Are additional addendums suggested for residential leases?

Question

I was able to secure a residential lease from another helpful BP member that I’m comfortable with, however, I’ve been doing more research and it seems like some of you use additional addendums to set tenant maintenance expectations and other expectations. I’d like to set expectations with my future tenant in regards to how to pay their rent, how to make maintenance requests and most importantly what maintenance I expect the tenant to do (change lightbulb, etc.) What addendums do you use and why? If you do use one, would you mind sharing with me?

Thanks,

Chris

Anna Sagatelova · Answer

Hi @Chris Vazquez! The point of using addendums is to add terms to your lease agreement. Some things, like a Lead Based Paint Disclosure Form, are required for all properties built prior to 1978. Others are not required, but might be a good idea, especially for terms that might vary from lease to lease. For example, my company manages a variety of asset types, from SFRs to townhomes, to high rise condo units, to multifamily buildings. There are terms that apply to some of these assets that are entirely irrelevant to others, like specific landscaping and snow removal responsibilities. So we do use addenda for that sort of thing. How utilities are paid and distributed is also something that varies. Instead of having a blank form on the lease and having to manually fill it in one of 6 ways, with room for human error, it's helpful to just have a utility addendum version for each option.

Everyone's rental business is different. Your lease and documents appurtenant need to reflect and best describe your own processes and procedures. The addenda our company uses works with our lease, but might make very little sense in tandem with the lease you borrowed from someone else's operation and are applying to yours.

My advice to you is to outline your processes, and determine variations, if any, based on the horizontal spread of your business. Then you can determine what clauses your lease needs and what addenda might be necessary.