State Laws Prohibiting Landlord Retaliation

State Laws Prohibiting Landlord Retaliation

The laws in most states give tenants legal rights, such as the right to complain to a government agency about unsafe living conditions. Most states prohibit landlords from retaliating against tenants who exercise their legal rights; an example of retaliation would be a landlord terminating the tenancy of someone who complained to a government agency about a major repair problem in the rental. This chart lists tenant rights which are protected from landlord retaliation, and situations in which landlord retaliation is presumed. Depending on the circumstances, a tenant might have several legal options for responding to a landlord's retaliatory actions.

For additional details, see your state statute. (The citation is provided here, and you can visit the Library of Congress's legal research site for links to state statutes.)

State

Statute

Tenant's Complaint to Landlord or Government Agency

Tenant's Involvement in Tenants' Organization

Tenant's Exercise of Legal Right

Retaliation Is Presumed If Negative Reaction by Landlord Within Specified Time of Tenant's Act

Alabama

Ala. Code § 35-9A-501

X

X

Alaska

Alaska Stat. § 34.03.310

X

X

X

Arizona

Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1381

X

X

6 months

Arkansas¹

Ark. Code § 20-27-608

X

California^{2, 3}

Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1940.35, 1942.5

X

X

X

180 days

Colorado⁴

Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 38-12-509, 38-12-1203, 38-12-1205

X

Connecticut

Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 47a-20, 47a-33

X

X

X

6 months

Delaware

Del. Code tit. 25, § 5516

X

X

X

90 days

D.C.

D.C. Code §§ 42-3505.02, 42-3505.06

X

X

X

6 months

Florida⁵

Fla. Stat. § 83.64

X

X

X

Georgia

Ga. Code § 44-7-24

Hawaii

Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-74

X

X

Idaho⁶

No statute

Illinois

765 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 720/1

X

Indiana

Ind. Code §§ 32-31-8.5-0.5 through 32-31-8.5-6

X

X

X

Iowa

Iowa Code § 562A.36

X

X

1 year

Kansas

Kan. Stat. § 58-2572

X

X

Kentucky

Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.705

X

X

1 year

Louisiana

No statute

Maine⁷

4 Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 14, §§ 6001(3)(4), 6021-A

X

X

X

6 months

Maryland⁸

Md. Code Real Prop. §§ 8-208.1, 8-208.2

X

X

X

6 months

Massachusetts²

Mass. Laws ch. 239, § 2A; ch. 186, § 18

X

X

X

6 months

Michigan⁹

Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5720

X

X

X

90 days

Minnesota

Minn. Stat. §§ 504B.285, 504B.441

X

X

90 days

Mississippi¹⁰

Miss. Code §§ 89-8-9, 89-8-17

X

Missouri

No statute

Montana

Mont. Code § 70-24-431

X

X

6 months

Nebraska

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1439

X

X

Nevada¹¹

Nev. Rev. Stat. § 118A.510

X

X

X

New Hampshire

N.H. Rev. Stat. §§ 540:13-a, 540:13-b

X

X

X

6 months

New Jersey¹²

N.J. Stat. §§ 2A:42-10.10, 2A: 42-10.12

X

X

X

New Mexico

N.M. Stat. § 47-8-39

X

X

X

6 months

New York¹³

N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 223-b

X

X

X

One year

North Carolina

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-37.1

X

X

X

12 months

North Dakota

No statute

Ohio

Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.02

X

X

Oklahoma

No statute

Oregon

Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.385

X

X

X

Pennsylvania

68 Pa. Cons. Stat. §§ 250.205, 250.504-A, and 399.11

X

X

6 months (for exercise of legal rights connected with utility service)

Rhode Island

R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 34-18-46, 34-20-10, and 34-20-11

X

X

X

South Carolina

S.C. Code § 27-40-910

X

South Dakota

S.D. Codified Laws §§ 43-32-27, 43-32-28

X

X

180 days

Tennessee

Tenn. Code §§ 66-28-514, 68-111-105

X

X

Texas

Tex. Prop. Code § 92.331

X

X

X

6 months

Utah

Building Monitoring Sys. v. Paxton, 905 P.2d 1215 (Utah 1995)

X

Vermont¹⁴

Vt. Stat. tit. 9, § 4465

X

X

90 days

Virginia¹⁵

Va. Code §§ 55.1-1258, 55.1-1259

X

X

X

Washington

Wash. Rev. Code §§ 59.18.240, 59.18.250

X

X

90 days

West Virginia

Imperial Colliery Co. v. Fout, 373 S.E.2d 489 (W. Va. 1988)

X

X

Wisconsin

Wis. Stat. § 704.45; Wis. Adm. Code § ATCP 134.09(5)

X

X

X

Wyoming

No statute

¹ Only prohibits retaliation by landlord who has received notice of lead hazards. (Arkansas)

² Applies when a retaliatory eviction follows a court case or administrative hearing concerning the tenant's underlying complaint, membership in a tenant organization, or exercise of a legal right. In this situation, a tenant may claim the benefit of the antiretaliation presumption only if the eviction falls within six months of the final determination of the court case or administrative hearing. (California and Massachusetts)

³ Landlord cannot disclose or threaten to disclose to any government authority information regarding tenants' or occupants' immigration or citizenship status for the purpose of retaliating. Statute also provides for actual damages, punitive damages, and attorneys' fees to the prevailing party upon their request. It is also unlawful for a landlord to bring an action for unlawful detainer based on a cause of action other than nonpayment of COVID-19 rental debt, as defined in Section 1179.02 of the Code of Civil Procedure, for the purpose of retaliating against the tenant because the tenant has a COVID-19 rental debt. (California)

⁴ Statute prohibits landlord from retaliating by increasing rent, decreasing services, or threatening eviction. When a landlord illegally retaliates, tenants may terminate rental agreement and recover either three months' rent or three times their actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorneys' fees and costs. Also specifies that if a landlord replaces an appliance with a substantially similar one (presumably in response to a complaint), there is no presumption of retaliation.
Landlords cannot retaliate against tenants for exercising their rights under or opposing any conduct prohibited under the Immigrant Tenant Protection Act. If a landlord does retaliate, the tenant may bring a civil lawsuit seeking compensatory damages, a civil penalty, attorneys' fees and costs, and other equitable relief the court finds appropriate. (Colorado)

⁵ Statute lists retaliatory acts as illustrative, not exhaustive, and includes retaliation after the tenant has paid rent to a condominium, cooperative, or homeowners' association after demand from the association in order to pay the landlord's obligation to the association; and when the tenant has exercised their rights under state, local, or federal fair housing laws. (Florida)

⁶ No statute, but Idaho courts have recognized retaliation as a defense to evictions. Wright v. Brady, 889 P.2d 105 (Idaho App. 1995). (Idaho)

⁷ Also a presumption of retaliation when tenant complained to a fair housing agency, informs landlord that the tenant or tenant's child is a victim, or communicated to the landlord about or filed a complaint about the landlord's or landlord's agent's act of sexual harassment. Retaliation is also presumed if tenant is served with an eviction notice within 6 months of tenant's exercise of rights regarding bed bug infestations (does not apply to eviction for nonpayment or for causing substantial damage). (Maine)

⁸ Landlords may not retaliate against tenants who provide information to the landlord regarding the state's lead hazard reduction program. (Maryland)

⁹ If landlord tries to increase tenant's obligations under the lease as a penalty for asserting rights, and the tenant doesn't perform these additional obligations, the tenant can use the retaliation as a defense against eviction for failure to perform under the lease. (Michigan)

¹⁰ Mississippi law specifically requires that landlords exercise good faith when they terminate or don't renew a lease. This could expand the categories of behavior that are considered prohibited retaliation. (Mississippi)

¹¹ Statute protects tenants or tenants' guests who reasonably request emergency assistance. Local government cannot deem the request itself to be a "nuisance." Landlord may, however, take appropriate adverse actions based on information supplied by emergency responders, as can local governments with regard to declaring a nuisance. (Nevada)

¹² If a tenant fails to request a renewal of a lease or tenancy within 90 days of the tenancy's expiration (or by the renewal date specified in the lease if longer than 90 days), a landlord may terminate or not renew without a presumption of retaliation. (New Jersey)

¹³ Landlord also cannot retaliate for tenant's attempt to enforce the warranty of habitability, nor evict when tenant objects to a new lease with an "unreasonable" rent increase. Presumption of retaliation applies to nonpayment evictions as well as holdovers. (New York)

¹⁴ Retaliation presumed only when landlord terminates for reasons other than rent nonpayment, after tenant has filed complaint with a governmental entity alleging noncompliance with health or safety regulations. (Vermont)

¹⁵ Tenants can sue for damages and injunction. (Virginia)