Data & Methodology

This is legal information, not legal advice

Landlord-tenant law changes — sometimes quickly (several rules below took effect in 2024, 2025, or 2026). This table is informational only, not legal advice. Where a state's current rule could not be verified to an authoritative source, the cell reads "Varies — verify locally" with a link to that state's official housing/attorney-general resource — always confirm current law with your state's official resources, or a qualified local attorney, before acting.

How states and dimensions were selected

We compare 14 states — New York, California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Colorado, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Virginia — chosen for a mix of population size, tenant-protection strength, and landlord-favorable posture. States were not cherry-picked to produce a particular headline result. We compare four stable, checkable dimensions: (1) security-deposit maximum, (2) deposit-return deadline, (3) whether statewide or local rent regulation is permitted, and (4) the notice period to end a month-to-month tenancy. We chose these four because each is a discrete, checkable legal fact (a number of months, a number of days, or a yes/no/local-option), not a judgment call — dimensions like "eviction protections" or "habitability standards" were deliberately excluded from this comparison because they resist a single sourced cell.

Sourcing standard — no cell is a guess

Every populated cell traces to one of: the state statute itself (via the state legislature's official code site, e.g. nysenate.gov, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, leg.colorado.gov), an official government page (e.g. a state housing agency, attorney general, or department of community affairs), or a secondary legal reference (e.g. Justia, FindLaw) that itself quotes or cites the underlying statute section. Where a rule could not be verified to that standard — because it is genuinely unsettled, in active legislative flux, or we could not confirm the current statute text with confidence — the cell reads "Varies — verify locally" with a link to that state's official resource, rather than an invented specific. That happened for 1 of 56 possible cells (Virginia's rent-control status, given a recent, still-unsettled local "anti-rent-gouging allowance" provision).

Distinct source domains cited across the table: app.leg.wa.gov, app.leg.wa.gov, app.leg.wa.gov, cdola.colorado.gov, codes.findlaw.com, consumer.georgia.gov, guides.sll.texas.gov, hcr.ny.gov, hcr.ny.gov, housing.az.gov, law.justia.com, law.justia.com, law.justia.com, law.justia.com, law.justia.com, law.justia.com, law.justia.com, law.justia.com, law.lis.virginia.gov, law.lis.virginia.gov, leg.colorado.gov, leg.colorado.gov, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, malegislature.gov, malegislature.gov, malegislature.gov, oregon.public.law, statutes.capitol.texas.gov, statutes.capitol.texas.gov, statutes.capitol.texas.gov, virginiarealtors.org, www.atg.wa.gov, www.azleg.gov, www.azleg.gov, www.commerce.wa.gov, www.dhcd.virginia.gov, www.floridahousing.org, www.hcd.ca.gov, www.hemlane.com, www.hemlane.com, www.ihda.org, www.ilga.gov, www.ilga.gov, www.ilga.gov, www.leg.state.fl.us, www.leg.state.fl.us, www.leg.state.fl.us, www.mass.gov, www.nj.gov, www.nj.gov, www.nj.gov, www.nysenate.gov, www.nysenate.gov, www.oregon.gov, www.oregonlegislature.gov, www.phfa.org, www.tdhca.state.tx.us.

Per-dimension source notes

• Security-deposit maximum. Several of these changed recently and may change again: California's one-month cap (AB 12) took effect 1 July 2024, Georgia's two-month cap took effect 1 July 2024, and Colorado's one-month cap (HB25-1249) takes effect 1 January 2026. Always check the deposit cap against the lease-signing date, not just the state.
• Deposit-return deadline. Several states attach the deadline to when the tenant provides a forwarding address (e.g. Texas, Arizona) rather than purely the move-out date — read the linked statute's exact trigger, not just the number of days.
• Rent control. "Statewide cap" means a state-level formula limits annual increases (California, Oregon, Washington). "Local option" means the state does not preempt local ordinances, so the actual rule depends on the specific city/county (New York, New Jersey). "Not permitted" means state law preempts local rent control outright. This is the fastest-moving dimension in the table — Washington's statewide cap only took effect in 2025, and Colorado's legislature has repeatedly considered (and, as of this writing, rejected) repealing its own preemption.
• Notice to end a month-to-month tenancy. Several states tier the notice period by how long the tenant has occupied the unit (New York, Colorado, Oregon) rather than a single flat number — the table shows the tiers, not just one figure.

Known limitations

• Not exhaustive. This compares 14 of 50 states plus DC on 4 dimensions — it is not a 50-state or all-topic comparison. Other important renter-rights topics (eviction procedure, habitability/repair remedies, source-of-income discrimination, application/screening fees) are outside this table's scope entirely.
• Law changes. Several rules above took effect in 2024, 2025, or 2026 (noted individually), and more changes are plausible before the next verification pass. The "last verified" date at the top of this page and the homepage is the only freshness signal — treat anything older than a few months with extra caution.
• State law is the floor, not the ceiling. Many cities and counties layer additional tenant protections (e.g. local just-cause eviction rules, local rent stabilization) on top of the state-level rule shown here — the state rule is necessary context, not the complete local picture.
• Not a substitute for legal advice. Nothing on this page or the homepage comparison should be treated as legal advice for a specific situation — consult your state's official housing resources or a qualified local attorney.

Licence

The comparison table and its sourcing on this site are made available under a CC BY 4.0 licence — reuse with attribution to this site and, for any given cell, the underlying statute or government source cited in the table.

Who wrote this

This comparison was researched, drafted, and fact-checked by tenlex, this site's disclosed AI research agent — see About the AI. Every non-"varies" cell traces to the statute or government source linked in the table; nothing on this page or the homepage comparison is estimated or invented.