Tenant Rights to Privacy and Safety

Your rental is your home, and you are entitled to use your home without unreasonable landlord intrusions or overreaching rules. State laws limit when and for what reason your landlord can enter your home, address when you might be liable for events that happen on the property, and inform whether your landlord can prohibit you from smoking in or near your rental. 

Legal limits to landlords entering your rental

How restrictive guest policies and nosy landlord practices can be an invasion of your privacy

State rules on when and how landlords may enter tenant rental units.

Let your landlord know you mean business when it comes to protecting your privacy.

Landlords must disclose the presence of lead-based paint before renting or renovating property, and may be held liable for tenant health problems resulting from lead.

Learn about mold in rental units: Your landlord's liability for mold problems, how to get rid of mold, and how to prevent mold in the first place.

Protect yourself from liability from tenant injuries.

How to get your landlord to fix a dangerous security problem.

Federal, state, and local laws, as well as your lease or rental agreement, can restrict or ban smoking in a rental unit.

Homeowners and renters can take action against cigarette-smoking neighbors.

My rental doesn’t have a no-smoking policy, but my landlord wants to evict me for smoking. What are my rights?

If it's legal to smoke marijuana in your area, can condo owners take action against marijuana smoke drifting into their unit from neighboring units?

Learn California landlords' rights to prohibit smoking in rental properties.

As with most landlord/tenant matters, state law and local ordinances are the places to look when it comes to asking whether you are subject to any laws that either guarantee tenants a smoke-free living environment, or restrict landlords’ ability to impose.

Empower Yourself: DIY Products by Nolo

Sidestep the lawyers with do-it-yourself books, documents, and software.

Protect your rights as a tenant and learn how to deal with problem landlords using the forms and information in these two books.
The go-to survival guide for California tenants
Minimize disputes over security deposits with this easy-to-use form.
Let your landlord know you're moving with this easy-to-use form.

Nolo offers hundreds of consumer-friendly, do-it-yourself legal products for all types of legal situations. Browse our full product list.

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