The number of fraudulent rental applications has increased over the past few years. The increase has been attributed to several factors within the rental housing industry. Rents have risen faster than household incomes creating affordability issues and rental housing supply and demand in current markets has limited housing choices. Factors such as these can put […]

Discovering a rental unit which is currently leased but apparently unoccupied leaves a landlord to question whether the tenant has abandoned the unit without giving notice or whether the tenant has left for an extended period for personal reasons. There are a number of reasons that a tenant could be absent from their unit for […]

There are some common mistakes that landlords make when conducting tenant screenings that create problems for their business. Some mistakes can be serious violations of applicable laws, such as fair housing requirements and landlord-tenant laws. Other mistakes result from outdated policies and practices when due diligence was not done to keep current with latest federal, […]

Mold and mildew result from moisture problems in the rental property. Landlords must take appropriate, timely action when notified by a tenant of mold problems in the rental unit or as discovered by maintenance inspections of the rental property. Moisture problems can be quite costly in terms of physical damage to the rental property, cause […]

The tenant screening process finalizes with the decisioning phase to accept or reject an applicant. During the screening process applicants have been qualified to rental standards. Now the decision must be made to offer tenancy to one applicant and notify other applicants that their applications have been rejected. Rejecting an applicant is a business task […]

Landlord notifications and disclosures are business practices required by federal, state, and local laws. The nature of the notification or disclosure and the method of delivery may be specific to the circumstances and the jurisdictional requirements of the rental property location. Notifications There are a variety of circumstances that may require a landlord to provide […]

Rental price regulations are laws to protect tenants from unwarranted large rent increases and to help maintain access to existing affordable housing. Rent control and rent stabilization laws regulate rents that a landlord can charge tenants and limit the reasons for tenant evictions. A landlord cannot use eviction as a means to circumvent rental price […]

There is an element of financial risk to the landlord’s business in the installation of a new tenant. Tenant screenings provide risk management tools to assess credit risk by estimating the probability of tenant default on rent obligations. With credit risk analysis, the landlord can make an informed decision acceptable to the landlord’s business model. […]

April 2022 marks the 54th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). During Fair Housing Month the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), fair housing organizations, and fair housing advocates host fair housing activities in local communities to enhance public awareness of fair housing rights. The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits discrimination in […]

A lease may be terminated for a variety of reasons. The process of terminating a lease requires landlord and tenant to follow certain procedures to ensure the termination is conducted in a legally compliant manner. The contractual relationship of landlord and tenant is a binding agreement between the two parties detailing the lease terms and […]