| Why
is it important to sign a lease or rental agreement?
The lease or rental agreement is the key document of the
tenancy, setting out important issues such as:
- The length
of the tenancy
- The amount
of rent and deposits the tenant must pay
- The number
of people who can live on the rental property
- Who pays
for utilities
- Whether the
tenant may have pets
- Whether the
tenant may sublet the property
- The landlord's
access to the rental property, and who pays attorney's
fees if there is a lawsuit.
Leases and rental
agreements should always be in writing, even though most
states allow them to be oral (spoken). While oral agreements
may seem easy and informal, they often lead to disputes.
If a tenant
and landlord later disagree about key agreements, such as
whether or not the tenant can sublet, the end result is
all too likely to be a court argument over who said what
to whom, when and in what context.
This is particularly
a problem with long-term leases, so courts in most states
will not enforce oral agreements after the passage of one
year.
|
