Real Estate Investing Information Blog

A landlord is the proprietor of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to a personality or business, who is called the tenant. In the United Kingdom the director of a public house is also called the landlord or, extra formally, as the licensed victualler. A female landlord can also be called a landlady or simply landlord. When a lawful person is in the same position the term landlord is used. Other terms used are lesser and owner, the phrase landlady is used in some jurisdictions for females. The tenant can also be called a lese or renter.

In the United States, landlord-tenant disputes are mainly governed by state law regarding property and contracts. State law and, in several places, city law or county law, sets the requirements for eviction of a tenant. Usually, there are a limited number of reasons for which a landlord can evict his tenant before the ending of the tenancy, though at the end of the lease term the rental relationship can usually be terminated without giving any reason. Some cities have laws establishing the highest rent a landlord can charge, known as rent control, and associated just because eviction controls. There is also an implied warranty of habitability, whereby a landlord must uphold safe, decent and habitable housing, meeting minimum safety requirements such as smoke detectors and a locking door.

A rental harmony, or lease, is the contract defining such conditions as the price paid, penalties for late payments, the length of the rental or lease, and the amount of notice required before both the landlord or tenant cancels the union. In common, the landlord is responsible for repairs and maintenance, and the tenant is liable for keeping the property clean and safe.

Many landlords employ a property management company to take care of all the particulars of renting their property out to a tenant. This typically includes advertising the property and showing it to potential tenants, and then, once rented, collecting rent from the tenant and performing maintenance as needed.

Sometimes the terms "slumlord" or "ghetto landlord" are used in situation to the owner of dilapidated buildings in shattered urban areas. As a effect of declining demand and declining real estate prices, these landlords were often left with totally unprofitable properties and found themselves incapable to pay for renovation and the usual maintenance of their property. The situation in numerous American slums became so dire that landlords were known to set their own buildings on fire in an attempt to gather on the insurance policy.