Tenant Rights
When you rent housing, there are many laws that affect your relationship as
a tenant with the landlord. This pamphlet is about some of those laws.
RENTAL AGREEMENTS
Leases
Although a rental agreement can be written or oral, “lease” usually means a
written rental agreement for a specific time, usually one year.
For a tenant, the main advantage of a written lease is that your rent cannot
be raised and you cannot be evicted during that year, as long as you abide
by the lease. The main disadvantage is that you may have to pay the rent
for extra months if you move before the lease ends.
Read the lease carefully before you sign, and ask about anything you do not
understand. If rent is shared, anyone who signs the lease may have to pay
the total rent, not just his or her portion. If your lease expires and you are
not offered a new one, you become a month-to-month tenant.
Month-to-month tenant
If you do not have a lease, the landlord can increase the rent, but must give
written notice of the increase (or any other significant change), 30 days in
advance. Likewise, you can leave without continuing to owe rent as long as
you give the landlord 30 days notice.
In most situations a month-to-month tenant cannot be evicted without good
cause. Please read our pamphlet The Eviction Process for a list of the
reasons that you can be evicted.
SECURITY DEPOSITS
Your landlord may require you to pay a security deposit. The amount of the
security deposit cannot be more than what you pay for one month’s rent.
Your landlord must return your deposit within 30 days after you leave.
Please see our pamphlet Security Deposits for more information about the
laws affecting your security deposit.
BE SURE TO GET RECEIPTS FOR ALL PAYMENTS YOU MAKE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU PAY IN CASH