Legal Issues With Renting Out a Room in a House
Renting out a room of your home carries all the legal requirements of a landlord managing a large property, including property maintenance and respect for tenant privacy. You should carefully weigh the legal requirements of renting space in your home to avoid potential hangups that could land you in civil court for failing to live up to your obligations as a landlord.
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Selecting a Tenant
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When renting out a room in your home, you must comply with all local, state and federal laws relating to discrimination. This means it's illegal for you to refuse to show the room or make the room available for rent because of an applicant's race, ethnicity, gender, age or religion. Simply going on instinct when choosing a tenant can land you in legal trouble if an applicant believes you used discriminatory tactics through the application process. Using a formal background check from the state police to weed out problem applicants can be a smart means of choosing a renter, but you also must get an applicant's signed permission to use identifying information, including Social Security number and driver's license, when requesting this background information.
Homeowner Association Rules
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Purchasing a home has become more difficult thanks to the lingering effects of the mortgage crisis of 2007 and economic downturn persisting since 2008. More homeowners are choosing to rent property in lieu of trying to find a buyer on the open market. According to the MSN Real Estate website, homeowners associations across the country are enacting rules forbidding renting homes or building rental additions in neighborhoods to encourage home purchasing. You should check with your homeowners association if you live in a gated community or development neighborhood to see if the association has any rules forbidding renting your property before attempting to rent a room out in your home.
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Lease Document Issues
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Creating a lease document provides you and your prospective tenant with a legal means of quantifying rent and what each party expects from the landlord-tenant relationship. As a landlord, your lease must comply with all local and state regulations pertaining to these documents for it to be valid and enforceable in court. For example, it is illegal for you to include a clause in your lease agreement that excuses you from your responsibility to maintain your property up to local and state safety and health standards. Including an illegal clause in your lease could void the entire document and render you unable to sue your tenant in court if your tenant doesn't pay the rent.
Landlord Legal Responsibilities
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Even if you're just renting out a room in your home, you become a landlord for all legal purposes. This means you must treat the tenant's room like private property and cannot simply enter the room without permission regardless of your ownership of the rest of the home. You must also make prompt repairs of facilities damaged through no fault of the tenant and cannot legally bar your tenant from entering your home without a court order. Failing to live up to your obligations could result in a civil lawsuit from your tenant.
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