Owning a property that you can rent or lease can be a great investment. It can also be a big headache if you dive in unprepared. A California landlord has specific landlord-tenant laws that protect you as the landlord as well as the tenant. Here are eight important laws you should know to make the transaction go smoothly right from the signing of the lease to handling the security deposit when the tenant vacates.

1. Security Deposit Law

According to California law, there are limits on how much a landlord can charge for a security deposit. For most people, it is no more than two months’ rent, but for service people, it is no more than one month’s rent for an unfinished house or apartment. If the residence is fully furnished, the California landlord can charge up to three month’s rent. If the tenant plans to bring a water bed, you can charge an extra half months rent.

The deposit must be returned to the tenant within 21 days after they move from the premises. The law does not allow any non-refundable fees.

2. Laws Pertaining to the Lease

To avoid any arguments or court cases at the time the tenant vacates the house, certain things must be clearly stated in the lease that the tenant signs before moving in. Having a professional property management team can make this much easier. The main things are:

• The amount of rent owed every month and when it is due. If you want to charge a late fee, it has to be appropriate concerning the amount of rent.
• Landlord-tenant laws provide rent control in certain areas of California, so check if it exists in the area of your rental property before setting the rental amount.
• The lease should state how to pay the rent if the due date falls on a weekend or holiday and the method of payment. This could be an online bank transfer, check or money order. If you want to charge a fee for late payment, it has to be specified in the lease. This fee must be a reasonable amount and not exorbitant.

3. When a California Landlord Can Increase the Rent

You must give your tenant at least 30 days’ notice before increasing the rent. If the amount of the increase is more than 10 percent of the lowest rent charged in the past 12 months, the landlord must give 60 days’ notice.

4. Non-Payment of Rent

The lease must also state that if the tenant simply doesn’t pay the rent at all, a California landlord must give at least three days for the tenant to pay or move out. California landlord-tenant laws state that you cannot file for eviction until the three days have passed.

In California, there are very strict rules for evicting a tenant after the required three days. This is where a property lawyer can be beneficial because if you don’t file the evection correctly, the tenant can find ways around it.

If you are in one of the 17 cities with rent control, the eviction rules may be different.

5. Disclosures from the Landlord

The tenant has the right to be informed of certain things about the property. The California landlord must disclose:

• Any registered sex offenders in the immediate area.
• The arrangements for the payment of utilities. Sometimes tenants share utilities and sometimes they are the sole users.
• The locations of any federal or state ordinances within a one-mile radius of the rental unit.
• Disclosure of any toxic mold on the premises that exceeds health codes.
• The use of pest control services and what pesticides were used.
• If there is any chance the premises will be demolished in the future.
• The areas where smoking is prohibited.

6. Tenants Have the Right to Withhold Rent

A tenant can legally withhold paying rent or deduct certain charges from the rent if:

• The structure does not meet health, safety and structural standards. A leaking roof is considered a serious problem that the landlord needs to fix. A leaking faucet is not.
• The problem should not have been caused by the tenant or a guest because of negligence or deliberate damage.
• The tenant must give the landlord notice of the problem in a reasonable amount of time to have it fixed.

7. Landlord Access to the Property

There are laws that protect the tenant from harassment by the landlord. This includes the restriction of the landlord’s right to access the property. The landlord must give 24-hours notice of entry or for a move-out inspection, 48-hours notice.
If you give proper notice and ender the house, if no one is at home, you or your property manager are required to leave written evidence inside the house of their entry.

Remember, you can’t, by law, just give notice and enter because you are curious. You must specify a legitimate purpose for the inspection, and the tenant has the right to refuse you entry if the purpose seems unreasonable.

These conditions should be clearly stated in the lease, so the tenant knows your legal right of entry.

8. No Retaliation Against a Tenant Who Exercises a Legal Right

Unfortunately, some landlord-tenant relationships are less than harmonious. And yet, the two are bound by a legal contract. Just because a tenant exercises a legal right such as deducting the cost of repairing a leaking roof from the rent, you can’t retaliate by raising the rent.

The best way to avoid this is to keep meticulous records of how you handle repairs and any other contact you have with your tenant. A full-service property management company can save you a lot of headaches in tenant relationships.

If you are a first-time landlord, it may seem a bit complicated to get started, but there is a lot of useful information given by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that will help you. Another useful site in the California Department of Consumer Affairs. You can also get professional help from a California landlord-tenant attorney.