Good article Heather, but you left off a very important step that many homeowners turned landlord overlook - Before you rent out your place you have to know what the Landlord/Tenant laws are in your area. In many places they apply equally to large and small landlords.
Landlord Tenant laws cover all aspects of the relationship -
1) How much you can charge for deposits or fees - and what you can use them for - Example: locally, you cannot charge an administrative fee or cleaning fee.
2) What policies are required to be in writing - example, my state requires you to have a written smoking policy
3) Who you can rent to - a family with children, someone with a seeing eye dog, military veteran, unmarried couple, exotic dancer, etc All of these *may* be covered under national or local Fair Housing laws.
4) What repair or maintenance items are you responsible for, and which can you charge to the tenant? Are roaches, bed bugs or mold your problem or the tenant's?
5) Under what circumstances can you ask the renter to move out? How much notice do you have to give? Locally, it can be anything from 24 hours to 60 days, if there is not a lease involved.
As a tenant education instructor I have seen many landlords think they weren't really landlords - it's not like they had an apartment building or anything...just one little house or even a room in that house. I don't want to scare anyone off from being a landlord, it really isn't that complicated. You just have to do a bit of homework first and find out how to do it legally.
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Joan Mershon of OR 3:52PM December 01, 2010