Skip the Preliminary Change of Ownership Report in California, and the Board of Equalization allows a penalty as high as $5,000, or $20,000 on a house that isn’t the new owner’s main residence. Adding a name takes a brand-new deed, notarized before it’s recorded, plus that report and, in some cases, a reassessment exclusion claim….
Portland recalculated its cap on non-owner-occupied short-term rentals on September 1, using a formula that replaced the flat 400-unit ceiling the city ran for years. The new ceiling can shrink every year. These are the short-term rental caps that surprise new Maine coastal owners. Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Short-term rental caps,…
A Washington landlord who breaks the state’s rental-entry rules owes the tenant up to $100 for every violation, under the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act. That penalty assumes the entry was wrong. Plenty of them aren’t, and a few need no warning at all. These are the reasons a Washington landlord may be allowed to enter your…
Texas Property Code Section 92.056 presumes seven days is a reasonable time to fix something once a tenant reports a health or safety problem in writing. The code never names a fixed number of days anywhere else. A sewage backup or a broken pipe gets no grace period at all, and the clock doesn’t start…
North Carolina Cooperative Extension calls mid-September through early December the best planting stretch of the year. That window is open right now. But one Saturday with a shovel can start a problem so big that the state’s Planned Community Act lets an HOA fine at $100 a day. These are the landscaping choices that create…
Indiana bars its cities and towns from writing rules on security deposits, lease terms, screening or fees, unless the legislature grants an exception. The parts that protect a renter are often the ones that nobody at the lease signing reads out loud. These are the things Indiana landlords can’t legally do to renters in 2026….
Arizona is giving up 760,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water a year, more than any other state, under a federal water-sharing deal finalized this year. That number lands on a lot of front yards. Cities, water providers and homeowners associations have all been tightening outdoor rules since, and the HOA ones catch newcomers first. These…
Ohio Realtors counted 12,723 home sales across the state in July alone. Many one of those started with a walkthrough that lasted about twenty minutes. These are the home features Ohio buyers love during a showing but regret after moving in. 1. Open-Concept Great Room An open-concept great room lets buyers picture holiday dinners together…
A Texas city can fine a resident up to $500 for an ordinary ordinance violation, and up to $4,000 for illegal dumping, under the Local Government Code. An HOA has nothing close to that reach. The two rulebooks cover different ground, and homeowners tend to blame the wrong one. These are the things a Texas…
Florida’s median rent ran $1,812 a month in 2024, according to USAFacts’ analysis of Census data. A security deposit is often where a tenant thinks the accounting ends, but Florida law says otherwise. These are the charges a Florida landlord can add after a tenant moves out. Note: This is general information, not legal advice….
