Search for landlord-friendly states, and you will find a dozen rankings that disagree with each other, none of which show their math. One list puts Colorado in the top ten while ignoring its 2024 for-cause eviction law. Another puts Washington, D.C. in the middle of the pack, above Illinois, despite rent stabilization, tenant purchase rights, and some of the longest eviction timelines in the country. The problem is not that these lists are careless. It is that landlord-friendliness has never had a published, checkable methodology behind it.

So we built one. Griffin Funding scored all 50 states and the District of Columbia on six factors, each traceable to a statute, a court timeline, or a published tax rate. The weights and scoring bands are disclosed, and every claim in the table below can be checked against the law it cites. Where our results disagree with the conventional lists, we explain why; the disagreements usually occur where the conventional lists are wrong.

How We Scored It

Each jurisdiction receives 0 to 100 points across six factors. The weights reflect what actually drives an investor’s risk and return: rent regulation and eviction rules dominate; taxes and deposits matter, but less.

Scoring Methodology: Six Factors, 100 Points

Factor Weight Scoring
Rent control status 25 Preempted by state statute: 25. No statewide law and no local ordinances: 20. Local ordinances exist or are permitted: 10. Statewide rent regulation: 0.
Just-cause eviction requirement 20 No requirement: 20. Partial (local ordinances or protected classes): 10. Statewide requirement: 0.
Nonpayment notice period 15 3 days or fewer: 15. 4–5 days: 13. 6–7 days: 11. 8–10 days: 8. 11–14 days: 5. Longer than 14 days: 0.
Typical contested eviction timeline 15 Fast (roughly 3–6 weeks): 15. Moderate (6–10 weeks): 10. Slow (10–16 weeks): 5. Very slow (4 months or more): 0.
Security deposit rules 10 No statutory cap: 10. Cap of 2 months or more: 7. Cap of 1.5 months: 5. Cap of 1 month or less: 2.
Effective property tax rate 15 0.40% or lower: 15. 0.41–0.55%: 13. 0.56–0.75%: 11. 0.76–1.00%: 9. 1.01–1.40%: 6. 1.41–1.70%: 3. Above 1.70%: 0.

Sources: Rent control, just-cause, notice, and deposit factors are scored from each state’s landlord-tenant statutes, cited in the ranking table below. Effective property tax rates come from Griffin Funding’s property tax by state guide. Eviction timeline classifications reflect typical contested nonpayment cases from filing to judgment and are directional; court backlogs vary by county and year.

Two limitations worth naming. First, this scores state law, and local ordinances can change the picture within a single city; a landlord in unincorporated Illinois and a landlord in Chicago live under very different rules while sharing the same row below. Second, statutes are a floor, not a forecast. States change tier when legislatures act, which is exactly why this page carries a date and gets refreshed.

The Full Ranking: All 50 States and D.C.

Landlord-Friendliness Scores: All 50 States and D.C., Ranked for 2026

# State Score Tier What drives the score
1 Idaho 98 Landlord-Friendly Idaho Code 55-307 preemption; 3-day notice
2 Utah 98 Landlord-Friendly Utah Code 57-20 preemption; 3-day notice
3 Florida 94 Landlord-Friendly Fla. Stat. 166.043 preemption; 3-day notice
4 Georgia 94 Landlord-Friendly O.C.G.A. 44-7-19 preemption; no deposit cap
5 West Virginia 93 Landlord-Friendly W. Va. Code 55-3A; immediate filing permitted
6 Wyoming 93 Landlord-Friendly Wyo. Stat. 1-21-1002; 3-day notice
7 Oklahoma 92 Landlord-Friendly 41 O.S. 101 et seq.; 5-day notice
8 Arizona 91 Landlord-Friendly A.R.S. 33-1329 preemption; 5-day notice
9 Louisiana 91 Landlord-Friendly La. C.C.P. art. 4701; 5-day notice
10 Mississippi 91 Landlord-Friendly Miss. Code 89-8; 3-day notice, no deposit cap
11 Montana 91 Landlord-Friendly MCA 70-24; 3-day notice for nonpayment
12 Ohio 91 Landlord-Friendly 2022 statewide preemption; 3-day notice
13 South Carolina 91 Landlord-Friendly S.C. Code 27-40; 5-day notice, no cap
14 Texas 91 Landlord-Friendly Tex. Gov. Code 214.902; 3-day notice to vacate
15 Wisconsin 89 Landlord-Friendly Wis. Stat. 66.1015 preemption; 5-day notice
16 Alabama 88 Landlord-Friendly Ala. Code 35-9A; deposit capped at 1 month
17 Arkansas 88 Landlord-Friendly 3-day notice to vacate; 2-month deposit cap
18 Iowa 88 Landlord-Friendly Iowa Code 364.3(12) preemption; 3-day notice
19 Tennessee 88 Landlord-Friendly T.C.A. 66-35-102 preemption; URLTA counties
20 Indiana 87 Landlord-Friendly Ind. Code 32-31-1-20 preemption; no deposit cap
21 Missouri 84 Balanced Section 441.043 RSMo preemption; 2-month cap
22 Kentucky 82 Balanced URLTA adopted county-by-county
23 Nevada 81 Balanced NRS 118A; deposit capped at 3 months
24 North Carolina 81 Balanced N.C.G.S. 42; summary ejectment moves quickly
25 North Dakota 81 Balanced N.D.C.C. 47-16; 3-day notice
26 South Dakota 81 Balanced SDCL 43-32; 3-day notice
27 Virginia 79 Balanced Va. Code 55.1-1200; 5-day pay-or-quit
28 Delaware 78 Balanced 25 Del. C.; 1-month cap on year leases
29 Kansas 78 Balanced K.S.A. 58-2550; 1-month cap unfurnished
30 New Mexico 78 Balanced NMSA 47-8; 3-day notice
31 Alaska 77 Balanced AS 34.03; 2-month deposit cap
32 Michigan 77 Balanced MCL 123.411 preemption; 1.5-month cap
33 Nebraska 71 Balanced Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-1416; 1-month cap
34 Pennsylvania 71 Balanced 68 P.S. 250; 10-day notice; 2-month cap year one
35 Hawaii 70 Balanced HRS 521; lowest property tax in the U.S.
36 Colorado 66 Balanced RC preempted, but HB24-1098 for-cause eviction
37 Rhode Island 66 Balanced R.I.G.L. 34-18; 1-month deposit cap
38 Minnesota 64 Balanced St. Paul rent control (2021); no statewide JC
39 Illinois 63 Balanced 1997 Rent Control Preemption Act; Cook County JC ordinance
40 Massachusetts 61 Balanced 1994 ballot Question 9 banned rent control statewide
41 Maine 52 Tenant-Protective Portland rent control (2020); local JC
42 Connecticut 50 Tenant-Protective Mandatory fair rent commissions; protected-class JC
43 Maryland 49 Tenant-Protective Takoma Park / Montgomery / PG County rent stabilization
44 New Hampshire 46 Tenant-Protective RSA 540:2 good-cause eviction statewide
45 Vermont 38 Tenant-Protective Burlington just-cause charter change (2021)
46 Oregon 32 Tenant-Protective SB 608 (2019): first statewide rent cap + just cause
47 Washington 31 Tenant-Protective 2025 statewide rent cap; just-cause since 2021
48 New Jersey 30 Tenant-Protective Anti-Eviction Act; 100+ municipal rent control ordinances
49 California 28 Tenant-Protective AB 1482 rent cap + just cause; AB 12 deposit cap
50 District of Columbia 13 Tenant-Protective Rent stabilization, TOPA, 30-day notice
51 New York 13 Tenant-Protective HSTPA 2019; Good Cause Eviction 2024; 1-month cap

Scores as of July 2026, out of 100 points across six statute-based factors; see the methodology table above. Effective property tax rates per Griffin Funding’s property tax by state guide. State law sets the baseline; local ordinances can materially change the picture within a single city. This table describes the general regulatory climate for rental property owners. It is provided for informational purposes only, is not legal advice, and is not a substitute for advice from a licensed attorney in the relevant jurisdiction. Statutes are subject to amendment; verify current law before making investment decisions. Griffin Funding, Inc. NMLS #1120111.

Scores as of July 2026. State names link to Griffin Funding’s DSCR loan page for that state. This table describes the regulatory climate for rental property owners; it is general information, not legal advice, and not a statement about the desirability of any tenant-protection policy.

The Landlord-Friendly Tier (Scores of 85 and Up)

Twenty states clear 85, and they share a fingerprint: rent control is preempted or absent, no just-cause requirement exists, nonpayment notices run three to five days, and deposits are uncapped or capped high. The surprises are at the very top.

Idaho and Utah tie at 98, and Texas is not number one. Texas has the reputation, and its eviction speed and preemption statute earn every bit of it, but its 1.40% effective property tax rate is the highest in the landlord-friendly tier, and it costs Texas seven points. Idaho and Utah pair the same legal framework with property taxes around 0.50%. If the phrase landlord-friendly is going to include the highest recurring cost a landlord pays, the Mountain West wins it.

Georgia and Florida (94) are the strongest Southeast entries: preemption statutes, three-day notices, no deposit caps, and sub-0.80% taxes.

West Virginia (93), Wyoming (93), Oklahoma (92), Louisiana (91), and Mississippi (91) are the quiet performers. None of them appears near the top of the conventional lists, and all five combine fast process, no caps anywhere, and low carrying costs. Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Mississippi also anchor what our market data calls the Mid-South DSCR belt, where nearly every metro cash-flows at 20% down.

Texas, Arizona, Montana, Ohio, and South Carolina (all 91) form the tier’s dense middle, followed by Wisconsin (89), then Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, and Tennessee (all 88), with Indiana (87) closing the tier. Alabama is a case study in trade-offs: the lowest property taxes in the country and full preemption, held back only by a one-month deposit cap that most investors will never notice.

The Balanced Tier (55 to 84)

Twenty states land between the poles, and this tier holds the two results most likely to make a reader check our math. Both are worth the check.

Illinois scores 63, nowhere near the bottom. Illinois has had a statewide Rent Control Preemption Act on the books since 1997, and repeated attempts to repeal it have failed. Chicago and Cook County layer on serious tenant protections, which the local ordinance limitation covers, but the statewide statute book is far more landlord-neutral than the state’s reputation. Investors who write off the entire state are pricing Chicago’s rules into Peoria’s deals.

Massachusetts scores 61, and the conventional lists put it in the bottom five. Massachusetts banned rent control by statewide ballot in 1994 and has no statewide just-cause statute. What makes Massachusetts hard on landlords is the court process, one of the slowest eviction pipelines in the country, which our timeline factor scores at zero, and local political risk. On pure statute, it is a balanced state with a slow courtroom, and that distinction matters for underwriting.

The rest of the tier runs from Missouri (84), Kentucky (82), and the 81-point block of Nevada, North Carolina, and the Dakotas at the friendly end, through Virginia (79), Delaware, Kansas, and New Mexico (78), Alaska and Michigan (77), Nebraska and Pennsylvania (71), Hawaii (70), Colorado and Rhode Island (66), and Minnesota (64). Missouri and Pennsylvania are worth a note for readers of our state guides: both preempt or lack rent control, and both carry workable processes, which is why our market pages treat them as execution states, where lender flexibility and local underwriting decide outcomes more than the statute book does.

The Tenant-Protective Tier (Below 55)

Eleven jurisdictions and the bottom five deserve individual treatment because they are where the legal environment materially affects underwriting.

New York (13) and Washington, D.C. (13) share the floor. New York combines the 2019 HSTPA, the 2024 Good Cause Eviction law, a one-month deposit cap, and eviction timelines that routinely run past a year in the city. D.C. adds rent stabilization, a 30-day nonpayment notice, and TOPA, which gives tenants a statutory right of first purchase when the building sells, a transfer restriction no state imposes.

California (28) pairs a statewide rent cap and just-cause regime (AB 1482) with a one-month deposit cap (AB 12) and slow courts, with major cities layering stricter local ordinances on top.

Washington (31) and New Jersey (30) complete the bottom five. Washington moved fastest of any state this decade: just cause in 2021, a statewide rent cap in 2025. New Jersey has had statewide just cause since 1974 and more municipal rent control ordinances than any state, layered under the highest property taxes in the country.

Oregon (32), Vermont (38), New Hampshire (46), Maryland (49), Connecticut (50), and Maine (52) fill out the tier. New Hampshire surprises people: no rent control and low-key politics, but RSA 540:2 makes it one of the few states with a statewide good-cause eviction requirement, and its property taxes are the third highest in the country.

Where We Disagree With the Conventional Lists, and Why

  • Washington, D.C. is bottom-two here, not mid-pack. Any list placing D.C. above Illinois is not reading the D.C. Code.
  • Colorado is balanced, not top ten. Its rent control preemption is real, but the 2024 for-cause eviction law ended its claim to the top tier.
  • Texas is in the top five in spirit and number fourteen on paper. The gap is entirely due to its property tax rate, and a methodology that ignores the highest recurring cost is not measuring landlord-friendliness.
  • Illinois and Massachusetts rank higher here than anywhere else, for the statute-book reasons explained above. We flag them precisely because they look wrong until you check them, and they check.

What This Means for DSCR Investors

Regulatory climate and cash flow are on different axes, and the best deals sit where they intersect. Much of the landlord-friendly tier also posts metro-level example DSCRs at or above 1.0 in Griffin Funding’s 50-metro national ranking, with the Mid-South corridor of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi the most densely overlapping region in the country. Meanwhile, a tenant-protective score does not mean a state is uninvestable; it means the underwriting must price longer timelines, capped increases, and local ordinance risk, which is work our state guides do market by market.

A DSCR loan qualifies on the property’s cash flow rather than your personal income, which makes the regulatory climate part of the deal math: notice periods and eviction timelines shape vacancy assumptions, deposit rules shape reserves, and property taxes flow directly into PITIA. Griffin Funding funds DSCR loans in 50 states and D.C., writes DSCR loans down to a 0.75 ratio with a no-ratio program available, and publishes the market data behind every state we cover.

Methodology Notes and Disclaimers

Factor data reflects statutes and published rates as of July 2026 and is refreshed when legislatures act. Effective property tax rates are drawn from Griffin Funding’s property tax by state guide. Eviction timeline classifications are directional estimates for contested nonpayment cases and vary by county, caseload, and year. This article describes the general regulatory climate for rental property owners and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from a licensed attorney in the relevant jurisdiction. Statutes cited are subject to amendment; verify current law before making investment decisions. Griffin Funding, Inc. NMLS #1120111.

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Bill Lyons is the Founder, CEO & President of Griffin Funding. Founded in 2013, Griffin Funding is a national boutique mortgage lender focusing on delivering 5-star service to its clients. Mr. Lyons has 25 years of experience in the mortgage business. Lyons is seen as an industry leader and expert in real estate finance. Lyons has been featured in Forbes, Inc., Wall Street Journal, HousingWire, and more. As a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association, Lyons is able to keep up with important changes in the industry to deliver the most value to Griffin's clients. Under Lyons' leadership, Griffin Funding has made the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies list five times in its 12 years in business. Follow his updates on LinkedIn.