The landlord-tenant relationship, above all, is a legal one. This means both landlords and tenants have obligations to one another that both parties must respect.

Many of these responsibilities are established in lease agreements. However, all landlords, even those who don't issue written rental agreements, are subject to state laws. State landlord-tenant laws are the backbone of any lease, and your knowledge of them matters.

Laws protect you when your tenant violates the lease, but they also protect your tenants should you neglect your properties or try to enforce unreasonable terms. If you aren't familiar with the laws in your state, you cannot properly enforce your lease agreements and could be subject to fines and penalties.

This article reviews the top rental laws you should know in your state, and why it's important to know them.

Security Deposits

Security deposit laws are some of the most highly regulated of all landlord-tenant laws. Many states regulate the deposit amount, interest requirements, and withholding procedures. Almost all states regulate return periods.

• Deposit Limits - In most states with security deposit limits, the amount is limited to 1-2 months' rent.

• Interest Requirements - In slightly less than half the states, landlords are required to keep security deposits in interest-bearing accounts and pay the accrued interest back to the tenant. The interest rate is typically 5% or the rate at the largest commercial bank in the state.

• Withholding Procedures - In almost every state, landlords can withhold funds from the security deposit for unpaid rent, fees, or utility bills; late charges; property damage beyond normal wear and tear; reasonable cleaning costs; and other penalties listed in the lease agreement. However, it is customary (and often required) that landlords itemize these deductions in a written notice and send it to the tenant with the remainder of the security deposit.

• Return Period - Security deposits must be returned within the period specified by your state's laws. Usually, the return period is around 30 days, although it varies from two weeks to two months.

Rent and Fees

Rent and fee laws are highly specific to each state as well.

Controls on the rent price are rare, as only a handful of states have passed statewide rent control laws (including California, Oregon, and the District of Columbia). However, municipalities in many states may have passed such laws, including cities in New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Maine. In other states (including Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, and others), rent control laws are banned, such that cities and municipalities are prohibited from passing a law controlling the price of rent.

Other commonly regulated fees are rental application fees, late fees, and NSF fees:

• Application Fees - These are regulated in eight states. Six states (California, Virginia, Maryland, Colorado, Oregon, Delaware), plus D.C., set amount limits or guidelines for application fees. Two states, Vermont and New York, outright prohibit landlords from charging any application fee.

• Late Fees - Late fees are regulated in most states and can be restricted to a flat fee, percentage amount, or both (e.g., "Late fees must not exceed $15 or 5% of monthly rent, whichever is lesser").

• Non-Sufficient Funds/Bad Check Fees - If a tenant writes a bad check for which they do not have the funds to pay, most states allow landlords to charge a service fee of around $25-$35. The service fee amount can commonly be found in a section of your state law code labeled "commercial transactions."

Fair Housing

Fair housing laws are fiercely defended across the states. Federal and state laws on fair housing should be some of your highest priorities as a landlord, as they ensure housing remains equitable and inclusive for all renters. Plus, fair housing violations incur hefty fines and penalties for landlords.

The Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, gender, national origin, familial status, and disability. This means it's illegal to deny an applicant, deny availability, evict a tenant, unfairly enforce rules, or discriminate in any other manner based on one of these protected classes.

State landlord-tenant laws often add protections to this list. These may include:

• Sexual orientation

• Gender identity/expression

• Age

• Ancestry

• Marital status

• Military status

• Source of income

• Genetic information

• Pregnancy

• Medical history (especially HIV/AIDS status)

• Domestic violence victims

• Immigration/citizenship status

• Native language

Entry

State laws on landlord access to rental property tend to be similar across the board: in the 34 states with entry laws, the notice requirement is about 24 hours (a few states require 48- or 72-hour notice). In the remaining 16 states, no notice or "reasonable" notice is required. "Reasonable" notice is also typically assumed to be about 24 hours.

Additionally, only a handful of states restrict landlord entrance to specific times of the day, usually during daylight hours. For instance, Florida landlords can only enter between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

Evictions

The eviction process varies considerably across the states. However, all evictions begin with an eviction notice, the type of which depends on the lease violation. If the tenant hasn't paid their rent, the notice is called a "rent demand notice" or "pay-or-quit notice"; if the tenant violated another term of the lease, the notice is called a "notice for lease violation" or "cure-or-quit notice."

Whether or not the landlord is required to give the tenant an opportunity to pay rent or fix the breach is up to each individual state. However, most tenants are allotted several days to pay rent to avoid an eviction.

Because of the substantial differences in eviction policies across the states, it is essential that you review the state-specific notices, policies, and procedures for evictions before pursuing one. It's also generally advised to hire an eviction attorney, preferably one experienced with eviction lawsuits and knowledgeable about state housing laws.

Where to Read Your State's Laws

As you've read this article, you may have wondered where you can read your specific state's laws or find out more information about them. Fortunately, most states have public editions of their codes of law available for free online. You can also read concise summaries of landlord tenant laws by state in a more readable format with citations to each state statute.

Even if you hire a lawyer to handle the legal aspects of your rental business, having a general familiarity with your state's laws at minimum, will help you avoid the courtroom and stay aware of policy changes that could affect your properties in the future.

Conclusion

State legislation might be a bore to read, but its importance for your rental business cannot be overstated. There is no substitute for a working understanding of the law to keep you out of sticky situations. By understanding which laws apply in your state and how to enforce them, you can both protect yourself and foster better, more transparent relationships with your tenants.