In my area (PA), the local government has an inspection/licensing law for rental property that only applies in the city limits. Your county may or may not have such a requirement, check the governmental web sites.
For tax purposes, you need to get familiar with IRS Pub 527
http://www.irs.gov/file_source/pub/irs-pdf/p527.pdf
If renting to family, you need to be careful that you are charging a fair market rent for your area. See page 18 of the above publication. If renting to family (as defined in the pub) at less than fair market rent, the house may be considered as used for personal use and not as a rental (with a profit motive) and hence your deductions may be limited (or none allowed).