Landlord Checklist: Before You Rent Out Your Property
Individual investors own 58.9% of US rental properties (Census/HUD Rental Housing Finance Survey 2024). Many are "accidental landlords" who kept a former home or rent out a basement. Here's the groundwork to cover before you list.
Legal and local rules
- ☐ Check whether your city or county requires a rental license, registration or inspection
- ☐ Read your state's landlord-tenant laws: security deposit limits and deadlines, notice periods, entry rules
- ☐ Check HOA or condo rules on rentals
- ☐ If you have a mortgage, check whether renting is allowed under its terms
Insurance
- ☐ Switch to a landlord (dwelling fire) policy; a regular homeowners policy may not cover a rental
- ☐ Consider liability coverage, and ask tenants to carry renters insurance
Safety and disclosures
- ☐ Working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
- ☐ For housing built before 1978: federal rules require a lead-based paint disclosure and the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home
- ☐ Any state-required disclosures (mold, flood, bedbugs and so on, depending on the state)
Money
- ☐ A separate bank account for rent and expenses
- ☐ Set rent using comparable listings
- ☐ Decide the security deposit (within your state's limit)
- ☐ Set up a rent ledger and expense tracking by Schedule E category
Tenant selection
- ☐ Learn the fair housing basics
- ☐ Write your screening criteria and apply them to everyone
- ☐ Prepare a rental application
- ☐ Know the adverse action notice rules if you use credit or background reports
Lease and move-in
- ☐ Use a lease written for your state, ideally reviewed by a local attorney
- ☐ Do a move-in inspection with photos, signed by both of you
General information, not legal or tax advice. Landlord-tenant law varies by state and city.
The Small Landlord Toolkit walks through this checklist, with forms, a rent ledger and an expense tracker.
Small Landlord Toolkit — $19
18-page toolkit for 1-10 unit landlords: rental application, fair screening criteria, move-in inspection, rent ledger and Schedule E expense totals. Instant download: PDF + DOCX + XLSX.
Get the Small Landlord ToolkitFamily Paperwork Bundle — $34More guides
- Rental Application: What To Include (and What Not To Ask)
- Tenant Screening Criteria and Fair Housing: A Plain-English Guide
- Adverse Action Notice for Landlords: When and How To Send One
- Move-In Inspection Checklist for Landlords and Tenants
- Rent Ledger: How To Track Rent Payments (Free Template Layout)
- Security Deposit Return: A Landlord Checklist
- Rental Property Maintenance Schedule: A Year-Round Checklist
- Schedule E Rental Expenses: Categories Small Landlords Should Track
- Notice of Entry: How Landlords Should Give Notice Before Entering