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Landlord-Tenant Law: A Beginner’s Guide

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This post is coauthored by Barbara Bavis and Robert Brammer, legal reference specialists.

It is no wonder that we get a large number of questions about landlord-tenant law at the Law Library of Congress, in light of the fact that residential leasing, and the rights and obligations that stem from such agreements, is a pressing legal issue for many of our patrons.  Much of landlord-tenant law is state-specific, and as such, those wanting to do detailed legal research in this area might want to visit their local public law library.  However, we have collected some information below regarding books, websites, and other resources, that might help a researcher just beginning their landlord-tenant research.

Sign--Deluxe apartments for rent--about three miles from naval air base now under construction. Corpus Christi, Texas. These apartments are just being finished and are shown below. Photograph by Russell Lee. (December, 1940). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8c00374
Sign–Deluxe apartments for rent–about three miles from naval air base now under construction. Corpus Christi, Texas. These apartments are just being finished and are shown below. Photograph by Russell Lee. (December, 1940). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8c00374

Books

General


Tenant-Specific


Landlord-Specific


Subject Headings

As mentioned above, many of the laws in the area of rental leasing are state-specific.  Thus, to find more resources regarding this topic, you might want to search the WorldCat catalog, or your local law library’s catalog, to find more resources specific to your area.  We suggest the following subject headings:

To locate additional resources using these subject headings in the Library of Congress catalog, please click here to use our catalog and browse subject headings. Click “browse” and use the drop-down to select “SUBJECTS beginning with” or “SUBJECTS containing,” and then input a subject heading using one of the examples shown above. Finally, click on a result and you can browse the materials classified under that subject heading.


Websites

Luckily, there are also many free websites that offer helpful information about landlord-tenant law, including:

In addition, we urge researchers to use the internet search engine of their choice to search for landlord-tenant law for their area.  Many state and local governments have produced landlord-tenant handbooks, guides, and other similar resources, that clearly explain the landlord-tenant laws in their jurisdiction.

We wish you the best of luck with your research regarding landlord-tenant law.  If you have any questions regarding your legal research, please contact the Law Library of Congress.  Also, if there are any other landlord-tenant law resources you have found to be helpful, let us know by making a comment below!

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