Every Landlord's Legal Guide - 9th Ed - By Marcia Steward & Attorneys Ralph Warner & Janet Portman

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If you are a landlord, I wholeheartedly recommend owning and reading Nolo's "Every Landlord's Legal Guide" (9th Edition) by Marcia Steward and Attorneys Ralph Warner & Janet Portman. I've read and looked at a lot of books dealing with real estate and landlord issues, and this is one of the best around.

This book is not about buying property. Look elsewhere for that topic. This book focuses on running a profitable business when you own rental property. It will also help you protect your investment and avoid or at least minimize legal hassles. The book contains almost 500 pages of practical advice for the landlord and also includes a CD-Rom with over 30 forms, including leases and rental agreements. This really is a valuable book for landlords.

Chapter One focuses on screening tenants, which the book points out can be one of your most important decisions. Next, Chapter Two assists you with preparing leases and rental agreements. Chapter Three discusses basic rent rules such as how much you can charge, rent control, when rent is due, late charges, returned check charges, raising the rent, and related matters.

Chapter Four instructs the reader on everything you need to know about security deposits. From there, Chapter Five provides legal information regarding discrimination. For those that don't want to do everything themselves, Chapter Six focuses on property managers and how to hire, manage, and fire a manager for your property.

Chapter Seven relates to moving a tenant in. This chapter provides tips on inspecting the property, move in letters, organizing tenant records and organizing income and expenses for your Schedule E. Cotenants, Sublets, and Assignments are discussed in Chapter Eight.

A topic no landlord likes, but must deal with is the duty to repair and maintain the premises. Chapter Nine provides what you need to know regarding this duty. From there, Chapter Ten discusses the landlord's liability for tenant injuries from dangerous conditions. Next, Chapter Eleven covers liability for environmental health hazards. Continuing with liability issues, Chapter Twelve covers liability for criminal acts and activities.

The landlord's right of entry and tenants' privacy and then ending a tenancy are the topics covered in Chapters Thirteen and Fourteen. Chapter Fifteen then covers how to return security deposits and other move-out issues.

Not ever tenant is going to be the perfect one, regardless of how well you screen. Chapter Sixteen is an important chapter dealing with problems with tenants and how to resolve disputes without a lawyer. Some disputes end up with terminations and evictions and that is what Chapter Seventeen provides information on.

It is a good idea for a landlord to have an attorney to help with certain matters. Chapter Eighteen provides information on lawyers and legal research, including tips on finding a lawyer, types of fee agreements with lawyers, saving on legal fees, and other related issues.

There are two appendixes, one that contains state landlord-tenant law charts and then one that focuses on how to sue the landlord forms library on the included CD-ROM. Regarding state laws, it is always prudent to check with your own state's laws and keep current with them. This is a good reason to have an attorney that you can work with. The forms on the CD-ROM are a great addition to this book. These include forms, letters, notices, checklists, and agreements. They are all easily adapted to fit your particular needs.

This book and CD-ROM belong on every landlord's bookshelf. It should be read, and the forms used. It contains the advice to help you manage your rentals as a profitable business with as little hassle as possible. This is an excellent how to book for landlords that will save you time and money if you manage properties.

Alain Burrese, J.D. is a mediator/attorney with Bennett Law Office P.C. and an author/speaker through his own company Burrese Enterprises Inc. He teaches people to live with the warrior's edge through his writing and speaking on a variety of topics focusing on the business areas of negotiation and success principles as well as self-defense and safety topics. He is the author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks, several instructional dvds, and numerous articles. You can find out more about Alain Burrese at his websites http://www.burrese.com/ and http://bennettlawofficepc.com/

Every Landlord's Guide to Finding Great Tenants by Janet Portman

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I just read the 2nd Edition of "Every Landlord's Guide to Finding Great Tenants" by Janet Portman, the author of "Every Landlord's Legal Guide." This book is a great resource for the new landlord who will do everything him or herself.

The book contains chapters on the following topics:

One: Choosing Good Tenants Makes Good Business Sense
Two: Complying With Discrimination Laws
Three: How to Deal with Current Tenants - Before You Look for New Ones
Four: How to Advertise Effectively
Five: How Should You Show Your Rental?
Six: Preparing Your Rental Application and Screening Materials
Seven: Fielding Initial Questions and Phone Screening
Eight: Prepare Your Rental for an Open House or Showing
Nine: Face to Face: Showing the Rental and negotiating with Prospective Tenants
Ten: Evaluating Rental Applications
Eleven: Checking Applicants' Credit Reports
Twelve: Checking Landlord, Employer, and Personal References
Thirteen: checking Applicants' Criminal Backgrounds
Fourteen: How to Choose and Work With a Tenant-Screening Agency
Fifteen: Choosing Your New Tenant
Sixteen: How to Reject - What to Say, What to Write

Again, this book is good for the landlords who choose to do most of the work themselves while owing a few rentals. It is also very good for the novice or beginning landlord. If you are just getting started, this book and "Every Landlord's Legal Guide" can be very useful.

Some of the information may seem to basic for some, or just common sense. Well, when you are just starting a business, and being a landlord is a business, there are many things to take care of, and it is nice to have even the simple stuff outlined in a text so you don't overlook it. This is especially true for those that are trying to be landlords on the side.

The book with index runs 465 pages and is easy to read. Nolo really does a good job of providing legal information in an easy format for everyone to understand. Portman is the author of several Nolo books, and this is the second one of hers that I've read and I like the information she provides. There are ample side-bars, sample documents, highlighted points, and graphs. It is laid out well and reader friendly. There is also a CD-ROM included with the book that contains forms and checklists as well as audio files that have sample dialogs to conduct interviews and such.

This book contains a lot of useful information. If you are in business, you need to have the information to succeed. This book would go well on any landlord's shelf. It would be part of a collection of books and resources to assist with a property owning business and how to be a landlord. If you are a landlord, especially a beginning landlord, I'd suggest getting this book and use Portman's advice on Finding Great Tenants.

Alain Burrese, J.D. is a performance and personal development expert who teaches how to live, take action, and get things done through the Warrior's Edge. Alain combines his military, martial art, and Asian experiences with his business, law, and conflict resolution education into a powerful way of living with balance, honor, and integrity. He teaches how to use the Warrior's Edge to Take Action and Achieve Remarkable Results. Alain is the author of Hard-Won Wisdom From The School Of Hard Knocks, the DVDs Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, the Lock On Joint Locking series, and numerous articles and reviews. You can read more articles, over 100 reviews, and see clips of his DVDs as well as much more at http://www.burrese.com/