Landlord how-to
Tips for Worry-Free Property Management

Protect yourself from potential legal challenges associated with your investment properties or the buildings you manage.

REVIEWED BY KELLY QUIGLEY

Nolo: Landlords & Property Management

If you own apartment buildings or commercial developments, or if you’re interested in going into property management as a career, you must know how to retain quality tenants and turn a healthy profit. And just as important, you must understand how to effectively deal with potential legal challenges—from evicting tenants to dealing with an injury on the premises. Online legal resource Nolo offers a free portal to essential information exclusively for landlords and property managers. The site includes articles, step-by-step guides, tax tips, and other tools designed to help you deal with the legal aspects of property management. The following sections of the site are particularly useful:

• Top 10 Tax Deductions for Landlords. Did you know that you can deduct the local travel expenses of driving to your rental building to deal with a tenant complaint or to the hardware store to pick up a repair part? This and nine other helpful tax tips are included in this list, written by attorney and author Stephen Fishman.
  
• Chart: Landlord-Tenant Statutes, State by State. Landlord-tenant laws vary significantly depending on where you live, so it's important to check your state laws for specifics. This chart lists the key statutes for each state, which you can then look up on Nolo’s well-organized (and free) State Laws section.
  
• How to Screen and Select Tenants. What’s the best way for landlords to screen tenants? In this page of frequently asked questions, you’ll get answers to that question and many more. Find out if you’re allowed to look at a prospective tenant’s credit history, which references to check, and how to avoid subtle discrimination that could land you in court.
  
• How Evictions Work: Rules for Landlords and Property Managers. Irresponsible tenants can wreak havoc on your property and your pocketbook. But before removing someone from your building, there are many things you need to know to protect yourself from legal trouble. In this section, you’ll learn when you must provide a termination notice and how to legally tell someone they can’t live in your building anymore. Simply changing the locks isn’t going work.

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Editors at REALTOR® Magazine Online surf the Web to find useful sites that can help you achieve greater success in your business and career. If you would like to recommend a Web site offering free, practical tools and resources to real estate professionals, please send your suggestion to mediatech@realtors.org.
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