What kind of leases do you use for a tenant?

Question

Where do landlords get their lease documents? Do they have an attorney write them up, a property management team, or write them themselves?

Thanks!

Scott Allen · Answer

@Aaron Heers

Typically the PM that you're working with should have one for you to use. I would not recommend writing one up yourself. It's smart to try and get at least three to compare different terms if you want to add them into yours. Have an attorney review it. Best of luck!

Eliott Elias · Answer

From a realtor.

Patrick Drury · Answer

@Aaron HeersIf you have a third party property manager they will typically have their own lease that has been reviewed by attorneys. You could always ask to see it and have an attorney review it. If you are local you can use the BP one or have an attorney draft one. Never try and just draw one up.

Theresa Harris · Answer

I'm in Canada and the province where I have most of my rentals has a standard lease that we need to use.  You can add extra things if you want, but the basics are all there.  Same with notices of rent increase, notice of non-renewal and everything else.

Drew Sygit · Answer

@Aaron Heers back when we started, we gathered around 6 leases from PMC's and copied and pasted from all of them. Then took that to an attorney to review. They suggested a few changes and we started there.

Our lease has since grown from 6 pages to now around 25 pages as we've added to it:

1) As required with federal & state required statutes

2) "Lessons" tenants & courts/judges have taughts us.

Devin James · Answer

Hey Aaron Heers,

I use the leases that Bigger Pockets provides (You may need a subscription). They have different forms for each state depending on that states laws. I would recommend reading through the lease and add/delete anything that you deem fit. Good Luck!

Bjorn Ahlblad · Answer

You can get them here or from a local LL Association. I like being a local member for networking. I would never write one myself too much work. I also would never pay an attorney too expensive. I do MTM and one year with auto MTM after 12 mos.