Editorial Policy

Editorial Policy

Rental Awareness publishes informational content about laws, regulations, and practical legal topics across the United States. Our focus is on making state specific information easier to find and easier to understand.

We recognize that legal information requires particular care. Laws change, states can take very different approaches to the same subject, and local rules may add another layer of requirements on top of state law. A page that gives one confident answer for the entire country is usually a page that is wrong for most of its readers. This policy should be read alongside our Disclaimer, which explains the limits of the information we publish. This policy explains how we approach our content and what readers can reasonably expect from it.

Our Editorial Team

Rental Awareness is a small, contributor driven website. You can read more about the site on our About page, and see our published work on the blog.

Benjamin Thompson, Founder and Lead Writer Benjamin founded Rental Awareness and leads the site’s editorial direction. He researches and writes about state specific laws and regulations and helps decide which topics the site covers. His work often focuses on questions where the answer can change significantly from one state to another.

Christopher Anderson, Writer and Research Contributor Christopher researches and writes articles covering different state laws and regulations. He contributes to state comparisons and practical topics where readers need to understand how requirements differ between jurisdictions.

Daniel Harris, Writer and Research Contributor Daniel contributes research and articles across a range of state specific legal and regulatory topics. His work helps expand coverage into additional states and subject areas.

Henry Dean, Research Contributor Henry focuses on research and organization. His work includes comparing state requirements, reviewing available sources, and helping identify details that may need additional verification before publication.

Samuel Turner, Editor and Research Contributor Samuel works on editorial review as well as research. He helps improve article clarity, organization, consistency, and the presentation of state specific information.

Tiffany Sanders, J.D., Legal Reviewer Tiffany earned her J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law and practiced as a consumer lawyer for five years before moving into legal publishing. Over the past 15 years she has written and reviewed legal content professionally, including supervising the legal writing team at an Inc. 500 company and editing materials for a nationwide bar review program. She reviews Rental Awareness articles for legal accuracy. LinkedIn

Ollie

One team member contributes nothing to legal research and holds the title anyway. Ollie is our Chief Morale Officer. His duties are sleeping through research sessions, enforcing break times, supervising from under the desk, and reminding everyone that the internet can wait. You can read more about him on our About page.

How We Research

Our contributors may consult publicly available sources including:

  • State statutes and codes
  • State government websites
  • State agencies and their published guidance
  • Official regulations and administrative codes
  • Government publications and fact sheets
  • Public records
  • Other reputable reference sources

For laws and regulations, we prefer primary or official sources whenever reasonably available. A statute, rule, or agency page carries more weight than a summary written by someone else. We may also use secondary sources for background, context, or to understand how a rule is commonly applied in practice, but a secondary source is not treated as a substitute for the underlying law.

When sources conflict, or when a rule is genuinely unclear, we prefer to say so rather than pick the cleanest sounding answer.

State Specific Information

We try to clearly identify the state or states discussed in each article. We do not assume that a law in one state automatically applies in another.

When comparing states, we try to explain the relevant differences rather than present a single rule as though it applies nationwide. Readers should also remember that county and municipal rules can sometimes add requirements beyond state law, and that some questions are decided at the local level entirely.

Writing and Presentation

Our goal is to explain complicated subjects in ordinary language. We try to avoid unnecessary legal jargon and organize information around the questions readers are actually asking rather than around the structure of a statute.

At the same time, simplifying an explanation should not mean removing important qualifications. Where an answer depends on circumstances, we try to say so. Where an exception is common enough that a reader is likely to run into it, we try to mention it rather than leave a tidy but misleading summary.

Legal Review

Some articles receive an additional review for legal accuracy by a reviewer with a legal background.

Where an article has been reviewed, we say so directly on the article, name the reviewer, and give the date the review took place. That date reflects when the reviewer actually read that specific article, not the date a batch of articles was published or a general policy was adopted.

Legal review means a qualified reader has checked the article’s description of the law for accuracy. It does not turn the article into legal advice, and it does not mean the reviewer has considered any individual reader’s circumstances. An article without a review line has been researched and edited under the same standards described on this page, but has not yet been through that additional step.

Reviewed articles are subject to the same update process as everything else. A review confirms accuracy at a point in time, not indefinitely.

Article Updates

Laws change. When we become aware of a significant change affecting an article, we may review and update it.

Updates can involve changes to statutes, regulations, agency requirements, registration rules, restrictions, definitions, penalties, fees, or other relevant information. An updated article is not a guarantee that every detail will remain current indefinitely. For important decisions, readers should verify the current rule with the appropriate official source.

Corrections

We welcome corrections. If you believe an article contains an error, please contact us at [email protected] with the article URL, the statement in question, and supporting information if available.

We will review the information and make a correction when appropriate. We may also update an article when new information shows that an explanation is incomplete, unclear, or outdated, even if nothing in it was strictly incorrect.

AI and Other Technology

Technology, including artificial intelligence tools, may be used during parts of our editorial process. These tools may assist with research organization, drafting, editing, summarization, or other routine tasks.

However, AI generated information is not automatically treated as accurate. For legal and regulatory content, appropriate sources still need to be researched and reviewed by a person. The use of technology does not replace editorial judgment or source verification, and it does not shift responsibility for what we publish.

Editorial Independence

Our editorial content is intended to provide useful information to readers. Advertising, sponsorships, affiliate relationships, or other commercial relationships should not determine the factual conclusions presented in our articles. Where a disclosure is appropriate, we will make the relationship clear. See our Disclaimer for more detail on how advertising and affiliate relationships are handled.

Credentials, Stated Precisely

Where a contributor holds legal credentials, such as a Juris Doctor or prior bar admission, we state those credentials exactly as held and do not overstate them.

A “J.D.” means the person holds that degree. “Former practicing attorney” means exactly that. We do not present anyone as a currently licensed attorney unless that is true and verifiable.

We also do not present contributors as government officials, licensed professionals, or subject matter experts unless those credentials are genuinely held and can be appropriately identified. Most contributors’ role at Rental Awareness is research, writing, editing, and content development.

No contributor provides legal advice through this site. Legal accuracy review of an article is informational only, and it does not create an attorney client relationship between a reviewer and a reader.

Our Standard

Our editorial approach is simple. Research carefully. Identify the state. Explain clearly. Update when necessary.

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