Successful rental businesses attract and keep tenants because of their good reputations. If local renters hear word that you take care of your tenants and properties, you won’t have a problem filling your units.

Further, the most respected landlords are those who respect their tenants. Most importantly, this means respecting your tenants’ legal rights as described in state and federal law.

Your tenants have a range of rights. As a housing provider, you are obligated to provide adequate living spaces and conditions for your residents. If you don’t, you could be liable for injuries, damages, or lawsuits.

Avoid legal entanglements altogether by making your rentals comfortable, healthy, and generally appealing to tenants.

Here are eight rights all tenants have in residential housing and how to fulfill them.

1. Equal Opportunity

Tenants have a right to equal opportunity in housing. This means, it’s illegal to discriminate in housing (during showings, tenant screening, advertisements, etc.) based on any of the seven federally protected classes:

• Race
• Color
• National Origin
• Sex
• Religion
• Familial status
• Disability

State laws often add additional protected groups, including sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, genetic information, marital status, military status, pregnancy, and others.

2. Basic Habitability

Tenants also have the right to basic standards of habitability. Each state defines what “habitability” means and looks like, but in general it means tenants should have access to:

• Hot and cold running water
• Heating
• Pest control
• Working appliances and utilities
• Basic safety

When a tenant causes damage, they are financially responsible for the repair. However, you are legally responsible for making the repair. You must keep your properties in livable condition or risk unhappy tenants and legal liability.

3. Security and Privacy

Everyone deserves the right to feel safe in their homes. The same is true for renters. Your tenants have the right to basic security and privacy measures, like locks on windows and doors and adequate private space.

The right to privacy also applies to landlord entry. You may not enter your units anytime you want. Instead, you must give appropriate notice (usually 24 hours) and choose reasonable times except in emergency situations. While you’re inside an occupied unit, you must respect tenants’ belongings and living spaces.

4. Reasonable Accommodations

Tenants with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations in housing and employment.

Reasonable accommodations may look different depending on the individual and their needs. Tenants with physical disabilities may require wheelchair ramps, shower bars, or other physical modifications.

Other tenants may require a change in policy (e.g., allowing their emotional support animal to live in your pet-free complex) or a procedure change (e.g., signing the lease with the help of a preparer).

5. Eviction Notice

In the rare and unfortunate case of an eviction, no one should be surprised by an invitation to court. Your tenants have the right to prior notice in writing of any court initiations and dates, even those being evicted for breaking the rental agreement.

6. Quiet Enjoyment

Tenants also have the right to quiet enjoyment. This right can be defined in several ways, but it generally prevents you from doing any of the following:

• Harassing or threatening a tenant
• Forcing a tenant to move
• Stealing or damaging tenants’ personal belongings
• Changing the locks to keep a tenant from entering their home
• Boarding up a unit while it’s occupied
• Excessively request to enter, or enter for unreasonable lengths of time
• Shut off utilities

7. Move-in Checklist

In most states, tenants are entitled to a move-in checklist that they should receive before signing a rental agreement. Tenants are not responsible for the damage caused by a prior resident, so they are also encouraged to walk through the unit before move-in to identify, document, and photograph any damages.

Upon move-out, the tenant can provide the list of damages and images to prevent you from withholding funds from their security deposit.

8. Security Deposit Return

All tenants have the right to receive their security deposit back within a reasonable timeframe after move-out. In most states, this timeframe is around 30 days. However, it can be as little as 14 days or as many as 60.

If you don’t respect this right and promptly return all security deposits, you may lose your right to withhold funds for repairs and damages.

Conclusion

You own your properties, but they are your tenants’ principal homes. Respecting their rights and entitlements is nonnegotiable. By carefully reviewing the laws in your state and educating yourself about tenant rights, you can build a welcoming rental community that tenants are grateful to have joined.