1. Maintaining Livable Conditions
Your landlord must maintain your rental property in a habitable condition and provide essential services. This includes:
- Heat
- Air conditioning
- Running water
- Electricity
- A functioning door lock
2. Money, Money, Money
- Your landlord must give you 60 days written notice before increasing rent on month-to-month tenancies.
- Late fees can’t be more than 5% of your periodic rent.
- Your security deposit can’t be more than three times your rent.
- Your security deposit can only be used for unpaid rent, cleaning, and repairs beyond reasonable wear and tear at the end of your lease.
- Any agreement that you make with your landlord should be put in writing (e.g., if your landlord accepts a partial payment of rent, write your understanding of that agreement).
3. Landlord’s Right to Enter
- A landlord can’t abuse the right to enter the property or use that right to harass you.
- Unless there is an emergency, your landlord must give you 24 hours’ notice before entering the rental property.
4. You and Your Lease
- A landlord may not make one-sided changes to the terms in your rental agreement.
- After you move in, your landlord may only enforce new rules if the new rule applies to all tenants on the premises in a fair way and if it promotes convenience and safety.
- Your lease cannot waive rights given to you by law.
5. You Should Know . . .
- It is illegal for your landlord to use “self-help evictions.” They can’t make your living situation unbearable in order to push you off the property or change the locks without court involvement.
- A landlord must let you know about any foreclosure proceedings related to the rental property.
- Your landlord cannot discriminate against you for race, religion, color, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, ancestry, familial status, or sex.
For more information, visit www.civillawselfhelpcenter.org
Click here to view the flyer.
Haga clic aquí para español.
