It is critical that you understand everything in your landlord tenant forms so that you can comply with the agreement and protect yourself from legal action. Here are three common things you will find in your lease forms.
First, you need to know what kind of lease agreement you are entering. The most common types of lease agreements are the periodic lease and the fixed lease. The periodic lease is a temporary, renewing lease that effectively ends and renews on a week to week, or more commonly, month to month basis. You can typically end this lease by giving 30 days to 60 days notice. The fixed lease agreement has a set beginning date and a set ending date. Attempting to terminate this lease early can involve stiff fees and the loss of your deposit.
Be sure you understand the type of lease described in your tenant forms. Make sure that these terms are appropriate to your situation. If you will be leaving the area soon, a fixed lease would be a poor choice.
The next thing you need to understand is your security deposit. The tenant forms will specify the amount of the security deposit and the conditions that must be met to be eligible for it’s return. Go through the conditions for your security deposit return carefully and make sure you fully understand what is expected of you.
When moving into the rental property be sure to document anything that might be in a pre-existing state that would void your security deposit. Communicate these deficiencies to the property owner in writing. If the property owner does not repair the problem, you will be able to demonstrate that the condition existed prior to your taking occupancy.
Thirdly, be sure you understand any rules about roommates and visitors included in the lease forms. Some lease agreements will prohibit you from having a roommate and will not allow one to be added to the lease forms later. Some property owners will even try to forbid overnight visitors.
Many people do not take the time to understand these types of clauses in their landlord tenant form when signing it, and they end up with serious problems, up to and including an eviction because they did not take the time to ask about things they did not understand.
Ben is an expert in writing about legal forms and documents that may help you when your in the search of the right legal document. He writes many articles about forms ranging from, real estate forms, power of attorney forms, tenant forms, and most any legal form that your searching for.
