Princes Trust Article
Got a place for rent? Free rental agreements can work, with a few tweaks
Many a landlord has been burned by a bad renter, for lack of a proper rental
agreement. Let\'s say you\'re an ordinary individual who\'s moved up to a better
house and are now renting your old place. It\'s not like you\'ve got lots of
experience in renting, or multiple properties. You may possess a good hearted
naivety, with respect to renting property, that will land you in trouble down
the road. If you\'ve always been responsible as a renter and homeowner, it\'s not
safe to assume that the rest of the world operates on the same wavelength.
You may regard renting out your home or condo to someone requires nothing more
than a simple, free rental agreement you find in abundance online. You peruse a
number of sites and find one which looks official and seems to cover the
essentials. You download and print this free rental agreement for your potential
renter\'s signature. It looks to you like all of the bases are covered. You agree
to take on a tenant and the tenant signs the rental agreement. They pay the
first, last and a deposit. So far, so good.
Let\'s say you\'ve rented your furnished one bedroom condo to a tenant. During the
tenant interview, you verbally indicated that you didn\'t want pets and you
required that only one individual occupy the premises. However, that free rental
agreement you obtained doesn\'t specify these details. You simply rely on your
verbal conversation on the rules of the house. You assume the conversation is
sufficient.
One day, shortly after the renter moves in, you learn from the condo association
that your tenant was having a wild party which resulted in the police showing up
and you now have a homeowner\'s fine in your lap. Maybe you hear from a neighbor
that your tenant\'s dog is menacing kids in the neighborhood. Perhaps you find
your tenant has moved in a roommate when your condo association\'s rules limit
tenancy in that one-bedroom unit to only one person.
Any of these scenarios can end up costing you money. Does that free rental
agreement, which seemed sufficient when you rented your home, address all of
these issues? If not, you don\'t have a leg to stand on to collect on the fines
you may have incurred due to this less-than-perfect tenant. You might be sued by
a neighbor when your tenant\'s dog attacks his kid. You can move to evict, but
this process can get messy and it will cost.
Free rental agreements serve as a good template from which to work. However,
have your lawyer look it over before you use it as-is. The amount you spend on a
lawyer\'s consultation, with a few tweaks to the agreement, may well be far less
than the time and money you stand to lose on a bad deal.
