Explore research-backed legal explainers written in plain English, citing official federal statutes and court decisions.
The implied warranty of habitability is a non-waivable legal rule requiring residential landlords to maintain rental properties in a safe, sanitary, and livable condition.
A security deposit is a refundable financial sum provided by a tenant to a landlord at lease signing to ensure compliance with rental obligations and property care.
A lease is a contract that lets a tenant use a landlord's property for a set time in exchange for rent, and it sets the rules both sides must follow.
Tenants in the U.S. have core rights to a habitable home, fair treatment, privacy, return of their deposit, and protection from illegal eviction and retaliation.
Landlords can collect rent, screen tenants, enforce lease rules, enter with notice, and end tenancies through court — but only within fair housing and state landlord-tenant laws.
An eviction is a court process a landlord must use to remove a tenant. It starts with written notice and ends, if the landlord wins, with a court order enforced by a sheriff.