The Mom and Pop Exemption for Landlords. Question I own a duplex rental. I’m curious about the Mom and Pop Exemption, including why this exemption exists and is there any reason why I shouldn’t take advantage of the exemption? Answer The exemptions exists because they were required in order to get the necessary votes in […]

Lease Agreements – Part 5 In Part 4 of this series related to Lease Agreements we provided some basic discussion regarding what should be and what should not be in lease agreements. In this article we continue our series with a discussion about State-Required Clauses. Many states require by statute that certain clauses be included […]

Criminal History Records Search A landlord has a general duty to exercise reasonable care to protect the safety and welfare of his tenants from foreseeable harm. Due care must be exercised in the use, maintenance, and management of rental premises. While a landlord may not be able to eliminate all risk from his business, he […]

  Question A tenant that has lived in my rental house for nearly 5 years is requesting that I install new carpeting as a condition of her renewing her lease for another year. She claims that the law requires carpet be changed out every 5 years. Answer I know of no jurisdiction that specifies when […]

Question Can I require both additional pet rent and a pet deposit? Answer Some landlords charge not only pet rent, but also a separate pet deposit. This is legal in most states, however, in many (perhaps most states) the total of all deposits, whether called security deposit, pet deposit, cleaning deposit, or any other name, […]

Should Landlords Require Tenants To Have Renters Insurance? Renters Insurance Benefits Renters insurance can be of benefit to landlords.  Accordingly, landlords should encourage tenants to have renters insurance and, if allowed by their state’s law, should consider making renters insurance mandatory for all their units. One estimate is that less than a quarter of renters […]

Disclosure Issues – Part 2 We continue our series about disclosure issues with a discussion that is related to a specific question recently posted to our “1-on-1 Help Center.” The posted question concerned an issue which should be important to all landlords. The question was as follows: “I own a 4-plex on which various improvements […]

Dogs & Insurance Everyone is probably aware that they can be held liable for injuries caused by their dogs. All landlords should be aware that they can also be held liable for injuries caused by their tenants’ dogs. These days, dogs can also be the cause of insurance problems, whether your homeowner policy or policies […]

Lease Agreements between Landlords and Tenants – Part 4 In Part 3 of this series related to Lease Agreements we provided some basic discussion regarding what should be and what should not be in lease agreements. In this article we continue our series with a discussion about State-Required Clauses. Many states require by statute that […]

Question 1 I’m considering buying a commercial property.  How can I look at the commercial info in the resource center along with my residential I have now? Answer 1 The Mini Training Guides and eCourses linked from your member homepage include information related to both residential and commercial properties. Many commercial investing and management issues […]