The REI Wire: Sample issue
About a five-minute read
The wire
1. Maryland's new housing-provider laws took effect October 1
What changed: According to Maryland's housing department, landlords must now offer tenants positive rent reporting, with any fee capped at the lesser of cost or $10 a month. New limits on criminal-history screening and a ban on drug and alcohol testing of applicants also took effect.
What to do this week: Not in Maryland? Note it anyway. Screening and rent-reporting rules are spreading state by state, so review your own application criteria with your state's rules.
Source: Maryland DHCD public notice
2. Georgia's plain-language landlord-tenant handbook
What it is: The Georgia Department of Community Affairs publishes the Georgia Landlord-Tenant Handbook, maintained with Georgia State University and the University of Georgia. The current English PDF is the revision dated August 29, 2024.
What to do this week: If you own in Georgia, download it and keep it next to your lease. It is a quick way to check the basics on deposits, repairs and notices before you call an attorney.
Source: Georgia DCA
3. Insurance renewal season: know where to turn
What changed: Small landlords across the country keep reporting steep landlord-policy renewals, and the most common advice in owner forums is to shop the policy at every renewal.
What to do this week: Put your renewal date on the calendar 60 days out. In Georgia, the Office of Commissioner of Insurance lists consumer resources, and flood coverage is explained on the federal NFIP site.
Sources: Georgia OCI · FloodSmart (NFIP)
The playbook: put maintenance requests in writing
Among small owners, one of the most repeated fixes for chaotic self-management is simple: take maintenance requests in writing only, through one channel, from day one. A portal, a dedicated email address or a separate business phone number keeps requests from getting lost in personal texts, gives you a dated record, and makes it easier to show you responded promptly. Whatever channel you choose, put it in the lease and the move-in packet, and enforce it consistently with every tenant.
The tool: a move-in condition checklist
- Walk every room with the tenant, if possible, and note the condition of walls, floors, windows, doors, fixtures and appliances.
- Take dated photos or video of each room, including inside appliances and under sinks.
- Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and record the result.
- Record meter readings and the number of keys and remotes handed over.
- If the home was built before 1978, confirm you gave the federal lead-based paint disclosure (see the EPA rule).
- Have both parties sign and date the checklist, and give the tenant a copy.
General information only, not legal, tax or investment advice.