Every Landlord's Legal Guide [Paperback]

Marcia Stewart (Author), Ralph Warner Attorney (Author), Janet Portman Attorney (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1413308562 | ISBN-13: 978-1413308563 | Publication Date: April 30, 2008 | Edition: 9th

An all-in-one authoritative guide every landlord needs

Every Landlord's Legal Guide is the most comprehensive and up-to-date legal and practical guide for residential landlords. The best, most effective way to make and save money as a landlord is to keep up with the law --and with Every Landlord's Legal Guide, you can do all that and more.

From move-in to move-out, this book covers a wide range of issues , including fair housing, repairs, sublets, screening for good tenants, environmental hazards such as mold and bed bugs (yes, bed bugs). You'll find legal and practical solutions backed by many 50-state charts with specific laws for each state. This complete resource will help you avoid hassles and headaches -- not to mention legal fees.

Here is everything you need to:

choose tenants

prepare a lease or rental agreement

collect and return deposits

avoid discrimination charges

hire a property manager

keep up with repairs and maintenance

minimize liability

deal with problem tenants
and more



Every Landlord's Legal Guide provides over 30 forms you'll need, including leases and rental agreements on the included CD-ROM. (PRINT VERSION)

The 9th edition is completely revised with updated information, and discusses new developments in domestic violence protections for tenants. (20080202)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This is a practical, well-organized manual for how to be a good landlord and avoid some of the pitfalls of owning rental property. Sample leases and rental agreements, information about liability, discrimination, repairs, and maintenance, and how to deal with problem tenants fairly and legally are all contained in here. Maybe if more landlords read this book, more tenants would feel like they and the owner are not intrinsic adversaries. Even though we get along quite well, and have for the last 22 years, I lent my copy to my landlord--for the other tenants' sakes! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This new title is a thorough and pragmatic examination of the legal issues that confront landlords of residential real property. In 17 chapters, it covers such topics as rent, discrimination, working with property managers, landlord liability, tenants, privacy rights, and security deposits. The chapters summarize the law and explain it with true-to-life illustrations. Icons are used to point out a practical tip, a question that might need a lawyer's interpretation, or an instance in which a rent-control ordinance might apply. The book is liberally sprinkled with sample agreements, letters, and lists of specific state requirements with regard to landlord/tenant laws. Forms to help with rent applications, tenant references, security deposit itemization, and safety and maintenance updates, to name a few, appear in print at the end of the book and on an accompanying 3.5" DOS-based computer disk. Every Landlord's Legal Guide makes plain the important legal concepts and provides real guidance for landlords. Recommended for most public libraries.?Joan Pedzich, Harris, Beach & Wilcox, Rochester, N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 504 pages
• Publisher: NOLO; 9th edition (April 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1413308562
• ISBN-13: 978-1413308563
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,880 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > Business & Investing > Real Estate > Law

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CAVEAT for NY & CA landlords, February 12, 2005

By 

AlexandriaPhilo "Cinelog" (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Every Landlord's Legal Guide (Paperback)

CAVEAT for NY & CA landlords, February 12, 2005
Reviewer: AlexandriaPhilo "Cinelog" (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews
If you own in New York or California you will want to buy the editions specific for those states. I live in California and almost goofed and bought this edition.

More info is available at the Nolo site at nolo.com

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best landlord book bar-none!, May 17, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Every Landlord's Legal Guide with CDROM (Every Landlord's Legal Guide (W/CD)) (Paperback)

This is the only book you need! It is incredibly easy to use and covers everything from rental agreements, to liability and discrimination, to maintenance, to evictions. It really leaves nothing out. The best part is the included CD-ROM which has all of the forms you'll need in an easy-to-fill-in format.
I own five properties and thanks to Every Landlord's Legal Guide I have learned how to legally protect myself and have consequently avoided countless expensive lawsuits. This book could end up saving you thousands!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the one book you need, November 11, 2004

By 

mdchachi "mdchachi" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Every Landlord's Legal Guide with CDROM (Every Landlord's Legal Guide (W/CD)) (Paperback)

If you only wanted to buy one book to help you get going in landlording, this is the one. It covers all the legal considerations you need to be aware of as a landlord including differences in state laws and the legal forms you need. In so doing, it covers most of the landlording issues that other books do since, really, most of them boil down to legal issues.

The state-by-state legal differences were particularly useful so I could craft my lease and properly follow the letter of the law. With just a generic how-to-landlord book, I'm not sure what I would have done. I probably wouldn't have been as aware as I should have about my local laws. And, bonus, the book is clear and easy to read.