As a renter, it’s critical to identify the main state and federal laws that affect your rights and responsibilities. You can be a better and more informed tenant by knowing these laws. This can help you have a wonderful experience and avoid issues with your landlord at some point. Here are some of the most important laws you should know about as a renter:
- Warranty of Habitability. Even though it comes by different names in different states, the implied warranty of habitability laws is state laws intended to ensure that your rental unit is livable. In several states, this implies the rental home meets certain minimum standards for things including heat, water, and electricity.
- Choosing a Tenant. State and federal laws allow landlords the right to choose their tenants. Yet, the laws also stipulate that a landlord’s decision must be based on creditworthiness, income, or past history. They cannot decline to rent to anyone because of their features such as skin color, religion, sexual orientation, familial status, and disability.
- Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act is a federal law that restricts landlords from discriminating against tenants based on protected characteristics such as race, religion, gender, national origin, and disability. This law was enacted in 1968 and allowed renters who feel discriminated against because of one or more of these characteristics to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), no matter which state they live in.
- Limiting the Number of Children. Under the Fair Housing Act, a landlord cannot refuse to rent to a tenant because of how many children the tenant has. The law also indicates that a landlord cannot ban children from using outdoor or common areas.
- Service Animals. Under federal laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act, service animals constitute a reasonable accommodation, and landlords cannot just exclude them. Nor can they charge an additional pet fee or bring up the rent because you have a service animal. However, landlords can require that a service animal is vaccinated, licensed, and registered according to all state and local laws.
- Discriminatory Advertising. HUD’s federal Fair Housing Act also states that landlords cannot employ discrimination in their advertisement of a rental property. For instance, publishing an ad stating that the landlord would not rent to single adults, people of a certain age, or won’t accept wheelchairs are all forms of discriminatory advertising.
- Security Deposits. There are laws concerning how a Sanford property manager must handle your security deposit. In several scenarios, the law allows a landlord to collect and then hold your deposit and possibly utilize it to conduct repairs if you are negligent and damage anything while staying in the house. There are federal limits set on how much a landlord can charge for a security deposit – which is also regulated by state law.
- Illegal Lockouts. While there is no single federal law that makes locking out a tenant illegal, laws in every state describe the legal eviction process that makes locking a tenant out of their rental house an unlawful activity. Eviction is a legal process that must be performed properly, or the landlord risks having the court rule in the tenant’s favor.
If you’re seeking a Sanford rental home and property manager who respects and will follow all tenant-landlord laws in Florida, Real Property Management Vanguard is someone you can trust. Browse our listings online to find your next rental home!
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
