Owners Survey, about 70% of U.S. households own pets, up from 67% in the 2019-20 survey. As pet ownership increases, apartment dwellers may face the challenges of finding pet-friendly housing. Apartment leases often come...more
8/8/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Assistive Animals ,
Contract Terms ,
Landlords ,
Pets ,
Property Owners ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rental Property ,
Residential Leases ,
Service Animals ,
Tenants ,
Undue Hardship
Our country continues to experience economic conditions triggered by a worldwide pandemic and subsequent inflation. These conditions have mostly been outside of anyone’s control. Yet, when government officials see their...more
7/24/2024
/ Federal Reserve ,
Interest Rates ,
Landlords ,
Price Inflation ,
Property Tax ,
Property Valuation ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Rent Control ,
Rental Property ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Tax Revenues ,
Tenants
In the real estate field, surprises are less welcome. Owners expect tenants to pay their rent and follow lease requirements, and tenants expect owners to maintain rental units and common areas and to provide the agreed...more
12/22/2023
/ Contract Terms ,
Default ,
Eviction ,
HUD ,
Landlords ,
Leases ,
Notice Requirements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rental Property ,
Residential Leases ,
Tenants
In the United States, although laws prohibit animal cruelty, pets are still considered personal property – like a sofa, table, or lamp. During evictions house pets often were treated like personal property when a tenant’s...more
This article discusses a recent District of Columbia (DC) case, which pitted a medical marijuana user against a neighbor who complained that marijuana smoke affected quiet enjoyment of her home....more
12/4/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Disability ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Homeowners ,
Housing Discrimination ,
Landlords ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Private Nuisance ,
Property Managers ,
Property Owners ,
Rental Property ,
Residential Property Owners ,
Tenants
Earlier this month, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) filed a Charge of Discrimination (Charge) alleging that landlord N. Clark LLC (Landlord) and its managing member Kathleen Cresson unlawfully...more
Property manager Vasona Management, Inc., a (Manager) recently attempted to impose blanket prohibitions on children’s activities at nearly 50 California apartment complexes. The State of California Civil Rights Department...more
6/6/2023
/ Apartments ,
Best Practices ,
Consent Decrees ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Family Status Discrimination ,
Housing Discrimination ,
HUD ,
Landlords ,
Minor Children ,
Property Management Companies ,
Rental Property ,
Residential Leases ,
Tenants
On February 21, 2023, Mount Rainier, a small city in Prince Georges County, Maryland (PG County), adopted a rent control law. In response, on March 2, 2023, PG County followed Mount Rainier by adopting its Rent Stabilization...more
With a population of 8,333 in the 2020 census consisting of 0.65 square miles of land, Mount Rainier is not a large city. However, as one of Maryland’s few incorporated cities, it has its own government. The city’s...more
Mrs. Waters is much like the fictional Mrs. Murphy in the fair housing field – a widow who rents rooms in a small boarding house where she also resides. The Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits housing discrimination, but...more
Many people say real estate is a good hedge against inflation. Many think rents and, therefore, real estate values will continue to increase with the cost of living. Rising multifamily rents have caused some to advocate for...more
Laws regarding service and emotional support animals can be confusing to property owners—and guidance can vary depending upon the type of animal and its function. For example, recently, the Department of Housing and Urban...more
9/7/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Assistive Animals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Emotional Support Animals ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Housing Discrimination ,
HUD ,
Landlords ,
Popular ,
Property Managers ,
Public Accommodation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rental Property ,
Service Animals ,
Tenants
Like music, real estate isn’t just one thing. It’s a combination of many rights. This article discusses the bundle of rights that comprise real estate, how the United States Supreme Court’s June 23, 2021 ruling Cedar Point...more
9/20/2021
/ Cedar Point Nursery v Hassid ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Damages ,
Eviction ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Landlords ,
Moratorium ,
Relief Measures ,
Rent ,
Rental Assistance Programs ,
Rental Property ,
SCOTUS ,
Takings Clause ,
Tenants
Early in the pandemic, there was a patchwork of federal, state, and local eviction moratoriums, so not all rental housing was covered by a moratorium. On September 4, 2020, the CDC issued an order declaring a national...more
8/30/2021
/ Alabama Association of Realtors v Department of Health and Human Services ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Eviction ,
HUD ,
Jurisdiction ,
Landlords ,
Moratorium ,
Public Health Service Act ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Relief Measures ,
Rent ,
Rental Property ,
Residential Leases ,
SCOTUS ,
Tenants
The CDC Eviction Moratorium On August 3, 2021, the CDC issued an order (Order) extending the Moratorium through October 31, 2021. Even though the Moratorium doesn't state a goal of reducing economic hardship, the Order...more
8/23/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Certification Requirements ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Eviction ,
FDCPA ,
Landlords ,
Moratorium ,
Relief Measures ,
Rent ,
Rental Assistance Programs ,
Rental Property ,
Residential Leases ,
Tenants
Why Is There an Eviction Moratorium? -
In the early days of the pandemic, there was no uniform national eviction moratorium. Some local and state governments imposed eviction moratoria, but others did not. Through...more
Many legal contracts operate like coordinate harmony. The parties have different roles, but each is equally important to the transaction. Differences in bargaining power may allow one party to have the upper hand, but both...more
Tenants under commercial leases can be viewed like student musicians, with their landlords being like the orchestra or band. Tenants, like student musicians, have wants and needs. But like orchestras and bands, landlords have...more
2/22/2021
/ Business Interruption ,
Commercial Leases ,
Commercial Property Owners ,
Commercial Tenants ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Contract Terms ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Economic Downturn ,
Landlords ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Special Purpose Entities
Recently, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) filed a charge of discrimination claiming (Charge) claiming Missouri landlord Dahms Investments, L.L.C. (Dahms) violated the FHA by requiring a prospective...more
How Multifamily Living Has Evolved -
Early New York apartment buildings, known as tenements, were cramped quarters built starting in the mid-19th century. Occupied mostly by poor immigrant families, those tenements lacked...more
San Miguel Festival President, Helenmarie Corcoran, refused to view COVID-19 as a catastrophe. Instead, she saw it as an “opportunity for the entire organization to undertake new thoughts and implement additional measures the...more
Landlords face similar challenges to performing arts organizations. Tenants either can’t or under government laws or orders, aren’t required to perform under their leases. The landlords don’t want to give up the revenue...more
Like music teachers, who must be creative to sustain their relationships with students, landlords must be creative to maintain their relationships with tenants during this time. Ideally, landlords and tenants would work...more
This article is part of a series on Demystifying the Commercial Lease. Previous articles in the series discuss Types of Leases, Letters of Intent, Base Rent, and Common Area Maintenance Charges. This article discusses tenant...more
It’s not as easy to try out commercial rental space as it is musical instruments. It’s expensive for the landlord to get the space ready for a tenant, and it’s expensive and disruptive to the tenant’s business to move into a...more