10TH EDITION “Complete, detailed, accurate, practical, easy-to-understand and superb…” LOS ANGELES TIMES Marcia Stewart and Attorneys Ralph Warner & Janet Portman Landlord’s Legal Guide Free Legal Updates at Nolo.com A L L F O R M S O N C D - R O M A F O F O F R M R M R S O N C D - R O R O R M Every • Leases • Deposits • Discrimination • Repairs • Rent • Privacy • Terminations • Disclosures • State Laws NOLO ® e Story Dear friends, Founded in 1971, and based in an old clock factory in Berkeley, California, Nolo has always strived to off er clear legal information and solutions. Today we are proud to off er a full range of plain- English law books, legal forms, software and an award-winning website. Everything we publish is relentlessly researched and tested by a dedicated group of in-house legal editors, who together have more than 150 years’ experience. And when legal changes occur after publication, we promptly post free updates at Nolo.com. 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Stewart, Marcia. Every landlord’s legal guide / by Marcia Stewart, Ralph Warner & Janet Portman. 10th ed. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-1-4133-1197-6 (pbk.) ISBN-10: 1-4133-1197-0 (pbk.) 1. Landlord and tenant United States Popular works. 2. Leases United States Popular works. 3. Rent United States Popular works. I. Warner, Ralph E. II. Portman, Janet. III. Title. KF590.Z9S74 2010 346.7304’34 dc22 2009039934 Copyright © 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010 by Nolo. All rights reserved. The NOLO trademark is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offi ce. Printed in the U.S.A. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission. Reproduction prohibitions do not apply to the forms contained in this product when reproduced for personal use. For information on bulk purchases or corporate premium sales, please contact the Special Sales Department. Call 800-955-4775 or write to Nolo, 950 Parker Street, Berkeley, California 94710. Please note We believe accurate, plain-English legal information should help you solve many of your own legal problems. But this text is not a substitute for personalized advice from a knowledgeable lawyer. If you want the help of a trained professional—and we’ll always point out situations in which we think that’s a good idea—consult an attorney licensed to practice in your state. Acknowledgments We couldn’t have written this book without the assistance and support of many people. We’d like to especially acknowledge David Brown, author of Nolo’s The California Landlord’s Law Books, who contributed many creative ideas to this book. We owe special thanks to Terri Hearsh, our superb book designer. Thanks also to Ellen Bitter for her meticulous work preparing the CD-ROM. Nolo’s original Landlords’ Team deserves much of the credit for this book, especially Mary Randolph, a fantastic editor whose sharp pen and cheerful spirit were invaluable (and who came back to review the tenth edition). Other wonderful Nolo people contributed in many different ways to this book, especially Nolo editors and authors Shae Irving, Steve Elias, Amy DelPo, Lisa Guerin, Steve Fishman, Tony Mancuso, and Ralph Warner. Michael Mansel of Insurance Associates in Walnut Creek, California, offered invaluable suggestions on the insurance sections of this book. About the Authors Marcia Stewart is the coauthor of Every Tenant’s Legal Guide, Renters’ Rights, Leases & Rental Agreements, First-Time Landlord, and Nolo’s Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home. Marcia received a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley. Ralph Warner is Nolo’s Cofounder. He has dedicated his professional life to making plain-English legal information accessible and affordable to all Americans. Ralph is the author of a number of self-help law titles, including Everybody’s Guide to Small Claims Court, Save Your Small Business, Get a Life, and many landlord/ tenant and real estate publications. He holds a law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. Janet Portman, an attorney and Nolo’s Managing 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, Renters’ Rights, The California Landlord’s Law Book: Rights and Responsibilities, California Tenant’s Rights, Leases & Rental Agreements, and Negotiate the Best Lease for Your Business. As a practicing attorney, she specialized in criminal defense, conducting trials and preparing and arguing appeals before the Court of Appeal and the California Supreme Court. Janet writes a nationally syndicated column, “Rent It Right,” which appears on many websites and in several newspapers. Downloading Forms and Other Materials e printed version of this book comes with a CD-ROM that contains legal forms and other material. You can download that material by going the forms, which you can ll in or modify and then print. to www.nolo.com/back-of-book/elli.html. You’ll get editable versions of CHAP- TER Table of Content s Your Landlord Companion 1 Screening Tenants: Your Most Important Decision Avoiding Fair Housing Complaints and Lawsuits 4 How to Advertise Rental Property 5 Renting Property at’s Still Occupied 6 Dealing With Prospective Tenants and Accepting Rental Applications 7 Checking References, Credit History, and More 14 Choosing—And Rejecting—An Applicant 24 Finder’s Fees and Holding Deposits 26 2 Preparing Leases and Rental Agreements Which Is Better, a Lease or a Rental Agreement? 33 Clause-by-Clause Instructions for Completing the Lease or Rental Agreement Form 35 Signing the Lease or Rental Agreement 55 About Cosigners 55 3 Basic Rent Rules How Much Can You Charge? 66 Rent Control 66 When Rent Is Due 69 Where and How Rent Is Due 71 Late Charges and Discounts for Early Payments 72 Returned Check Charges 73 Partial or Delayed Rent Payments 73 Raising the Rent 74 [...]... you own Every Landlord’s Legal Guide, you don’t need Leases and Rental Agreements • The California Landlord’s Law Book: Rights and Responsibilities, by David Brown and Janet Portman, and The California Landlord’s Law Book: Evictions, by David Brown 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... that administers the program 2 | Every landlord’s legal guide Time-tested and timely 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 It now covers emerging... 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 Finding Great Tenants, by Janet Portman Focuses solely on advertising and showing your rental, evaluating prospects, and choosing and rejecting tenants, with over... properties or have a lot of tenant turnover • Every Landlord’s Property Protection Guide, by Ron Leshnower Covers top ten ways landlords can minimize the legal and financial risks of owning rental property, from getting the right insurance to preparing for and handling disasters and emergencies Includes LeaseWriter Plus software • Every Landlord’s Tax Deduction Guide, by Stephen Fishman Includes all the... a Tenant’s Legal Responsibilities 360 Tenant’s Illegal Activity on the Premises 360 How Eviction Lawsuits Work 361 Illegal “Self-Help” Evictions 366 Stopping Eviction by Filing for Bankruptcy 367 18 Lawyers and Legal Research Finding a Lawyer 370 Types of Fee Arrangements With Lawyers 373 Saving on Legal Fees... • Receipt and Holding Deposit Agreement 4 | Every landlord’s legal guide C hoosing 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 related topic... remodeled 6 | Every landlord’s legal guide kitchen, furnished, garage parking, doorman, hardwood floors, or wall-to-wall carpeting • pets (whether you allow or not and any restrictions) • phone number or email 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 If you have any important rules (legal and non... applications from everyone who’s interested Even if, after talking to someone on the phone, you doubt that a articular p tenant can qualify, it’s best to olitely take all applications p Refusing to take an application may unnecessarily anger a prospective tenant, and may make the applicant more likely to look into the ossibility of filing a discrimination p 8 | Every landlord’s legal guide complaint... success 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: Choose tenants carefully; keep good tenants happy; teach mediocre tenants how to improve; get rid of bad tenants by applying policies that are strict, fair, and legal; and back up everything with good records and paperwork... that is clearly tied to health and safety or egitimate business needs l can also be a legal asis for refusing tenants It b goes without saying that you may legally refuse to rent to someone who can’t come up with the security deposit or meet some other condition of the tenancy 2 Fair housing laws specify clearly illegal reasons to refuse to rent to a tenant Federal law prohibits discrimination on . comprehensive library of books for landlords and property managers. Besides Every Landlord’s Legal Guide, Nolo offers: Every Landlord’s Guide to Finding Great • Tenants, by Janet Portman. Focuses solely. MANN Printing DETLA PRINTING SOLUTIONS, INC. Stewart, Marcia. Every landlord’s legal guide / by Marcia Stewart, Ralph Warner & Janet Portman. 10th ed. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-1-4133-1197-6 (pbk.) . Authors Marcia Stewart is the coauthor of Every Tenant’s Legal Guide, Renters’ Rights, Leases & Rental Agreements, First-Time Landlord, and Nolo’s Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home. Marcia