General

• Your landlord may not (when considering an application to rent) inquire about or discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, ancestry or disability.

Security Deposit

• A security deposit cannot be more than one month rent.

• At the start of your tenancy, your landlord must give you a signed receipt for your security deposit, and within 30 days of the start of your tenancy, notice as to what bank the deposit is being held at and the account number.

• At the start of your tenancy (or within 10 days of the start of your tenancy) your landlord must give you a statement of the conditions of the apartment/home, and allow you to challenge/correct it if there are inaccuracies.

• Your security deposit must be held in a separate interest-bearing account, and if held for more than a year, the landlord must pay interest on the deposit on the anniversary of the start of the tenancy.

• At the end of your tenancy, a landlord must return your security deposit within 30 days of the end of your tenancy.

• A landlord may only retain a security deposit to cover damages or unpaid rent - no other withholding of a security deposit is legal.

• If the landlord intends to retain any portion of the deposit due to damage, they must specifically describe the damage in a written statement signed under pain of perjury. They must also provide documentation of the costs to repair

• If the landlord violates these provisions, they must return your entire security deposit. The penalty for violating some of these provisions can include triple damages and the award of attorneys fees.

Eviction

• If your landlord has violated your rights in the course of your tenancy, you may have a defense to eviction.

• Your landlord cannot change the locks or otherwise force you out without a court order.

• Your landlord may not seek to evict you as retaliation against you for exercising your rights.