Rental Property Law
When you are screening and choosing your new tenants
As a landlord you are allowed to screen anyone who is applying to be your tenant and choose people that you think will be able to pay their rent on time and follow the rules of your rental agreement.
However, rental property law prohibits you from discriminating someone as your tenant due to their nationality, race, gender, religion or physical disability. When you reject someone as your tenant, be sure to give them a valid reason and not lie to them that your property is already rented out — that’s how landlords commonly land themselves in hot water.
When you are setting your rent and late fees
If your tenants belong to a subsidized housing program or regulated tenancy, you may not be allowed to set your own rent according to the market rates. Instead, your local housing authorities will decide the rent rates for your rental property.
You are generally allowed to set your own late rent fees if your tenants don’t pay their rents on time. However, in most areas the rental property law disallows the landlord from imposing late fees that are too high. Generally, any late fees that are over 30 percent of your monthly rent will be considered too steep.
When you are handling your tenant’s security deposit
Valid and common reasons for deducting money from your tenant’s security deposit include overdue rent, unpaid property expenses and property damages caused by your tenant. Whenever you take money from his security deposit, you will have to give your tenant a written list stating the reason and amount for every deduction.
When you want to evict tenants from your rental property
You may have horrible tenants but your landlord tenant law will prohibit you from simply chasing away them away with a broom. First, you will have to give your tenant a written notice to quit. The tenant will have a last chance to clean up his mess within a time limit before the landlord can jump-start an eviction lawsuit.
To formally begin your eviction lawsuit, you will have to go to your local authorities to obtain an order for eviction. This will fix up a date for your court hearing and your tenant will be summoned to appear for it. If all goes well and you win the eviction lawsuit, your tenant will have to leave your rental property within three to seven days, or possibly longer.
If you are a residential landlord, it’s important to know that your local rental property law does not grant you the right of self-help. This means that you cannot change the locks by yourself or cut off the electricity and water supply to chase away bad tenants. You will have to wait for the local authorities to do that for you.
This article is not legal advice in any way. You will need to contact an attorney for legal advice.
Mark Balaban is a member of the Manitowoc County Board of Realtors.
This is a blog post for Real Estate Professionals, Investors, Landlord, Property Manager, and Property Management Companies. Learn Rental Property Law to Manage Tenants Effortlessly is brought to you by SimplifyEm Pay Rent Online and Property Management Software
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