With renting being the new normal, tenants must know their legal rights and responsibilities to handle disputes with landlords and ensure fair treatment.
This article explains six fundamental rights that every tenant should know.
Right to Protection Against Housing Discrimination
The Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits housing discrimination, ensuring fair treatment and equal housing opportunities throughout the United States (U.S.).
Under fair housing law, a potential tenant’s rental application cannot be denied based on any of the following:
- Race
- Nationality
- Sex
- Familial status
- Religion
- Disability
The FHA also safeguards disabled renters’ rights to special assistance and removes barriers to physical access within their rental accommodation.
If you feel a landlord has violated your rights by discriminating against you, consider filing a claim with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Right to a Habitable Residence
Maintaining the leased premises in habitable condition is one of the essential obligations of a property owner.
The landlord is responsible for providing a rental that meets basic habitable residential requirements, such as:
- Compliance with safety regulations
- Protection from foreseeable criminal activity
- Preventative measures against environmental hazards
- Disclosure of lead-based paint in rentals built before 1978
Rentals must also provide essential services like:
- reliable electrical, heating, cooling, and water systems
In the event of a landlord failing to meet habitable residence requirements and refusing to make the necessary repairs, the tenant can take action by:
- Withholding rent payment
- Making repairs and deducting the cost from the month’s rent
- Breaching the contract and moving out of the rental
- Taking legal action against the landlord
However, there is a fine line between normal wear and tear, excessive damage, and damage (other than normal wear and tear) caused by the tenant.
Using a malfunctioning heating system as the example, let’s look at what constitutes normal wear and tear, damage, and excessive damage:
- Insufficient heating of your unit due to a deteriorating heating system. This is an example of normal wear and tear. Mechanical components have a limited lifespan, and the landlord must replace an overworked heating system with a new one.
- Insufficient heating of your unit due to the heater broken intentionally or accidentally by the tenant. A heater broken due to the tenant’s actions is a negligent damage issue that is the tenant’s responsibility. The tenant must pay for the repairs, and if they fail to do so, the landlord can deduct repair costs from the security deposit.
- Insufficient heating of your unit due to a faulty heater. Your landlord must ensure that the leased unit has a functioning heating system. A defective heater is an excessive damage issue and the repair work is the landlord’s responsibility.
A comprehensive lease agreement can resolve these complicated unit repair issues by categorizing repairs into normal wear and tear, negligent damage, and excessive damage.
The contract can assign the repair work responsibilities accordingly.
Right to Your Security Deposit
Governed by state and federal law, tenants’ rights are a series of non-negotiable landlord-tenant rules and regulations that spell out your rights to a safe and functional living space.
Under most state landlord-tenant laws, landlords must return the security deposit to the tenant within 30 days of the end of the lease term or upon early lease termination.
Unless landlords can deduct damage costs and unpaid rent from the deposit, they must return the deposits in full.
Suppose your landlord does not refund your security deposit or fails to provide a list of deductions upon returning a reduced deposit.
In that case, you have the right to seek the deposit by taking legal action against the landlord.
You can avoid court proceedings by writing a demand letter via certified mail to return the deposit noted in your rental agreement.
Right to Quiet Enjoyment
Quiet enjoyment is a tenant’s right to possess and use their rental property without any interference from their landlord.
A malfunctioning smoke alarm, persisting pest infestation issues, unannounced property inspections, and maintenance work continuing past the proposed deadline are all violations of this tenant right.
However, scheduled repair work, sounds of the surrounding natural habitat, phone calls to inquire about overdue monthly rent, and announced routine inspections are acceptable disturbances.
Landlords do not have to worry about being a legal nuisance in these instances as they do not violate the tenant’s right to quiet enjoyment.
Rights Involving Rent Increases
Rent control laws set maximum price ceilings on the amount a landlord can charge when leasing their residential property to a tenant.
At the state level, rent control laws are not common, with about 35 states forbidding or preempting rent control.
For states and local jurisdictions without rent control, landlords generally have the right to increase rent by a reasonable amount.
If you’re a tenant under a lease or rental agreement, your landlord cannot increase the rent until either the end of the lease period or as outlined in the contract.
Additionally, renters in subsidized housing have protections against rent increases.
Any rent increases are subject to regulations for that type of housing as state law dictates, and rent increases are typically unrelated to a family’s income.
Under month-to-month lease agreements, the landlord can raise the rent by providing a prior notice for a rent increase. Notice for rent increase varies across states, with most states requiring 30 days.
Rights in the Event of Eviction
If a tenant fails to comply with the lease agreement, such as on-property pet restrictions or failure to pay rent on time, the landlord can start the eviction process.
Commonly, landlords begin eviction proceedings because renters have not paid their monthly rent payments by the due date.
The eviction process includes serving an eviction notice, which details the period of time within which tenants must vacate the rental or fix the lease violation if applicable.
Landlords must file an eviction notice with the local court before ordering eviction from their property.
Tenants have the right to protest against the notice in court and are not required to vacate the rental before the conclusion of the eviction proceedings.
Eviction laws vary widely across the states. Some state laws allow tenants to remedy a contract violation within a set deadline.
In contrast, other states allow landlords to pursue eviction regardless of the lease violation(s) correction.
It is always wise to seek legal aid or advice when involved in eviction proceedings or threatened with eviction.
There is much to consider when faced with eviction. For example, landlords cannot evict tenants in some states for failing to pay late fees while submitting rent payments on time.
Also, victims of stalking and sexual assault, for instance, have specific protections against evictions.
If you get served with an eviction notice and feel your landlord has violated your rights, you should file an answer with the court to protect your rights.
Summary
Housing trends have evolved largely over the past decade, with more states reporting a renter majority over a homeowner majority.
To successfully assert your renters’ rights, you must be knowledgeable about your state and local laws and how they protect and guarantee your right to a habitable residence and fair treatment.
You must also thoroughly understand any legal documents a landlord asks you to sign and your obligations under any rental contracts.
Knowing your tenant rights and understanding your contract are essential for a healthy landlord-tenant relationship.
Taking rental contracts seriously also helps avoid potentially costly and damaging legal issues.
