When talking about Rental Housing, we know that property owners want to run a profitable business and also protect their investment, and tenants want to live peacefully in a rental home and protect their personal rights.
Laws pertaining to rental housing are established to protect both parties of the landlord-tenant relationships, so we have different level laws acting on.
Federal Landlord-Tenant Laws
The major federal laws that affect all landlords and property managers are:
Fair Housing Act: This one prohibits discrimination due to race, color, national origin, religion, sex familial status or disability, and acts beyond leasing to include advertising, preventing landlords from marketing their properties to certain groups of people.
Fair Credit Reporting Act: dictates the ways in which a landlord may use a tenant’s credit history for screening purposes. Under this act, a landlord must get an applicant’s permission to run a credit report, provide information on the credit reporting agency used, and inform the applicant if the information contained on the credit report was the basis for denial or adverse action.
Florida Law - Statute 63
State law concern practical matters like:
Rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords, what terms and conditions can be set as part of a lease, lease termination guidelines, and how evictions must be handled.
They also dictate how security deposits must be managed, when and how they should be returned to tenants.
There are some key timelines to be familiar with that every landlord should know. In future articles, we will address some of those. For know take a look for yourself.
A Landlord's Legal Responsibility
It is very important to become familiar with Florida Statute Chapter 83. It is the landlord-tenant statute for the state of Florida. Ignorance of the laws is no excuse and you can be sued for not obeying state laws, even if you were unaware of their existence. Do your own research. Be an informed landlord.
And of course, if you would like assistance with any matters related to your role as a landlord, please contact us and we will give you a hand.
If you are a property owner for multiple residential locations, you may find yourself dealing with tenant disputes more often than you like. For more information on how to evict your tenants, contact our office at info@theonyxgrouplegal.com. Our experienced team knows how to settle landlord tenant disputes efficiently, allowing our clients to manage their residential properties, and get paid, without disruption.
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