Your Lease and Rental Documents Companion

1.  Preparing a Lease or Rental Agreement

• Which Is Better, a Lease or a Rental Agreement?
• Instructions for Completing the Lease or Rental Agreement Form
• Instructions for Signing the Lease or Rental Agreement
• Lease-Option Contracts (Rent-to-Buy)

2. Choosing Tenants: Your Most Important Decision

• How to Advertise Rental Property
• Renting Property That’s Still Occupied
• Accepting Rental Applications
• Checking References, Credit History, and More
• Avoiding Illegal Discrimination
• Choosing—and Rejecting—an Applicant
• Choosing a Tenant-Manager
• Property Management Companies

3.  Getting the Tenant Moved In

• Inspect and Photograph the Unit
• Send New Tenants a Move-In Letter
• Cash Rent and Security Deposit Checks
• Organize Your Tenant Records
• Organize Income and Expenses for Schedule E

4.  Changing or Ending a Tenancy

• How to Modify Signed Rental Agreements and Leases
• Ending a Month-to-Month Tenancy
• How Fixed-Term Leases End
• Returning Security Deposits When a Tenancy Ends

Your Lease and Rental Documents Companion

The rental agreement or lease that you and your tenant sign forms the contractual basis of your relationship. Taken together with the laws of your state—and, in a few areas, local and federal laws—it sets out almost all the legal and practical rules you and your tenant must follow—such as how many people can occupy your property and for how long, the amount of the rent and deposit, and you (and your tenant’s) repair and maintenance responsibilities.

We’ll take you step by step through preparing a lease or rental agreement, plus key forms that supplement them, including a rental application designed to help you choose the best tenants (and weed out the bad ones) and a landlord-tenant checklist to document the condition of the rental unit at the beginning and end of the tenancy (and avoid disputes over security deposits).

Fortunately, you don’t need a lawyer to draft these important rental documents—just this book. Here’s how we can help you.

State-specific legal information. We’ll show you how to easily create an effective and legal rental agreement or lease that you can tailor to fit your situation using the 50-state law charts in Appendix A. Want to know about security deposit rules in your state? The “State Security Deposit Rules” chart has what you need, including the deposit limit, whether you need to keep the deposit in a separate account or pay interest on it, when you must return the deposit, and whether you’re exempt from the rules based on the size of your business.

Where to find forms in this book. You’ll find copies of the lease and rental agreement, rental application, and other forms in this book available for download on the Nolo website on a special companion page for this book (described below).

Both the print copy and eBook versions include blank versions of the forms (found in Appendix C), which you can either tear out or print, as well as filled-in samples in the text.

Who shouldn’t use our lease or rental agreement? Don’t use the forms in this book if you’re renting out property that is subsidized by the government; mobile homes; hotels; or commercial property. Landlords who accept Section 8 vouchers will need to use the HUD addendum, which will add to the terms and conditions of the lease you draft using this product (the HUD terms will prevail in case of any inconsistencies). If you are renting out your condominium or townhouse, use this book in conjunction with your homeowners’ association CC&Rs (covenants, conditions, and restrictions).