Tenant Rights

• Tenants are protected by federal law from arbitrary decisions based on their race, religion, gender, national origin, familial status, or disability. Beyond those universal protections, their rights hinge largely on legal requirements that vary from place to place. Rights most often have to do with receiving written notice of a landlord's action in advance --- whether it is for a lease termination, rent raise or some other change in tenancy. In a few places, tenants are provided with absolute protection against lease terminations, except in limited circumstances.
  
  

Landlord Rights

• Landlord rights when it comes to a lease termination vary from lease to lease and place to place, although some rights are universally in the landlord's court. If a tenant fails to pay rent or violates another lease provision, he has the right to terminate any lease, anywhere, with minimal notice. Laws related to this type of termination have to do with how much time they must give the tenant --- usually three to five days --- and whether or not the landlord must give the tenant a chance to pay rent or correct the lease violation.
  
  

State Laws

• State law spells out exactly how much notice a landlord must give a tenant to terminate a lease. It is usually 30 days, or 60 days if the termination is not based on a lease violation by the tenant. The District of Columbia, New Jersey and New Hampshire prevent a landlord from terminating a lease unless the tenant has failed to pay rent, or has violated some other lease provision.
  
  

Local Laws

• Some cities in California, New Jersey, New York and Maryland have rent control, which is a local law limiting how much a landlord can raise rent, and preventing a landlord from terminating a tenancy unless the tenant has failed to pay rent or has violated a lease provision. A few other cities, principally in California, limit lease terminations without also imposing rent limitations.
  
  

The Lease

• Unless state or local law restricts a landlord's ability to terminate a lease, the landlord is free to write any lease termination conditions he wants into the lease. The lease, then, will be the determining factor in regulating how lease terminations occur. If the lease is silent on the issue, the landlord may terminate a lease in any manner compliant with state and local law.