The Importance Of Understanding Landlord-Tenant Laws With Rental Properties
If you own just a few rental properties, you might not have any trouble keeping up with keeping the units maintained and rented, but you might have problems understanding landlord-tenant laws. As a landlord, though, it is your responsibility to know the laws and follow them, as you can experience a lot of legal trouble if you break any of these laws in your state. Here are several problems you could encounter if you do not know and follow the landlord-tenant laws in your state.
You could end up being sued for discrimination
Without knowing landlord-tenant laws, one problem you might encounter involves discrimination. There are very strict laws that govern what you can and cannot do in terms of discrimination and violating any of the rules related to this could result in a lawsuit. For example, if you do not let a person move into a unit based on the person's skin color, sexual orientation, or religion, that person could sue you. As a landlord, you must be very cautious with the way you choose tenants, as this is a problem you do not want to be involved in.
You could end up being sued for failing to keep the units in good condition
Secondly, as a landlord, you have duties that you must fulfill in terms of the quality and condition of the units you rent out. For example, you cannot allow a person to live in a unit if there is no heat or water in the unit. If a tenant experiences a problem like this and you do not address it fast enough, that tenant could sue you for this issue.
You could end up being sued for handling an eviction the wrong way
Finally, the way you handle evictions could also land you in a lawsuit. There are rules and steps you must follow as a landlord if you want to evict a tenant from one of your units. If you do something wrong during this process, that person could sue you for the way you handled it.
As you can see, failing to follow the laws in your state could result in a lawsuit. Lawsuits can be costly, embarrassing, and frustrating, but you can avoid all of this by either learning all the laws in your state and following them or by hiring a property management firm to assist you in your management duties.
For more information, contact a property management company.
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