords for references. You can also contact the National Apartment Association (NAA), an organization whose members include many individual state associations (NAAHQ.org), and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC.org), which provides useful networking opportunities and research.

Avoiding Fair Housing Complaints and Lawsuits

Federal and state antidiscrimination laws limit what you can say and do in the tenant selection process. Because the topic of discrimination is so important, we devote a whole chapter to it (Chapter 5). You should read Chapter 5 before you run an ad or interview prospective tenants. For now, keep in mind four important points:

You are legally free to choose among prospective tenants as long as your decisions are based on legitimate business criteria. You are entitled to reject applicants with bad credit histories, income that you reasonably regard as insufficient to pay the rent, or past behavior—such as property damage or consistent late rent payments—that makes someone a business risk. A valid occupancy limit that is clearly tied to health and safety or legitimate business needs can also be a legal basis for refusing tenants. And it’s always legal to refuse to rent to someone who can’t come up with the security deposit or meet another condition of the tenancy.

Fair housing laws specify illegal reasons to refuse to rent to a tenant. Federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), familial status, or physical or mental disability (including people recovering from an alcohol addiction and people with a past drug addiction). Many states and cities prohibit additional forms of discrimination.

Anybody who deals with prospective tenants must follow fair housing laws. This includes owners, landlords, managers, and real estate brokers, and all of their employees. It also includes more hands-off entities, such as advertising platforms and tenant screening services. As the property owner, you could be held legally responsible for your employees’ discriminatory statements or conduct, including sexual harassment. You could also be liable for your broker’s discriminatory acts, even though the broker is not your employee (because the broker is legally your agent). Your Liability for a Manager’s Acts, in Chapter 6, explains how to protect yourself from your employees’ illegal acts.

Consistency is crucial when dealing with prospective tenants. If you don’t treat all tenants more or less equally—for example, if you arbitrarily set tougher standards for renting to a member of a racial minority—you are violating federal laws and opening yourself up to lawsuits.

How to Advertise Rental Property

You can advertise rental property in many ways:

posting a notice online

using an Apartment for Rent sign

taking out ads in a local newspaper

posting flyers on neighborhood bulletin boards

listing with a local real estate broker

hiring a property management company that will advertise your rentals as part of the management fee, or

posting a notice with university, alumni, or corporate housing offices.

The kind of advertising that will work best depends on a number of factors, including the characteristics of the particular property (such as rent, size, amenities), its location, your budget, and how quickly you need to rent. Many smaller landlords find that instead of advertising widely and having to screen many potential tenants in an effort to sort the good from the bad, it makes better sense to market their rentals through word of mouth—telling friends, colleagues, neighbors, and current tenants, and by posting on social media.

Avoid getting into legal hot water by following these rules:

Describe the rental unit accurately. Avoid abbreviations and real estate jargon in your ad. Be enthusiastic but honest! Include basic details, such as:

rent and deposit

room size (particularly number of bedrooms and baths)

location (either the general neighborhood or street address)

move-in date and term (lease or month-to-month rental agreement)

special features

pets (whether you allow them and any restrictions, such as dog breeds your insurance prohibits)

your nonparticipation in the Section 8 program (assuming you have the choice—see Chapter 5 for details)

contact information for more details (unless you’re going to show the unit only at an open house and don’t want to take calls), and

date and time of any open house.

Keep in mind that even if you aren’t prosecuted for breaking fraud laws, false advertising can still come back to haunt you. A tenant who is robbed or attacked in what you advertised as a high-security building could sue you for medical bills, lost earnings, and pain and suffering.

If you have important rules (legal and nondiscriminatory), such as no smoking, put them in your ad. Letting prospective tenants know your policies can save you from talking to a lot of people who wouldn’t qualify.

Be sure your ad can’t be construed as discriminatory. The best way to do this is to focus only on the rental property—not on any particular type of tenant. Ads should never mention sex, race, religion, disability, or age (unless your rental qualifies as senior citizens’ housing). And ads should never imply through words, photographs, or illustrations that you prefer to rent to (or won’t rent to) people because of their age, sex, or race. For example, an ad that says the property is close to the XYZ Church could be construed as your preference for people of that religion.

Quote an honest price and stick to it. If an applicant meets all your good-tenant requirements and agrees to the terms in your ad, you might violate false advertising laws if you arbitrarily raise the price. This doesn’t mean you are always legally required to rent at your advertised price, however. If an applicant asks for more services or different lease terms that you feel require more rent, it’s fine to bargain and raise your price, as long as your proposed increase doesn’t violate local rent control laws.

Don’t advertise a property that isn’t actually available. Some landlords advertise units that aren’t really available in order to produce a large number of applicants who could then be directed to higher-priced or inferior units. Such bait-and-switch advertising is illegal under consumer fraud laws.

Craigslist and Online Apartment Listing Services

Online services make it easy to reach potential tenants.

Online community posting boards allow you to list your rentals at no or low charge and are a good place to start. Craigslist (craigslist.org), the most established community board, has local sites for every major metropolitan area. Many neighborhoods and zip codes also have local groups for posting rentals on Facebook and Nextdoor.

Local online services might also be available, particularly in large urban areas.

National apartment listing services encompass millions of apartment units. Some of the most established are:

Apartments.com

Zillow.com

Rentals.com

Rent.com

ApartmentGuide.com

ForRent.com, and

Zumper.com.

These national sites offer a wide range of services, from simple ads that provide basic information on your rental (such as the number of bedrooms) to full-scale virtual tours and floor plans of the rental property. Services typically include mobile apps, too. Prices vary widely depending on the type of ad, how long you want it to run, and any services you purchase (some websites provide tenant screening services).

Before you use any online apartment rental service, make sure it’s reputable. Find out who owns it, how long the company has been in business, and how they handle problems with apartment listings. Search online for consumer complaints and ratings.

You’ll also need to ensure that any automated systems that target online ads to consumers comply with fair housing laws. Many advertising platforms use algorithms and artificial intelligence to deliberately target certain consumers. Although this technology might be great for your average retailer, it can result in ads that segment and select audiences based on protected characteristics. For advice on how to use targeted advertising technology in a way that complies with fair housing laws, read the April 29, 2024 HUD memo titled, Guidance on Application of the Fair Housing Act to the Advertising of Housing, Credit, and Other Real Estate-Related Transactions Through Digital Platforms. An internet search for April 29, 2024 HUD memo on advertising of housing should yield the memo.

Consider Tenants Who Are Advertising Themselves

Because good rental properties are so hard to find, many people post rental wanted ads.

Apartment seekers who post online ads describe their property needs and their price range, hoping that a landlord in the area will see their post and contact them.

Craigslist is chock-full of posts that run the gamut from sophisticated to self-defeating. If you decide to peruse these listings, keep these tips in mind:

The ad should reveal relevant information about the tenant’s needs and rental history, so that you don’t call someone who isn’t suited for your rental.

The ad should describe a seeker who is stable, clean, and honest. Of course, the words on the page don’t make it true. If you encounter information that raises red flags (a history of short-term rentals), take heed.

The ad should explain what the tenant is looking for but not be too demanding. Be wary of requirements that, if you meet them, could involve you in a fair housing problem (such as, Looking for a quiet, adult community).

Look carefully at the writer’s jobs, interests, and hobbies. Activities that spell property damage or party animal should put you on notice.

Beware the post that plays the sympathy card. Although it’s admirable to work with your current tenants who have hit a rough patch, it’s risky to begin a landlord-tenant relationship based on charity.

Renting Property That’s Still Occupied

Ideally, you’ll be able to wait until the old tenant moves out to show a rental unit to prospective tenants. This gives you the chance to refurbish the unit and avoids problems such as promising the place to a new tenant, only to have the refurbishing not done on time or an existing tenant not move out as announced or leave the place a mess.

To eliminate any gap in rent, however, you might need to show an occupied rental. In most states, you have a right to show the property to prospective tenants, but your current tenants are still entitled to their privacy. To minimize disturbing current tenants, follow these guidelines:

Before advertising, discuss your plans and needs with the outgoing tenants, so you can be as accommodating as possible.

Give the current tenants as much notice as possible before entering and showing a rental unit to prospective tenants. State law usually requires at least one or two days. (See Chapter 13 for details.)

Limit the number of times you show the unit in a given week, and make sure your current tenants agree to any evening and weekend visits.

Consider reducing the rent slightly for the existing tenants if showing the unit really will be an imposition.

If possible, avoid putting a sign on the rental property itself, because this almost guarantees that your existing tenants will be bothered by strangers. Or, if you can’t avoid using a sign, make sure it warns against disturbing the occupants and includes contact information. For Rent: Shown by Appointment Only. Call 555-1700. DO NOT DISTURB OCCUPANTS should work fine.

If, despite your best efforts to protect their privacy, the current tenants are uncooperative, wait until they leave before showing the unit. Also, if the current tenants are complete slobs or have damaged the place, you’ll be far better off fixing it before trying to rerent it.

Dealing With Prospective Tenants and Accepting Rental Applications

It’s good business, as well as a sound way to protect yourself from future legal problems, to carefully screen prospective tenants.

Tell Prospective Tenants Your Basic Requirements and Rules

It’s best to describe all your general requirements—rent, deposits, pet policy, move-in date, maximum number of occupants, and the like—and any special rules and regulations up front. This helps potential tenants decide if they want to bother filling out an application. It can also help avoid claims of discrimination, which might be triggered if you disclose key facts to members of a protected class so late in the process that it appears you’ve made up new requirements just to keep them out.

Also be sure to tell prospective tenants what your screening process looks like. For example, let them know about the kind of personal information they’ll be expected to supply on an application and that you’ll be running a credit check and contacting references.

CAUTION

Show the property to and accept applications from everyone who’s interested. Even if, after talking to someone on the phone, you doubt that a particular tenant can qualify, it’s best to politely take all applications. Refusing to take an application might unnecessarily anger a prospective tenant, and might result in the applicant’s filing a discrimination complaint. Show the property to and accept applications from anyone who’s interested and make decisions about who will rent the property later. Be sure to keep copies of all applications. (See discussion of record keeping below.)

Ask Interested Tenants to Complete a Rental Application

Ask all prospective tenants to fill out a written rental application. A sample is shown below, and the Nolo website includes a downloadable copy. See Appendix B for the link to the forms in this book.

Before giving prospective tenants a rental application, complete the box at the top. Here are some basic rules for accepting rental applications:

Give an application to each adult applicant. Each prospective tenant—everyone age 18 or older, or otherwise legally considered an adult—should completely fill out a written application.

Insist on a completed application. Always make sure that prospective tenants complete the entire rental application, including Social Security number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) (explained below), driver’s license number (or other identifying information such as a passport number), current employment, and emergency contacts. You might need this information later to track down a tenant who skips town leaving unpaid rent or abandoned property. Also, you might need the Social Security number or other identifying information to request an applicant’s credit report.

CAUTION

Don’t ask for applicant’s date of birth.

This rental application doesn’t ask for date of birth (DOB). Doing so is risky: A disappointed applicant could attempt to challenge your rejection as an instance of age discrimination. However, although you should be able to order a credit report and a screening report using only the applicant’s Social Security number, some credit reporting companies request DOBs. If you run across this issue, you have a valid reason to request the applicant’s DOB at that point.

You might encounter an applicant who does not have an SSN (only citizens or immigrants authorized to work in the United States can obtain one). For example, someone with a student visa usually won’t have an SSN. If you categorically refuse to rent to applicants without SSNs, and these applicants happen to be foreign students, you’re courting a fair housing complaint.

Fortunately, nonimmigrant aliens (such as people lawfully in the United States who don’t intend to stay here permanently, and even those who are here illegally) can obtain an alternate piece of identification that will suit your needs as well as an SSN. It’s called an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), and is issued by the IRS to people who expect to pay taxes. Most people who are here long enough to apply for an apartment will also be earning income while in the United States and should therefore have an ITIN. Consumer reporting agencies and tenant screening companies can use an ITIN to find the information they need to effectively screen an applicant. On the rental application, use the line Other Identifying Information for an applicant’s ITIN.

CAUTION

Do not consider an ITIN number as proof of legal status in the United States. The IRS does not research the taxpayer’s immigration status before handing out the number.

Check for a signature and consider getting a separate credit check authorization. Be sure all potential tenants sign the rental application, authorizing you to verify the information, call references, and run a credit report. You might also want to prepare a separate authorization, signed and dated by the applicant, that you can provide to a bank or an employer that wants proof that the tenant authorized you to verify the information. A sample Consent to Contact References and Perform Credit Check is shown below, and the Nolo website includes a downloadable copy. (See Appendix B for the link to the forms in this book.)

Request Proof of Identity and Immigration Status

Many landlords ask prospective tenants to show their driver’s license or other government photo ID as a way to verify that applicants are using their real names.

Except in California (Cal. Civ. Code § 1940.3), Colorado (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-1203), and New York City (N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107(5)(a)), you may also ask applicants for proof of identity and eligibility to work under U.S. immigration laws, such as a work permit, a U.S. passport, or a naturalization certificate. Do so using Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS (a bureau of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security). This form and its instructions are available at www.uscis.gov/i-9. Remember that an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) is not proof of legal status in the United States—it is merely a way for the IRS to identify a taxpayer.

Some people who have the right to be in the United States, such as some students and other temporary visa holders, might not have the right to work, which is the focus of the I-9 form. To confirm their right to be in the United States, ask for their I-94 or other document describing their status.

Under federal fair housing laws, you may not selectively ask for such immigration information—that is, you must ask all prospective tenants, not just those you suspect might be in the country illegally. It is illegal to discriminate on the basis of national origin, although in most places you may reject someone on the basis of immigration status, as discussed in Chapter 5.

RELATED TOPIC

For a related discussion on security issues regarding suspected terrorists, see Cooperating With Law Enforcement in Terrorism Investigations in Chapter 13.

CAUTION

Take your time to evaluate applications. Landlords are often faced with anxious, sometimes desperate people who need a place to live immediately. Don’t fall for it. People who have planned so poorly that they will literally have to sleep in the street if they don’t rent your place that day are likely to present similar stories when it’s time to pay the rent.

Never, never let anyone stay in your property on a temporary basis. Even if you haven’t signed a rental agreement or accepted rent, anyone to whom you give a key or allow to move in might gain the legally protected status of a tenant. Then, if the person doesn’t leave voluntarily when you want them to, you will have to file an eviction lawsuit.

When and How to Check References, Credit History, and More

If an application looks good, your next step is to dig deeper. The time and money you spend checking out applicants are some of the most cost-effective expenditures you’ll ever make.

CAUTION

Be consistent in your screening. You risk a charge of illegal discrimination if you screen certain categories of applicants more stringently than others. Make it your policy, for example, to always require credit reports; don’t get a credit report for just single parents or older applicants.

Here are six steps of a very thorough screening process. You should always go through at least the first three to check out the applicant’s previous landlords, income, and employment, and run a credit check.

Step 1: Check With Current and Previous Landlords and Other References

Always call current and previous landlords or managers for references—even if you have a written letter of reference from them. (A prior landlord might be a better source of information than a current one, because a past landlord has no motive to give a falsely glowing report on a troublemaker.) Also call employers and personal references.

To organize the information you gather from these calls, use the Tenant References form, which lists key questions to ask landlords and other references. A sample is shown below and the Nolo website includes a downloadable copy. See Appendix B for the link to the forms in this book.

TIP

Check out pets, too. If the prospective tenant has a dog or cat, be sure to ask previous landlords whether the pet caused any damage or problems for other tenants or neighbors. It’s also a good idea to meet the dog or cat, so you can make sure that it’s well-groomed and well-behaved, before you make a final decision. You must, however, accommodate an applicant with a disability whose pet serves as an assistance animal. For more information on renting to tenants with pets, see Chapter 2, Clause 14.

Be sure to take and keep notes of all your conversations. You can note your reasons for refusing an individual on the Tenant References form. You’ll want to record this information so that you can respond with evidence to a fair housing challenge if a disappointed applicant files a discrimination complaint against you.

Occasionally, you might encounter a former landlord who is unwilling to discuss the applicant. This reluctance might have nothing to do with the prospective tenant, but instead reflects an exaggerated fear of lawsuits. When a former landlord seems hesitant to talk, try to keep the person on the line long enough to verify the dates of the applicant’s tenancy. If you get minimal cooperation, you might say something like this: I assume your reluctance to talk about Julie has to do with one or more negative things that occurred while she was your tenant. If the former landlord doesn’t say anything, you have all the answer you need. If you hear instead, No, I don’t talk about any former tenants—actually, Julie was fairly decent, you can probably follow up with a few general questions.

Step 2: Verify Income and Employment

Make sure that all tenants have the income to pay the rent each month. Call the prospective tenant’s employer to verify income and length of employment.

Before providing this information, some employers require written authorization from the employee. You’ll need to send them a signed copy of the release included at the bottom of the Rental Application form, or the separate Consent to Contact References and Perform Credit Check form shown above. If for any reason you question the income information you get by telephone, you could also ask applicants for copies of recent paycheck stubs.

It’s also reasonable to require documentation of other sources of income, such as Social Security, disability, workers’ compensation, public assistance, child support, or alimony. To evaluate the financial resources of a self-employed person or someone who’s not employed, ask for copies of recent tax returns or bank statements.

TIP

How much income is enough? Think twice before renting to applicants if the rent will take more than one-third of their gross income, especially if they have a lot of debts.

Step 3: Obtain a Credit Report

Private credit reporting agencies collect and sell credit files and other information about consumers. It’s common to check a prospective tenant’s credit history with at least one credit reporting agency to see how responsible the person is managing money.

TIP

Get the applicant’s consent to run a credit report. The law allows you to run a credit report as long as you have a valid business reason. But because many people think that you must have their written consent before you pull their credit report, we have included it in our consent forms. You’ll see a place for the tenant to register their consent at the end of the Rental Application and in the separate Consent to Contact References and Perform Credit Check form. But there’s another reason for doing this: A written consent will help if you later decide that you need an updated credit report. For example, you might want to consult a current report in order to help you decide whether to sue a tenant who has skipped out and owes rent. Without a broadly written consent, your use of a credit report at that time might be illegal (see the Advisory Opinion to Long (07-06-00), on the FTC website at FTC.gov).

How to Get a Credit Report

A credit report contains a gold mine of information. You can usually find out if a particular person has ever filed for bankruptcy or has been:

late or delinquent in paying rent or bills, including student or car loans

involved in another type of lawsuit that resulted in a judgment that was sent to collections, or

financially active enough to establish a credit history.

Depending on the type of report you order, you might also get an applicant’s credit score, the most popular being the FICO score. This number, ranging from 300 to 850, purports to indicate the risk that an individual will default on payments. High credit scores indicate less risk. Generally, any score above 670 is considered a medium risk or less. Don’t put too much value in a high credit score, because this number does not reflect the many other good-tenant characteristics (such as ability to take good care of your property) that are very important.

Credit report information covers the past 7 to 10 years. To run a credit check, you’ll need a prospective tenant’s name, address, and Social Security number or ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number). Three credit bureaus have cornered the market on credit reports:

Equifax (Equifax.com)

TransUnion (TransUnion.com), and

Experian (Experian.com).

Look for On-time Rent Payments in the Credit Report

Credit reports traditionally included information on whether borrowers repaid their loans (credit card balances, car loan) on time. When a borrower wanted a loan for a house purchase, their payment history was considered by their mortgage lender. But because rent was not considered a loan, on-time rent payments didn’t show up.

That omission is beginning to change. The three big bureaus can add rent payments to a consumer’s record, enhancing the consumer’s chances of getting a house loan—and, because landlords also consult credit reports, of getting the next good rental. At this point, the industry gives tenants a choice as to whether to have their rent payments regularly reported—and to report only on-time payments. Landlords could themselves begin to require rent payment reporting.

If you see rent payment history on a credit report, keep in mind that it might paint an incomplete picture. A tenant who has legitimately withheld rent when the landlord has not fixed a habitability problem will have a gap in payment history—but that skipped payment is justified. As with most things, you’ll need to understand the context before you can confidently reach conclusions.

Using a Screening Service

All three bureaus also offer tenant screening services on their websites (as do many property management websites, such as Avail (Avail.co) and TurboTenant (TurboTenant.com)).

Using these screening services has pros and cons. On the plus side, the information they provide is geared to the rental housing context (whereas a credit score was designed to predict whether the applicant would repay a loan). The method also protects applicants’ credit scores, in that the report counts only as a soft inquiry to the applicant’s file (multiple requests for credit reports can lower a credit score). Importantly, SSNs are not revealed to the landlord. Either the landlord or the applicant can pay for the service.

Applicants initiate the screening process by filling out an application to generate a report. The report contains a recommendation on whether to rent to this applicant, based on credit, criminal, and eviction history. (Note that some states and cities limit how and when landlords can consider applicants’ criminal histories. See Criminal Records, below.) For a bit more money, landlords can ask for a credit score, too.

On the negative side, some states do not post criminal data, so landlords who are evaluating applicants who have lived in those states will be paying for a service that isn’t available (not to mention that one doesn’t have to live in a particular state to commit a crime there). In addition, the service requires some work on the part of the applicants (they must complete an authentication form, to deter identity theft). This step will deter some applicants (but an applicant who isn’t serious enough to complete the process arguably is not the one for you, either).

Your state or local apartment association might also offer credit reporting services. Fees depend on the type of service you select. Often, you can request the provider to contact—and collect payment from—the applicant directly, saving you the hassle of having to collect a screening fee.

If negative information in a credit or other tenant screening report causes you to not rent to someone or charge higher rent, you must give the prospective tenant the name and address of the agency that reported the negative information. This is a requirement of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. (15 U.S.C. §§ 1681 and following.) You must also inform the applicant of the right to obtain a copy of the file from the agency that reported the negative information, by requesting it within 60 days of being told that the rejection was based on the individual’s credit report.

Tenants who are applying for more than one rental might try to avoid multiple fees by obtaining their own report, making copies, and asking you to accept their copy. Federal law does not require you to accept an applicant’s copy—that is, you may require applicants to pay a credit check fee for you to run a new report. State law, however, might require you to accept a tenant’s report. For example, Wisconsin forbids landlords from charging for a credit report if, before the landlord asks for a report, the applicant offers one from a consumer reporting agency and the report is less than 30 days old. (Wis. Adm. Code § ATCP 134.05(4)(b).) And in Washington, landlords must advise prospective tenants whether they will accept a screening report provided by the applicant done by a consumer reporting agency (in which case you may not charge the tenant a fee for a screening report). Landlords who maintain a website that advertises residential rentals must include this information on the home page. (Wash. Rev. Code § 59.18.257.)

TIP

You’re on the hook if your screening service produces discriminatory results. The use of AI and opaque algorithms by many tenant screening services has been shown to result in reports that are inaccurate and discriminatory. As a landlord, it’s your responsibility to do what you can to ensure that the reports you’re using for making application decisions don’t result in your violating fair housing laws. Choose tenant screening services that are aware of and taking steps to mitigate the fair housing concerns posed by AI to rate applicants. For steps you can take to counteract potential bias in tenant screening reports, read HUD’s April 29, 2024 memo titled, Guidance on Application of the Fair Housing Act to the Screening of Applicants for Rental Housing. You can find the memo online by searching for the date and title of the memo.

Credit Check Fees

It’s legal in most states to charge prospective tenants a fee for the cost of the credit report itself and your time and trouble. Any credit check fee should be reasonably related to the cost of the credit check—$30 to $50 is common.

Some landlords don’t charge credit check fees, preferring to absorb the cost as they would any other cost of business. For low-end units, charging an extra fee can be a barrier, and an applicant who pays such a fee but is later rejected is likely to be annoyed and possibly more apt to try to concoct a discriminatory reason for the denial.

Our Rental Application form informs applicants of your credit check fee. Be sure they know the purpose of a credit check fee and understand that this fee is not a holding deposit and does not guarantee the rental unit. (We discuss holding deposits below.)

Also, if you expect a large number of applicants, you’d be wise not to accept fees from everyone. Instead, read over the applications first and do a credit check only on those who are genuine contenders. That way, you won’t waste your time (and prospective tenants’ money) collecting fees from unqualified applicants.

CAUTION

It is illegal to charge a credit check fee if you do not use it for the stated purpose and pocket it instead. Return any credit check fees you don’t use for that purpose.

Investigative or Background Reports

Some credit reporting companies and tenant screening companies also gather and sell background reports about a person’s character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living. If you order a background check, it will be considered an investigative consumer report under federal law (the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681 and following, as amended by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003). You must tell the applicant, within three days of requesting the report, that the report might be made and that it will contain information about the applicant’s character, reputation, personal characteristics, and criminal history. You must also tell the applicant that more information about the nature and scope of the report will be provided upon request; and, if asked, you must provide said information within five days.

If you turn down the applicant based wholly or in part on information in the report, you must tell the applicant that the application was denied based on information in the report, and give the applicant the credit or tenant screening agency’s name and address.

What You’re Looking For

In general, be leery of applicants with lots of debts—so that their monthly payments plus the rent obligation exceed 40% of their gross income. Also, look at the person’s bill-paying habits, and, of course, pay attention to lawsuits and evictions.

Sometimes, your only choice is to rent to someone with poor or fair credit. If that’s your situation, you might condition acceptance on:

good references from previous landlords and employers

a creditworthy cosigner to cosign the lease (Chapter 2 includes a cosigner agreement)

a good-sized deposit, as much as you can collect under state law (see Chapter 4), and

proof of steps taken to improve credit—for example, enrollment in a debt counseling group.

If the person has no credit history—for example, a student or recent graduate—you might reject them or consider requiring a cosigner before agreeing to rent to them.

CAUTION

Handle credit reports carefully. Federal law requires you to keep only needed information, and to discard the rest. See How to Handle Credit Reports, in Chapter 7 for precise information.

Step 4: Verify Bank Account Information

If an individual’s credit history raises questions about financial stability, you might want to double-check the bank accounts listed on the rental application. You’ll probably need an authorization form such as the one included at the bottom of the Rental Application, or the separate Consent to Contact References and Perform Credit Check (discussed above). Banks differ as to the type of information they will provide over the phone. Generally, banks will at most only confirm that an individual has an account there and that it is in good standing.

CAUTION

Be wary of an applicant who has no checking or savings account. Tenants who offer to pay cash or with a money order should be viewed with extreme caution. Perhaps the individual bounced so many checks that the bank dropped the account or the income comes from an illegitimate source—such as drug dealing.

Step 5: Review Court Records

If your prospective tenants have lived in the area, you might want to review local court records to see if collection or eviction lawsuits have been filed against them. Checking court records is not a violation of antidiscrimination laws as long as you check the records of every applicant who reaches this stage of your screening. Because court records are kept for many years, this kind of information can supplement references from recent landlords. Call the local court that handles eviction cases for details, including the cost of checking court records.

Step 6: Use Megan’s Law to Check State Databases of Sexual Offenders

Not surprisingly, most landlords don’t want tenants with criminal records, particularly convictions for violent crimes or crimes against children. Checking a prospective tenant’s credit report, as we recommend above, might give you limited information about a person’s criminal history.

Megan’s Law might assist you in confirming some of the information provided in a credit report. This 1996 federal crime prevention law charged the FBI with keeping a nationwide database of names and whereabouts of persons convicted of sexual offenses against minors and violent sexual offenses against anyone. Every state has its own version of Megan’s Law. These laws require certain convicted sexual offenders to register with local law enforcement officials.

How Megan’s Law Works

Unfortunately, how states use and distribute database information varies. Depending on the law where you live, your right to access the information and receive notifications might be restricted.

For information about Megan’s Law in your state, contact your local law enforcement agency. To learn how to access your state’s sex offender registry, you can also contact the 24 Hour National Megan’s Law Helpline at 888-ASK-PFML or visit www.parentsformeganslaw.org.

The Limitations of Megan’s Law Searching

Landlords should be aware of the following issues with the Megan’s Law databases:

Accuracy. Megan’s Law databases are notoriously inaccurate—entries often are incomplete, contain old data, or even mistake one person for another.

Relevance. The criminal offense you discover on the database might not be relevant to whether this applicant is likely to be a threat to you, your tenants, or your property. For example, in some states consensual intercourse between minors (statutory rape) is an offense for which a person must register.

Misleading clean reports. Some registerable crimes result in nonregisterable convictions. For example, someone charged with a serious and registerable offense might end up with a simple assault conviction—perhaps because the prosecutor couldn’t prove the charge, or because a chief witness disappeared. That simple assault conviction won’t appear on a Megan’s Law database.

Tenants Will Be Checking You Out, Too

While you’re checking out a potential tenant (asking for references and getting a credit report), don’t be surprised if the tenant is checking you out, too.

Several websites provide tenants with background information about you and your property. Two major websites are ratethelandlord.org and ApartmentRatings. com. It’s probably worth your time to occasionally check these sites for your rental, and, if allowed, post a response to any reviews.

Expectations you create in other tenants. You should let applicants know if you plan to search for them on the database (this will allow applicants to opt out of the application process, and might spare you a charge of invading their privacy). However, one drawback to making it known that you run Megan’s Law searches is that tenants will assume that you have not rented to anyone on a Megan’s Law list. This might cause residents to relax their guard—for example, a family might assume it’s okay for their children to be home alone after school. Suppose you’ve rented to someone who should have been on the list but mistakenly wasn’t, and they assault one of the children. The family could argue in court that they relied on your implied promise that the building was safe, and that you bear some of the responsibility because you rented to someone who posed a risk of harm.

Loss of other tenants. Ironically, if you decide to rent to an applicant with a past offense, and other tenants find out by doing their own search, they might leave due to concerns about their new neighbor. Before you know it, your only tenant will be the one you least want to keep.

Illegal in some states. Finally, it’s illegal in some states and cities to reject an applicant based on information derived from a Megan’s Law database.

Many landlord associations and landlords’ lawyers have concluded that the problems associated with Megan’s Law searches are simply not worth the questionable results you’ll get when you run them.

Their advice is to stick