Tenants' Rights Laws for Rental Apartments

Laws protecting tenants exist at the federal, state and local levels, with some of the strongest controls emerging at the local level. The result of this patchwork of legislation with local emphasis is a notable difference in tenants' rights regionally. In the balance of power between landlord and tenant, in some places the landlord's rule is virtually unfettered with regulation. In at least a few others, the rights of tenants are exceptional.

Federal Fair Housing Law

At the federal level, several laws seek to protect people from discrimination based on their personal characteristics -- race, gender, familial status, religion, disability. Foremost amongst these laws is the federal Fair Housing Act, part of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. It applies to every action taken by anyone making any type of housing decision about another party. A landlord cannot, for instance, refuse to rent to you because you have children or are of a certain race or religion. In fact, he cannot inquire about your race or religion and can only ask about children in order to list them on the lease.

State Landlord-Tenant Regulations

State laws contain regulations pertaining to more mundane rental issues, from limitations on security deposits, standards of unit habitability, notice required for the landlord to enter the unit, and eviction procedures. While the topics are similar from state to state, the regulatory standards are not. In Florida and Georgia for instance, there is no statutory limit on security deposits. In California and Connecticut, landlords cannot receive a security deposit more than the price of two months' rent in many circumstances. If the tenant is 62 or older in Connecticut, the landlord cannot receive more than one month's rent as a deposit. The two strongest state renters' protections are in New Jersey and New Hampshire. Rules there prevent landlords from evicting tenants without "just cause" -- which is a good reason, such as nonpayment of rent, that is defined in state law.

Rent Control

Rent control is a local regulation that limits how often and how much landlords can raise rent. Rent control ordinances also include what is referred to as a "just cause" eviction requirement. Rent control is pre-empted by state law in 35 states, according to the National Multi Housing Council. Most cities that are subject to rent control are located in California, New York, New Jersey and Maryland. The District of Columbia also is subject to rent control.

Lease

A lease is a contract between landlord and tenant. The relationship between the lease and federal, state and local law is simple: the most restrictive regulation applies. If a local rent control ordinance requires a landlord to pay tenants 3 percent interest on their security deposit and the lease says the landlord pays no interest on the deposit, he will be paying 3 percent. Even in cities and states with extensive tenants' rights regulations, however, there are many issues that remain regulated. It is the lease that takes complete authority in these venues.

References

• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: Fair Housing Laws and Presidential Executive Orders
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development : History of Fair Housing
• Nolo; Chart -- Security Deposit Limits, State by State
• Nolo: How Evictions Work -- What Renters Need to Know
• Nolo: How Tenancies Change and End
• Nolo: Rent Control

Resources

• "Property Management"; Walt Huber, et al., 2005