What is a rental lease agreement? Understand what you’re signing for!

Rental Agreements

Rental Agreements are short-term contracts, usually for every month. They change from one month to another depending upon who is involved. However, the landlord has the right to change the terms & conditions of the rental agreement by the end of each month. The landlord can even hand over an eviction notice of 30 days or raise the rent at their convenience.

Lease Agreement

Lease Agreements are fixed documents with a particular rent for each month for a long time. They bind the tenant and the landlord legally so that neither of the two throws a fuss. Under a lease agreement, neither the tenant cannot leave the property at their will, nor can the landlord raise the rent.

Lease Agreements are exceptional if you plan for a long-term stay at a posh location where rents hike overnight.

The Basic Difference between a Rental & Lease Agreement

A rental lease agreement is a contract that a tenant signs before entering a rental property. The contract requires two parties – the landlord and the tenant, and the contract binds them legally to the terms and conditions of the lease. This agreement gives a tenant legal authorization in the rental property for the fixed time mentioned in the agreement papers.

We advise you to check the period of the rental lease agreement properly, as it denotes some minute but critical differences. All preconditions are the same for lease agreement except they are unchangeable frequently.

If it has only a 30 days span, then it sums up as a rental agreement. Whereas rental lease agreements have a long time that usually lasts a minimum of a year.

The Major Items to Look for in Rental Agreements and Lease Agreements

As we understood earlier, both the agreements vary as well as align at respective existences. Depending on the severity of the rental terms, and the seriousness of the landlord and the tenant, a rental or lease agreement can be handwritten, typed, easy to read, or jampacked with legalese. Sometimes, it can be a short one-page document while sometimes it looks like a thick bunch of paper.

But most of the time, they are written in their regular formats, in numbered paragraphs.

• Contact Details

The agreement must have verified the contact details of both tenant and landlord. In legal language, the tenant is addressed as the ‘lessee’ and the ‘lessor’ is the landlord. Both of them can be referred to as ‘parties’. Watch out for these terminologies while going through the agreement.

• Rental Property Details

The Rental or Lease Agreement shows the rental property as ‘the premises. If your rental property comes with a parking space, furniture, storage area, or any additional property, it must get a mention on the agreement.

• Rent, Deposition, Fees

The Rental Lease Contract will have details on the cleaning deposit, rent, security money, and end month’s rent specified. To make the agreement more flexible for you, mention the mode of payment, late fees, and due date of each month.

• Clear Details on Utilities

The landlord usually pays for the water, garbage, and in some cases electricity. The agreement must have a clear mention of what the tenant pays and what the landlord provides every month for the entire period.

• Tenant’s Responsibility

A strict lease or rental contract states that while staying on the rental property, it is the tenant’s responsibility to keep the space clean and hygienic. Broken windows, clogged drains, and floor stains are the tenant’s lookout while using the property. The agreement also binds the tenant to bear the cost of damage repairing on the property during the time of stay. Some rental lease contracts also mention that the tenant must not drill the walls for shelves, photos, or any purpose. Painting the walls is also prohibited.

• Eviction Notices

The Rental Lease Agreement must have eviction notice details of the time, urgency, and under what problems the landlord can show an eviction notice to the tenant. Generally, they issue such notice in cases of unpaid rent, tenant harassing other parties in the building, or violation of any rule by the tenant.