Tenant law, in plain language.
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Common situations
Legal terms, explained
- Answer (responding in court) Your written response to an eviction lawsuit. Filing it protects your right to be heard.
- Changing your locks When you or your landlord may change the locks.
- Code inspection Asking a city inspector to check unsafe conditions in your home.
- Constructive eviction When bad conditions force you to move out, the law can treat it as if your landlord evicted you.
- Court records / evidence Keeping photos, letters, and receipts as proof for court.
- Deposit escrow and interest Where your deposit must be kept, and the interest it may earn.
- Deposit penalty damages (2x/3x) The penalty a landlord pays for wrongly keeping a deposit. Often 2 or 3 times the amount.
- Deposit receipt Written proof that you paid your deposit.
- Deposit return deadline How long a landlord has to give your deposit back after you move out.
- Emergency entry A landlord may enter right away in a true emergency, like a fire or a burst pipe.
- Eviction court process How an eviction case runs in court, from filing to hearing to the officer who carries out a removal.
- Eviction record sealing The public court record an eviction case leaves. Some places let you seal it.
- Fair housing (discrimination) Laws that ban housing discrimination based on race, family status, disability, and more.
- Federal housing assistance Extra federal rules that protect you in public housing, with a voucher, or in other HUD assisted homes.
- Help lines Free phone lines that help renters, like 211 or a city tenant hotline.
- HUD housing counseling Free or low cost advice from HUD approved housing counselors.
- Illegal lockout A landlord forcing you out by changing locks or cutting utilities. It is illegal.
- Itemized deduction statement The written list of charges a landlord must send when keeping part of a deposit.
- Legal aid Free lawyers and legal aid for renters who qualify.
- No increase during a lease term During a fixed lease term, your rent cannot go up unless you agree.
- No self-help eviction (court required) Only a court can order you out of your home. A landlord acting alone cannot.
- Notice of entry How much advance warning your landlord owes you before coming in.
- Notice to quit A letter telling you to move out by a set date. An eviction case can only start after it.
- Pay and stay (redemption) Paying all the rent you owe to stop an eviction case. Many places allow it up to a deadline.
- Pay or quit notice The written warning you must get before a late-rent eviction case. It gives you time to pay.
- Penalties for illegal entry What a landlord owes you for entering illegally.
- Quiet enjoyment Your right to live in your home without your landlord disturbing you.
- Rent control / rent stabilization Laws that cap how much rent can go up.
- Rent debt collection What happens to unpaid rent after you move or lose in court: collectors, credit reports, and screening reports.
- Rent help programs Programs that help pay rent when money runs short.
- Rent increase notice The written warning your landlord owes you before rent goes up.
- Rent withholding Holding back rent until your landlord fixes a serious problem. Legal only in some places.
- Repair requests in writing Asking for repairs in writing, so there is proof of when you asked.
- Retaliation When a landlord punishes you for using a legal right. The law forbids it.
- Right of entry (allowed reasons) The reasons the law lets your landlord enter, like repairs or showings.
- Security deposit cap The most a landlord can charge as a security deposit.
- Small claims court A low cost court for money disputes. You do not need a lawyer.
- Utility shutoff protection Rules that limit when a utility company can shut off your water, electric, or gas, including cold and hot weather protections, and help paying the bill.
- Warranty of habitability Your landlord's duty to keep your home safe and fit to live in.