Legal
Why tenant rights depend on where you live
Housing law sits in state and city rules that differ sharply, which is why general advice about tenancies is so often wrong.
There is no national tenancy code. Notice periods, deposit handling, repair obligations, rent increase limits and eviction procedure are set by states and frequently modified by cities, so two tenants a few miles apart can have materially different rights.
A handful of protections are federal and do apply everywhere, principally fair housing law, which prohibits discrimination on protected grounds in renting and in the terms offered. Complaints under it go to HUD or a state equivalent.
For everything else the useful sources are your state's own tenant handbook, usually published by the attorney general or a housing agency, and local tenant organisations. Court self-help centres can explain the process even where they cannot advise on the merits.
Two habits matter regardless of jurisdiction: put requests to a landlord in writing so there is a record, and photograph the property's condition at the start and end of a tenancy. Most deposit disputes turn on evidence nobody collected.
What to do next. Find your state's official tenant handbook and check whether your city adds rules on top of it.
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