Here in the Antelope Valley, we have a surplus of homes on the rental market. As of today, we had about 220 homes listed in ONE source of advertising. That is quite a bit for an area this size. The majority of the houses listed for rent these days are rented out by homeowners who have chosen to manage the properties themselves. As a property management company, we try to educate people on what is required to rent a home. Unfortunately, many of them have no idea what the laws concerning rentals are!
For example, if you are a homeowner in Lancaster, CA, you are required to obtain a business license to rent out your home. If you are found to be renting out your home without a business license, you are in for stiff financial penalties and other headaches. No doubt there are several people getting away with it, but do you want to be the guy who doesn't?
Both Palmdale and Lancaster have rental inspection programs that must be enforced as well. An inspector is required to come out to your home and inspect it for anything that may cause a problem. The inspector will then determine if your home needs to be reinspected after a certain amount of time (1-5 years) from the original 
inspection date.
Another issue I have found is that several people are in violation of anti-discriminatory practices. It surprises me every time that someone will ask me not to rent to certain people for stupid reasons. For example, I got a call from someone who was interested in renting out her home. The problem was that she didn't want to rent to anyone who had kids. She also said that if the tenants moved in and wanted to have a kid, she would have to be notified first.
Besides the obvious reasons that we couldn't take this listing, there are a host of other reasons descrimination can be detrimental to your rental. For example, by stating that you will not rent to anyone with kids, you are eliminating the vast majority of renters out there! Not a wise move.
These laws are no different than any other law on the books in one important respect...the "I didn't know" argument isn't going to get you anywhere! It doesn't matter if you knew about the laws or not! The fact that you violated them is all that society cares about. It is the same as if you were driving through an unfamiliar town and got pulled over for speeding. It doesn't matter that you didn't know the speed limit. You still have to pay the fine!
The best course of action is obviously to do it right the first time and avoid any unexpected financial pitfalls. If you intend to manage your property on your own, take the time to do your homework get the law on your side. A great way to do this is to contact your city council and ask them what they require from owners of rental properties. Don't get burned!
To avoid other pitfalls or for solutions to today's rental market, check out our website by clicking on the logo to the left!
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