I'm a solo founder building a property management platform. Along the way I needed to solve a compliance problem: every state has different rules for security deposits, evictions, late fees, rent increases, entry notice, habitability, and fair housing. A lease that's legal in Texas can violate laws in New York.
So I compiled the actual statutes. 459 records covering all 50 states and Washington DC. Every record includes the rule summary and the statute citation so you can verify it yourself.
Once I had the data, I realized it was useful beyond just my product. So I built 4 free tools on top of it.
The tools
Landlord-Friendly State Scorecard - grades every state A through F across 5 categories: deposit rules, eviction speed, rent control, late fees, and entry requirements. You can look up a single state or see the full ranking.
rentsolve.ai/tools/landlord-friendly-scorecard
Security Deposit Calculator - pick a state, enter the rent amount, and it shows you the max deposit allowed, return deadline, interest requirements, and penalty for late return.
rentsolve.ai/tools/security-deposit-calculator
ROI Calculator - plug in purchase price, down payment, rent, vacancy, and expenses. Get cash on cash return, cap rate, and a full monthly breakdown.
rentsolve.ai/tools/roi-calculator
Law Lookup - pick a state and a topic and get the rule summary with the actual statute citation.
How it's built
All four tools are static HTML/CSS/JS. No framework, no build step, no backend calls. The data is embedded directly in the page as a JS object. Deployed on Cloudflare Pages.
I went this route because I wanted the tools to load instantly and work without authentication. No API rate limits to worry about, no server costs, and Cloudflare handles caching and CDN automatically.
The data itself was compiled by reviewing state revised statutes, annotated codes, and landlord-tenant acts. Each record includes the state, the topic category, a plain-language summary, and the statute citation.
Some interesting things in the data
- 24 states have zero cap on how much a landlord can charge for a security deposit
- Georgia and West Virginia let landlords file for eviction immediately with no mandatory notice period
- Only 3 jurisdictions have statewide rent control: California, Oregon, and DC
- Massachusetts won't let you charge a late fee until rent is 30 days past due
- 14 states have no specific statute on how much notice a landlord must give before entering
- DC protects over 21 classes under fair housing law including personal appearance and political affiliation
What the data powers
The database is the backbone of RentSolve AI, the property management platform I'm building. When a landlord drafts a lease through the app, the AI pulls the correct deposit limits, required disclosures, late fee rules, and notice periods for their specific state. The tools are free standalone versions of that same data.
I also published the data as a series of 50-state comparison articles on the blog covering each category with sortable tables and FAQ schema.
What's next
I'm working on adding more categories to the database: required landlord disclosures by state, pet deposit rules, and lease renewal requirements. If you have questions about any specific state's rules, happy to look it up.
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