Rental and Tenant Laws in the US Research Paper

Rental and Tenant Laws in the US - Research Paper Example The Landlord tenant law is directed to oversee the rentals of residential and commercial properties. According to the Legal Information Institute, a number of states in the US have based their statutory laws under the prescribed Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and it becomes an important factor during calamities and emergency situations and to prevent discriminations. Under the Federal Statutory Law, no one can be denied of its rights to rent an apartment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex and age. One cannot be discriminated upon on the basis of familial status, that includes not allowing children, and pregnant women. This also includes physical disability, mental disability. Similar housing laws in states also prohibit discrimination against marital status and sexual orientation. This uniform law is being prescribed to all 50 states of the US. A particular state that upheld the landlord and tenant law is the California government that prohibits unlawful discrimination against any person on the basis of above cited factors. Under the California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act And Unruh Civil Rights, landlords cannot refuse to sell, rent or lease, or refuse to negotiate for a sale, rental or lease to persons on the basis of factors cited by law. Thus, a landlord cannot refuse a person simply because he is colored, or he belongs to an ethnic group. Landlords cannot just deny to these people housing accommodations, or to provide them inferior accommodations, services, facilities and services. Inferior accommodations may be considered as those housing that are with unsafe condition like falling roof or infested by mice or cockroaches. The law also advocates that rental spaces or housing be advertised in newspapers published by ethnic groups to avoid discr imination (CA.Gov.California Dept of Consumer Affairs 2010). Time limit A time limit of one year is set within which one may file complaint from the time the discriminatory act is committed. Complainant should state their formal charges, state how it happened and the names of those involved in the case. Exceptions to the rule However there is an exception to every rule, that the statutory rules does not apply to owner- occupied buildings that has only four or fewer rental units like duplex, or to the housing designated to senior citizens , and those offered by religious groups to their members only. No pet policy In California, a tenant cannot be refused if he owns a pet; most especially if it is a dog that serves as an eye seeing dog or helps him navigate in his disability situation. For instance, a landlord cannot refuse a disabled tenant simply because he owns a dog that helps him. If the landlord does so, he is violating the federal law as well as the American Disabilities Act. Citing a case of violation, the jury from Minneapolis, Minnesota concluded that the no pet policy of the landlord is a form of discrimination when he enforced this policy to a