Real Estate Community Forum

My sister is in the process of renting her down stairs apartment. This will be her first time as a land lord and she wants the tenant to sign a lease. However, she's wondering what information should be included on the lease. So far she's included the amount of security deposit, the move in date, the amount of rent, consequences of a late payment, and her policy of no pets allowed in the apartment. What other information should be included?

In addition, what should be the policy if the tenant breaks the lease? Are there any laws that allow the tenant to break a lease under certain circumstances?

I cannot speak to any specific state laws but I know that military personnel are protected if they have to break their lease to serve.

The generic lease I use contains these sections:
* Parties (landlord and tenant) and their addresses
* Property being rented including a list of any furniture and appliances
* Term
* Rent payments (due date, late fees, etc)
* List of deposits
* Pet policy
* Notices (where the should be sent)
* Utilities and maintenance (who is responsible for what?)
* Key and lock policy
* Military/Civil Service Clause
* Rules regarding landlord's access to the premises

And unless you are a lawyer, do not write your own lease. You can really shoot yourself in the foot if you slightly misuse a technical term or some such.

Generally speaking, leases are pretty standard documents, and there are lots of standard leases out there. You used to be able to go to the local stationery store and buy one, but you'd be lucky to find a local stationery store anymore.

Nolo Press (http://www.nolo.com) has a great section on being a landlord, and their book "Every Landlord's Legal Guide" includes a CD-ROM with lots of great standard forms for you to use, including a couple of types of leases -- in both English and Spanish.

Some of the items to be included in the lease is:

Making sure the apartment is cleaned by the tenant upon vacating the premises.
No space heaters allowed inside the apartment.
Keep the sidewalk clean in the winter time.
It is the tenants responsibility to protect their belongings by purchasing tenant insurance.
The Landlord is permitted to inspect the property to check for cleanliness.
The tenant is Not allowed to change the locks.
If rent is paid by check and it is returned for insufficient funds, a penalty fee will be added.

These are just a few items that I include in my lease. Hope it's helpful!

I have leased residences, but only been a landlord in a commercial building. My worst experience was with a lawyer who left me with months of payments owing, but due to her experience, had closed her business and left me with no recourse for collection. She also vacated during the worst possible season in a year when rental properties were cheaply available all over the city.

My best experience was a business that was profitable, growing and needed more and more space, renting up office after office in my building to accommodate their growing staff. While you can write legal paragraph after legal paragraph, the best thing to include in your lease is a successful firm with every opportunity to maintain and increase that success.

Getting to know your tenant is about the best way to decide whether they are likely to be “good” tenants, or leave you in a lurch. What is their business history? Are they looking to expand? Have they the finances to do so, or are all their past profits tied up in vacation homes? What history do they have with former landlords? Are there many, or just a few? If you can’t contact the landlord without jeopardizing their current lease, perhaps you can contact them looking for a space to rent on behalf of one of your tenants, or to establish a cooperative agreement between the two of you for vacancies either of you may have in the future. In this way you not only determine whether the potential lessee has a good grasp of being a tenant, but you may end up with a business associate to make finding tenants easier when the need arises.

Ongoing contact with the tenant and a willingness to participate in the growth of their business is also important. You are, after all, a business associate of each of your tenants by way of the lease between you. Ignore them and their needs at your own peril. To rent or lease property is a very personal event. If you aren’t willing or able to be a business associate with each one of your tenants, you should probably sell the property and find some other investment. None of the above is actually part of a lease, but each is a vital component of a good ongoing business relationship.