Landlord Law Introduction

This portion of our site is for persons who wish to gain information about the laws that may apply to the landlord-tenant relationship.  It is not a substitute for competent advice from an experienced legal professional on specific questions.  It is a way to become more informed and able to recognize potential and real problems that may require legal assistance, and to avoid many problems before they arise.

WHAT IS HERE

We have assembled the statutory laws of all the states and the District of Columbia.  However, we did gather a collection of statutes that will give you a starting point, and a pamphlet describing Landlord/Tenant Rights. Where search engines are available, we have included them.  Where the text of the Landlord-Tenant Law, or its equivalent is available, we have included that as well.  We strongly recommend the use of the search engine.

WHY USE A SEARCH ENGINE

State statutes are divided into Chapters and Divisions, by those or some other such names, for ease of use by professionals.  Peoples’ lives are not so compartmentalized.  For this reason, the law pertaining to a particular aspect of the relationship between a landlord and his tenant, may not be dealt with exclusively by the Landlord-Tenant Law.

Suppose the landlord has given the tenant a 30 day notice to vacate which expires on the 29th of January.  On January 1, the tenant gives the landlord a check for the rent for the full month of January.  Can the landlord cash the check and still begin eviction proceedings on the 29th?  You are not likely to find the answer to this question in the Landlord-Tenant Law of your state.  The question involves issues of waiver or estoppel which are probably dealt with elsewhere.  The inclusion of the search engine permits the landlord to search all of the statutes of his state for the ones that may bear on his question.  We believe this benefit far outweighs the small additional effort necessary to learn how to do efficient searches.