Lease Renewal - Security Deposit/First + Last Month's Rent

[Emmanuel Sanchez]

Happy Sunday everyone,

My first rental property's lease is due at the end of this month. We submitted a renewal offer to our tenant 1.5 months ago (which she accepted). I am finalizing the new lease that will take effect on September 1st, but had two remaining questions...

- For the original lease, we required first and last month's rent upfront. Should the lease renewal be treated the same way? What do you recommend?

- As for the security deposit, do I just carry it over and mention it in the lease renewal? Or do I return it to her and then have her submit the payment from scratch?

Thanks for the help!

[Theresa Harris]

For both the deposit and last month's rent, you carry those forward. If the rent is increasing, you could ask for the difference to cover the last month's rent if she doesn't renew a second time.