Landlord Responsibilities by State: Repairs, Disclosures, Deposits and Notice

A landlord's core responsibilities are similar in every state: keep the home fit to live in and make repairs, give the disclosures the law requires, handle the security deposit by the statute, respect the tenant's privacy and entry rules, follow the legal process to end a tenancy, and never retaliate or discriminate. What changes from state to state is the detail, and the detail has been changing fast. Since 2024, Georgia wrote a habitability promise into every lease, California started requiring a working stove and refrigerator, Minnesota set a 68°F heat minimum, Colorado set repair deadlines, and Virginia made central air conditioning an essential service.

This guide walks through each responsibility with examples from the 15 states MakeLease covers in full, and links to the state pages where you can check your own rules.

1. Keep the unit habitable and make repairs

Every state expects a rental to be fit to live in, but the rules on what that means and how fast you must fix problems differ. Recent changes show where the law is heading:

• Georgia: since July 2024, every residential lease, written or oral, is deemed to include a promise that the premises are fit for human habitation, on top of the existing duty to keep the premises in repair. The statute doesn't define the phrase (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13(b)).
• California: for leases entered, amended or extended on or after January 1, 2026, a unit is untenantable without a working stove and refrigerator. A recalled appliance must be repaired or replaced within 30 days of notice, though the parties can agree at signing that the tenant supplies their own refrigerator (Cal. Civ. Code § 1941.1).
• Colorado: after notice of an uninhabitable condition, start remedial action within 24 hours if it materially threatens life, health or safety, and within 72 hours otherwise. A condition still unrepaired 7 days (life, health or safety) or 14 days (other) after notice is presumed a breach, and for serious conditions you must provide a comparable unit or hotel room at no cost within 24 hours if the tenant asks (C.R.S. § 38-12-503).
• Minnesota: the landlord's repair covenants cover all common areas, include exterminating insects, rodents and other pests, and require compliance with health and safety laws, including rental-licensing ordinances; they can't be waived. From October 1 through April 30, heat must reach at least 68°F in every place intended for habitation, including kitchens and bathrooms (Minn. Stat. § 504B.161).
• Virginia: since July 2026, central air conditioning that you supply and that works (or is represented as working) when the lease takes effect is an "essential service," so failing to provide it triggers the tenant's essential-service remedies (Va. Code § 55.1-1200).
• Oregon: since 2026, a unit is uninhabitable if its locks open only through a tenant's phone app. Offer at least one alternative, such as a code, fob, key card or physical key (ORS 90.320).
• Texas: every written lease must state the tenant's repair remedies in underlined or bold print (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.056(g)), and since September 2025 a tenant using repair-and-deduct must hire a contractor licensed as the city requires.

What to do: give tenants one clear way to report problems, respond in writing, and log every request with dates. Our guides to tenant maintenance requests and a work order system show how.

2. Give the required disclosures

Every state requires some disclosures at or before lease signing. One applies everywhere: for housing built before 1978, federal law requires the lead-based paint disclosure and the EPA pamphlet (42 U.S.C. § 4852d; 40 CFR Part 745, Subpart F). You can prepare it with the free lead paint disclosure form.

State disclosures vary widely. A sample:

Each state page lists the full set with citations; start at landlord-tenant law by state.

3. Handle the security deposit by the rules

Deposit statutes cover how much you can collect, where you keep it, what you can deduct, and how fast you must return it. Penalties for getting it wrong can be steep: in California, a landlord who keeps a deposit in bad faith can owe up to twice the deposit in statutory damages (Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5).

The essentials:

• Stay under your state's limit. See security deposit limits by state.
• Follow any account, receipt or move-in checklist rule.
• Deduct only for unpaid amounts and damage beyond normal wear and tear; see normal wear and tear examples.
• Return it with an itemized statement by your state's deadline. Check yours under security deposit laws by state.

4. Respect privacy and entry rules

Tenants have a right to quiet enjoyment. Most states with an entry statute require advance notice (commonly 24 hours, sometimes 48), entry at reasonable times, and a legitimate purpose, with an exception for emergencies. Some states, such as Georgia, have no entry statute, so the lease controls.

Generated from the MakeLease state-law dataset (49 jurisdictions, statutes last checked 2026-10-30). Researched and cited by MakeLease · not yet attorney-reviewed. City and county rules can be stricter.

Our entry notice guide covers allowed purposes, reasonable hours and what to do if a tenant refuses, and you can fill in a notice of entry.

5. Follow the legal process to change or end a tenancy

Rent increases, non-renewals and evictions all have notice rules, and self-help is never allowed. Don't change the locks, remove belongings or cut utilities to push a tenant out. Georgia, for example, added cooling in 2024 to the utilities (heat, light and water) a landlord may not knowingly and willfully suspend before the final disposition of an eviction case (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-14.1).

Related guides:

• How much notice a landlord must give to end a tenancy
• How much a landlord can raise rent
• How to handle a lease violation
• How to evict a tenant
• Squatters vs tenants

6. Don't retaliate or discriminate

Federal and state fair housing laws apply at every stage, from advertising to renewal. Retaliation rules protect tenants who exercise legal rights, and they're getting broader:

• Illinois: since 2025, the Landlord Retaliation Act bars ending a tenancy, raising rent, cutting services, suing or threatening to sue for possession, or refusing to renew because a tenant in good faith complained of code violations, asked for repairs, joined a tenants' union, testified about conditions or used any legal right (765 ILCS 721).
• Virginia: from January 2027, the anti-retaliation rule adds protected activities (such as complaints to news media and testimony in administrative proceedings) and prohibited actions (such as raising fees, selective enforcement, harassment, and refusing to renew a voucher holder), and drops the sentence that put the burden of proving retaliatory intent on the tenant (Va. Code § 55.1-1258).

See fair housing laws for landlords for the federal rules.

7. Watch for new fee and payment rules

A newer category of landlord duties covers how you charge and collect money. Colorado's 2026 junk-fee law requires total-price advertising and bans several fees (C.R.S. § 6-1-737). Virginia, from July 2026, requires landlords to accept rent and deposits by check and money order and caps payment fees at actual third-party cost (Va. Code § 55.1-1204(J)). Minnesota, from August 2026, requires a free backup method for digital rent portals. The law-changes tracker lists these by state and date.

A landlord responsibilities checklist

• ☐ Unit meets habitability rules, including any new appliance, heat or cooling requirements in your state.
• ☐ A written repair-request process, with response times you can meet.
• ☐ All required state and federal disclosures attached to the lease.
• ☐ Deposit within the legal limit, held and documented as required.
• ☐ Move-in condition checklist signed and photographed.
• ☐ Entry notices given in writing, with records kept.
• ☐ Notices for rent changes and terminations meet state timing.
• ☐ Fees and payment methods comply with any state limits.
• ☐ Screening and renewal decisions made on consistent, written criteria.

A current lease is the backbone of all of this. The lease agreement generator builds one from guided questions, and lease agreements by state covers state-specific clauses.

Sources

Official sources cited above (checked 2026-10-27):

• California Civil Code § 1941.1 and § 1950.5
• Colorado SB 24-094 session law (C.R.S. § 38-12-503)
• Colorado HB 25-1090 session law (C.R.S. § 6-1-737)
• Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR Part 745, Subpart F
• Georgia HB 404 (2024) (O.C.G.A. §§ 44-7-13, 44-7-14.1)
• Illinois Landlord Retaliation Act, 765 ILCS 721
• Minnesota Statutes § 504B.161
• Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 90 (ORS 90.320)
• Texas Property Code § 92.056
• Code of Virginia § 55.1-1200, § 55.1-1204 and § 55.1-1258