Get Legal Advice & Understand Your Landlord Rights

Whether you’re in a dispute with a tenant, about to lease your property to a new tenant or looking to move a renter out of your home or apartment, adding the Home Business Supplement to LegalShield’s flexible legal plan benefits can help you solve and prevent problems with your tenants, collect late rent, evict tenants and more at a price that won’t break the bank.

Safeguard your rights as a landlord

Whether it’s an issue related to leasing your rental units, tenant management or end of lease transitions, an experienced lawyer can provide invaluable legal protection. Here are just a few of the common issues that our experienced provider lawyers handle:

Leasing your rental units

  • Is the lease you’re using legally sound?
  • Have you adequately protected your investment?
  • Do you use lease terms that minimize your responsibilities?
  • As a LegalShield member, your lawyer can review your lease and any other business documents to ensure you’re set up for success.

Successful tenant management

  • Are you having a problem with an existing tenant?
  • Are you dealing with property damage?
  • Do you need to initiate an eviction?
  • Your lawyer can contact your tenant to resolve disputes on your behalf and they can often get better results than you can on your own.

End of lease transition

  • Are you unsure if you’re allowed to use a tenant’s security deposit?
  • Do you or a tenant want to terminate the lease early?
  • Are you stuck with a tenant that won’t leave?
  • Resolve end of lease issues as quickly and inexpensively as possible by having a lawyer help you understand the laws in your state.

A legal plan that gives landlords the support they need to be successful

Landlords have rights under federal and state law. Our experienced provider lawyers are here to advise you on how and when to exercise your right

Advice & consultation

Everyone knows lawyers charge hundreds of dollars per hour. That’s why people hesitate to contact lawyers even though they know getting sound legal advice could help them avoid messy legal disputes and save tons of money.

Imagine if you could call a lawyer to get advice on an unlimited number of legal matters related to your rental business for less than $1.50 per day. Well, you don’t have to imagine. You just have to join LegalShield.

  • Have a simple question about a lease? Call your lawyer, it’s included.
  • Need help resolving a property damage dispute with a tenant? Call your lawyer, it’s included.
  • Wondering what you can do to collect late fees? Call your . . you get the idea.Your monthly membership fee provides a powerful resource you can use to prevent legal problems and make life with a difficult tenant a breeze. With LegalShield on your side, you can get the legal help you need without a ridiculous legal bill at the end. In fact, you won’t get any bill at all.

Document review

Renting a property you own to a stranger is risky. Unless you have a lawyer on your side making sure the documents you use provide maximum protection for your real estate investments. Getting sound legal advice at the beginning of a tenancy can dramatically decrease the chances of legal and financial headaches down the road.

Have a lawyer review the lease you’re using before you present it to a tenant. “Yeah, but legal advice costs a ton of money.” No it doesn’t. Join LegalShield and you can submit any documents starting at up to 15 pages each, for less than $1.50 per day. You now have zero excuses to not get the legal protection you need.

  • Lease agreements
  • Vendor contracts
  • Financial statements
  • Eviction notices
  • Government or court documents

Dispute resolution

If you’re having a dispute with a tenant, a vendor or really anyone impacting your business, you can have your provider lawyer write letters on their firm letterhead or make calls on your behalf to negotiate settlements, resolve disputes or simply clarify confusing terms and conditions.

Here are some ways members use this plan benefit to help with their rentals.

  • Negotiate lease terms
  • Settle disputes over property damage, noise complaints and more
  • Handle eviction notices or other legal action
  • Deal with problem neighbors or government agencies

Defense in court

Our Small Business Legal Plus and Small Business Legal Pro plans come with the option to add a Trial Defense for Business Supplement for just $14.95 per month. This small monthly fee gets you 100 hours of lawyer time if your business is named in a covered lawsuit.

Save big

Discount

Your plan covers most common legal issues landlords face. For legal issues that are more complex, you can hire your provider lawyer to help you for a discount off of their standard plan benefits.

If you’d like to confirm if your particular situation is covered by standard plan benefits, please call 1 (855) 254-5852.

MEMBERPerks

We partner with over 400 popular brands like Verizon, Costco, T-Mobile, and Amazon to offer our members exclusive discounts. Not only can you save thousands on legal services, you can save more money on the products and services you already use.

Learn more about MEMBERPerks

How to protect your rights when leasing a property

Select a topic to learn more:

Pick the right tenancy term

Maximize income stability and minimize rental gaps with the right lease term for your properties.

Optimize financial clauses

Avoid penalties and other hiccups by making sure your financial terms are legal and protect your investment.

Lay down the right rules

  • Are roommates allowed?
  • What about pets?

Be sure to cover common circumstances with clear language.

Proactively avoid disputes

Learn about landlord rights and responsibilities under Federal Law to ensure you don’t end up in court.

Get sound legal advice to manage problem tenants

Once you have leased a rental unit, there are a variety of legal issues that can pop up along the way. Having a lawyer on call can be a big help with common challenges such as the following.

  • Tenant is late with the rent
  • Tenant has a pet or unapproved roommate living in the unit
  • Tenant has damaged the property or broken the law
  • You are receiving complaints about the tenant from a neighbor or the police
  • Tenant has filed a complaint against you claiming you’ve violated their rights

When tenants push you, a LegalShield membership gives you the power to push back in a legally sound, fiscally responsible manner. Sometimes, the least stressful and most successful way to deal with a difficult tenant is to let your provider lawyer help.

Access additional legal resources for landlords

Select a topic to learn more:

Problem tenants

Whether you have a written lease or a tenant under a verbal agreement, you have rights and options for dealing with problem tenants quickly and effectively.

The eviction process

  • Is eviction your best option?
  • Do you understand the specific laws and processes you must follow?

Educate yourself before you take action.

Eviction defenses

Tenants have a variety of powerful legal defenses to pause or stop an eviction. Study the defenses ahead of time so you can be prepared to defeat them.

How to handle the end of a lease term without causing unnecessary legal problems

When a lease is coming to an end or you as the landlord want to get out of a lease early, a variety of legal questions and complications can arise. It’s important to understand the laws in your state to avoid gaps in rental income or worse, finding yourself in a lawsuit with a tenant.

  • Do you have questions about any of these scenarios?
  • What circumstances allow me to use funds from a tenant’s security deposit?
  • If I can legally use security deposit funds, how do I document everything and notify the tenant?
  • What should I do about a holdover tenant that won’t leave?
  • Do I have to renew a lease if the tenant requests it?
  • I’ve sold the property, how do I handle the transition?

If a lease is ending, everything is fine and the tenant simply plans to move out, great. That’s the way everyone hoped it would go at the outset. However, if there are any hiccups or issues that pop up near the end of a lease term, it’s best to immediately contact an experienced lawyer who can assess the situation and guide you to take actions that follow all applicable laws and avoid unnecessary legal problems.

Resources to make ending a lease easy

There are lots of moving parts at the end of a lease and you’d be well served by speaking with a lawyer to help you resolve any disputes with grace and minimal financial impact. Get started with these helpful articles, checklists and templates.

Security deposits

Many states require landlords to return security deposits within 14 days. What’s the story in your state?

Property damage

Learn how you must notify, document and manage property damage situations at the end of a lease.

Early termination

Experienced lawyers can help you end a lease due to a sale or deal with a tenant trying to skip out early.

Tenant without a lease

Some legal issues may have to be handled a bit differently if you have a tenant without a written lease.

Get legal support to protect your investment

LegalShield offers the most affordable way to have a lawyer on your side. As a landlord adding the Home Business Add-on to your Legal Plan gives you the ability to work with a lawyer on this important part of the rental process.

Personal & Family Plan + Home Business Supplement

starting at

$59.90
/mo

How LegalShield works

Finding solutions to your legal issues doesn’t have to be stressful, complicated or expensive. LegalShield puts the power of legal representation within reach of any individual, family, or business. We work hard to make it easy, simple, and affordable to get the legal help you need, when you need it.

FAQs

What is a pre-paid legal plan and how does it work?

Instead of paying a lawyer by the hour, you pay a small fee (starting at $26.95/month) and have access to an independent lawyer that will provide a huge variety of legal services without a huge legal bill. Services like consultation with a lawyer, document review, drafting of debt collection letters and defense at civil trials are included as standard benefits. Using the plan just once can save you literally thousands of dollars.

Using the plan is as simple as signing up and contacting our team. Once you’re a member, customer support will connect you with an independent lawyer in your area who specializes in the specific legal issue with which you need help. Also, you can download our super-simple app to quickly access your legal benefits and member perks anytime.

How long after I join can I use the plan?

You can use your plan as soon as your membership application is reviewed and your account is set up. The review process takes 12-24 hours (or less) from the moment you purchase your plan (on regular business days). Once accepted, you can be in contact with a lawyer and begin to use the plan benefits and member perks outlined in the membership agreement right away.

How much can I save with a membership?

The average lawyer in the U.S. charges between $150-$400 per hour. If you use your membership for even just a few hours a year you could easily save over $1,000. If you have a bunch of small legal issues or one rather complicated issue, you can easily save multiple thousands of dollars over hiring a lawyer directly. Not to mention the stress you’ll save by having a lawyer on call instead of trying to handle legal issues yourself. Also, the lawyers in our network often help our members recover thousands of dollars of damages or avoid thousands of dollars in fees over what they would have experienced had they tried to resolve the legal issue themselves. Obviously, every member and usage situation is different, but when used correctly, your membership can easily save significant amounts of money. Not to mention savings from our member perks.

Who is covered under personal plans?

Our Personal Plans are really family plans. You, your spouse or partner and your eligible dependents living at home, on select plans, are covered under one membership.

There is more information about this on the Personal Plans Coverage & Pricing Page.

What are my chances of winning my dispute/case against a tenant?

One of the two most valuable and commonly used benefits of a LegalShield plan is the ability to get unlimited legal advice and to have your provider lawyer review documents. If you’re having a landlord/tenant dispute, simply contact LegalShield and your provider lawyer can review your lease agreement or any other relevant documents (starting at 15 pages each) and provide advice. Once they have all the information, your provider lawyer can help you understand your rights and your chances of getting your demands met. Also, if you have a winning argument, your provider lawyer can take action on your behalf, like making a call or writing a letter to the tenant, to help resolve the issue in your favor.