Landlords and tenants love to argue, over everything from late fees to pets to sub-leasing. And when they clash, what’s the first (and cheapest) source of arbitration? You guessed it, the original rental agreement, signed by both of you. A strong rental agreement serves both to lay out the ground rules clearly, and to prevent landlord lawsuits before they even occur.
So what makes a strong rental agreement?
More important than anything else is that the rental agreement comply with your state’s landlord-tenant laws, because otherwise it calls into question everything else within it. This means you NEED a rental agreement specific to your state, with the required clauses and correct legal language (if you don’t know where to find one, there’s a link below to a site that offers a customizable rental agreement for each state).
You’ll need all the usual variables included: monthly rent, rental term, etc. Beyond the obvious, make sure the rental agreement spells out clearly your policies on cleanliness, noise, smoking, and other tenant behaviors in the property. Late payment policies are a big source of contention between landlords and tenants, so make sure yours are clearly stated, and make sure they’re in keeping with state laws.
Maintenance and repairs are another friction point between landlords and tenants, which means your rental agreement needs to outline very clearly each party’s responsibilities. Generally speaking, the landlord is responsible for major repairs, such as replacing the roof if it’s old and falling apart, while the tenants are responsible for smaller, day-to-day maintenance of the property (painting, light bulbs, etc.). But you’re likely to run into disagreements if your rental agreement isn’t extremely clear about each party’s duties to the property, so be sure to review it carefully.
Once upon a time, a rental agreement was all you needed to sign with a tenant before letting them move in, but no longer. Nowadays, you’ll need a small rainforest’s worth of documents, from lead paint disclosures to state-mandated disclosures and addenda. Each state requires different disclosures, so make sure you know what they are, and if you’re in doubt use a rental forms site that gives you the required landlord forms with your rental agreement (see below). Lead paint lawsuits are nasty, expensive, and nearly impossible for a landlord to win, so be extremely careful with compliance of these laws.
Your rental agreement should also clearly state your policies on sub-leasing and acceptable uses of the property, and spell out who is responsible for what utilities. Think of your rental agreement as an investment, that you have to do right the first time, but that you don’t have to worry about later on, because a good rental agreement will prevent most landlord-tenant issues before they ever arise.
Kevin Kiene manages a website for landlords that offers customizable, state-specific rental agreement forms, along with tenant disclosures and many free rental forms.
[tags]rental agreement, rental, agreement, lease, agreements, landlord, tenant, forms, free, disclosures,[/tags]
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