Customer Reviews

The California Landlord's Law Book: Rights and Responsibilities with CDROM (California Landlord's Law Book: Rights & Responsibilities)

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When we moved to a new home, we decided not to sell our old one but rent it out instead. However, we've heard a lot of nightmare stories about being a landlord, so the idea was pretty scary even though it makes sense for the long-term financially. This book gives you great advice and even examples of doing things the right way and the wrong way. I certainly had a lot of misconceptions about what was legal and what was not, and I think it would even be helpful even if one decided to hire a property management service just to understand liabilities. After reading this book, I feel comfortable that we've done everything in a legally correct way, and that we did a good job of screening our tenants. The forms provided give you everything you need to start renting out a place.

If you're in the real estate rental business in the state of California you need this book to start out, survive, and thrive in this business. The NOLO books are written by lawyers for lay people.

The "California Landlord's Law Book: Rights and Responsibilities" covers all ground and gives you more than a legal or business understanding of real estate rental (rare but detrimental scenarios and important topics are discussed, such as Discrimination, Self-Help Evictions, Landlord's Liabilities for Dangerous Conditions and Criminal Acts, etc.)

This law book also contains all the forms you will need, both at the end as apendix and on a CD. The book is very thorough and every new edition stays abreast with the latest rental law changes in California. The only downside (unavoidable) is that every so often NOLO publishes a new edition thus somewhat outdaing previous ones.

I don't know if California has more renters than other places or not, but the laws regarding the renting of property in California are far more numerous, strict, and difficult to understand than those from anywhere else.

This book, written by practicing attorneys who also happen to know how to write in plain and simple English, describes the California laws from the standpoint of the landlord. This includes: leases, rental agreements, managers, credit checks, security deposits, discrimination, invasion of privacy, the landlord's duty to maintain the premises, and much more, things you might not think about if you are just thinking about renting the house you're moving out of.

Some interesting chapters include how to deal with those few tenants who will inevitably try to invent bogus reasons why they were legally entitled to withhold rent, another makes sure that you, your managers and any other employees know and follow antidiscrimination laws and, at least as important, make it clear that you are doing so.

This book is now in its 11th edition. Any book that's been around for eleven editions must have something going for it. And one thing is access to a web site that keeps you up to date with any changes in the law since the book came out.

Finally there's a CD-ROM with the book that includes most (quite likely all) the forms you'll need to be in the rental business.

I just bought my first rental and used this book for everything from screening tenants to the agreement forms. I found the book easy to read yet detailed in terms of the legal ramifications when renting in California. When I had an outside attorney review my agreement, they had nothing to add or suggest, it was all covered. Not bad!

This was the only book I needed to become a landlord in California. With the included forms on CD, I was able to easily create a lease for my tenants and feel confident that I was doing everything legally. I read the relevant sections of the book and will keep it on hand if any rental problems show up. I am very satisfied with the book selection.

This is our bible for all our rentals. The disc has all the forms you'll need, backed up by the part of the law that applies. If you have rentals in California, this should be your guide to staying out of trouble.

I have been a landlord for 12 years. Every few years I purchase a revised version just to be sure that laws haven't changed that I should know about. This book is a must if you have rentals in California. It is very easy to understand, it has all the forms you may need on CD and can be referred to quickly when questions come up. I feel I am a better landlord because of this book. I have also loaned it to my friends when they felt that their landlord had not be treating them fairly. They also found it very helpful. I wouldn't be without it.

I read through the book before renting my place, and it provided me with very useful tips on the legality of various aspects of renting one's place. It also had templates and forms which were very handy, in drawing up a lease, issuing a receipt or generating a checklist. I would recommend this book for any landlord, whether you are renting out one house or multiple.

This book and CD was well worth every penny. It gives examples and explains things in simple to understand language. Legal language is explained in parenthesis after each instance of it. It also tells you the pros and cons to certain things you may want to consider and even gives their expert opinion from time to time. It also mentions the laws of some of the bigger municipalites such as San Francisco and Los Angeles as they have laws, such as rent control, that most other portions of the state do not have.

The CD is great because I did not have to pay on-line to download and print legal forms. Also, I was able to have any given form on my screen and add or omit any words that I liked while keeping the basic gist of it.

This book has proved very valuable to me, even one month after my renters moved in as they told us they are getting a dog, so we were able to print up a basic ammendment to the lease from the CD, add specifics to the document that they are to follow (based on our wishes), include an increased deposit amount that we determined, and so on.

I highly recommend this book and CD. Mine is the 11th edition (2005). I doubt much has changed since then and it proved to be more than adequate for my needs.

This book is not only complete, but it is written in a very comprehensive manner. It's thorough, easy to understand, and covers the gamut of any questions any new landlord (like myself) may have.