Renters' Rights

Sooner or later it will happen …

The landlord ignores your repair requests. Your roommates are once again late with their share of the rent. Your upstairs neighbors party all the time. The landlord won’t return your security deposit. How can you deal with these problems―and others―or prevent them from happening at all? Turn to Renters’ Rights if you need to:

• break a lease and leave early
• sublet your apartment
• deal with unwelcome landlord intrusions
• resolve a dispute with your roommate
• get your landlord to make repairs
• collect your full security deposit when you move out
• fight discrimination or retaliation, and
• put your best foot forward when applying for a rental.

This 10th edition is completely updated to reflect changes to state laws. It also includes more details on rent control and COVID-19-related advice for renters.

Are you a California resident? Check out California's Tenants' Rights

Janet Portman an attorney and Nolo's executive editor specializes in residential and commercial landlord/tenant law. She is the author or coauthor of Every Landlord's Legal Guide, Every Tenant's Legal Guide, Renters' Rights, Leases & Rental Agreements, The California Landlord's Law Book: Rights and Responsibilities, and others. Portman received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford University and a law degree from Santa Clara University. As a practicing attorney, she specialized in criminal defense before joining Nolo.

Ann O’Connell is a legal editor at Nolo specializing in landlord-tenant and real estate law. Before joining Nolo as an editor, Ann was a freelance writer for Nolo and other publications and law firms. She has passed the bar exams in California, Nevada, and Colorado, where she is both an active attorney and a real estate broker. Ann practiced civil litigation in California and Colorado, and had her own firm in Colorado. At her firm, she focused on real estate, landlord-tenant, and small business cases. Ann earned her B.A. from Boston College and her J.D. from UC Berkeley Law.