What's the typical lease missing that you've added to yours?
John RinggoldBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Topeka Kansas · Member since 2020 · 79 posts · 47 votes
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What's the typical lease missing that you've added to yours?
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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
5yOne of the biggest clauses: Tenant has been given the opportunity to inspect the rental and accepts it "as is" without any expectation of additional cleaning or improvements.
I got so tired of applicants telling me a place was "PERFECT" for them, only to get complaints after they moved in. They would complain it wasn't clean enough, the rooms are too small, the carpet needs to be replaced, or the walls need to be painted. I now stress very hard that they are accepting it as is and we will not make any changes after they occupy unless it's been specifically agreed to in writing when they sign the lease.
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91 Replies
- Real Estate Broker · GA · Member since 2018 · 36 posts · 10 votes5y
@John Ringgold
*Pet addendum
*Trash clause (storing of trash, and or keeping your area clean)
*Health and safety clause( blocking entries and exits, fire hazards, grills, candles, smoking)
*smoke alarm clause( residents must report when smoke alarm is beeping and should not disable or take it down)
* Unauthorized guest clause ( landlord has yhe right to exclude any person not on the lease whom poses to interrupt the quiet enjoyment of the community)
*vehicle registration ( disable abled vehicles, expired tags)
*damages clause ( outside of normal wear and tear)
To name a few
- Contractor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2020 · 5 posts · 0 votes5y
I have a pretty lengthy rules and regulations added to my lease. Recently added:
There will be a minimum 5% rent increase every lease renewal. So they expect it. My taxes go up every year and so does the cost of doing business.
Recently had a tenant who we gave 100% brand new carpets before they moved in. On move out inspection, they looked fine and I didn’t notice the funky smell because I had a mask on.
A few days later we went back to turn the apartment and the smell was strong, we pulled back the carpets and on the back side you see stains every where you can imagine. Not sure how he even managed this without doing it on purpose. Barely 1 year old. We had to pay to have the carpets professionally cleaned.
Now we tell them up front, there will be a mandatory professional carpet cleaning cost taken from tenants security deposit. This was done before you moved in and needs to be when when you move out.
- Denver, CO · Member since 2020 · 112 posts · 95 votes5y
include a list of rules and a list of charges that could affect the security deposit with $ amounts if they cause any.
One rule I have is: the basement is not living space, it is for storage only. The basement is not a recreational area, any damage caused to the property mechanical operating systems (plumbing, heat, electric) caused by using the basement as a recreational area will be the financial responsiblity of the tenant.
That rule came from experience where I had some "younger professionals" setup a "beer pong table" right next to the other apartments boiler. After 1 late night weekend call for no heat from the other tenant I enacted this rule...
For my list of charges I include things like Replace exterior door: $400, replace interior door: $200, fix window: contractor cost etc.
Your lease will become a living document based on your experience.
- Investor · Fontana, CA · Member since 2020 · 128 posts · 94 votes5y
I have a pet application that becomes part of the lease. It includes a picture of the animal, the vet and licensing information, and person who doesn't reside on the property who can be responsible for the pet.
I also have a move in sheet. I explain that the sheet protects the tenant so it is in their interest to complete it and return it to me. They have a couple of weeks to move in and list problem, scratch, drip, etc. When giving them the form, I tell them that I will not necessarily repair an item, e.g., scratched drywall in the basement, but when they move-out, I will not charge them for the damage they did not create. This helps me promptly address problems that I may not have noticed when prepping for rental.
- Rental Property Investor · Boise, ID · Member since 2020 · 11 posts · 5 votes5y
@John Ringgold I thought I was getting creative Andy saving some money by adding into our lease giving the tenants a discount if they agreed to do the lawn care. Found out later that legally I still have to report that as income on taxes. Not to mention I had to manage them actually doing the lawn care. Changed that one real quick.
- Member since 2021 · 109 posts · 130 votes5y
Renee and John (post 3 & 4) mentioned most of mine except:
1) No satellite dishes on roof. Tenant may have dish installed in back yard on pole only.
2) Do not drill or tape anything to kitchen cabinet doors. Over cabinet door hooks are prohibited.
3) Upon move-out the house must be clear of all your possessions. No furniture, paint, chemicals, cleaning supplies, mops, etc. Large trash items most be picked up before move-out. Please arrange large item removal with City garbage collector in advance.
#1 reason is self explanatory. #2 my cabinets are new, I don't want them scratched and I swear they push me on this all the time (crappy 3M taped battery operated led strips, hooks for dish towels, luckily no screws) so I can point them to the lease when they violate. #3 I am sick of being left with random paint and chemicals (that sometimes I have to drive to the dump) and crappy mops. Also had some dump a mattress, couch and a bunch of crap in front of house on move-out which I had to pay to have hauled away - as a day after move out the cat 1 or 2 hurricane had changed paths and was on the way. Also avoids getting hit with overage charge (maximum 4 cubic yards of trash in my area) after they leave.
Originally posted by @John Wright:
@Jonah Tremblay If we determine that damage was caused by tenant we fix the item but keep the invoice to later deduct it from the tenants security deposit when they eventually move out.
Thanks John. What would you do if it looks like the tenant will have used up most of the damage deposit or more?
- Real Estate Agent · Southington, CT · Member since 2008 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes5y
Make sure to have some kind of Early Lease Termination Fee outlined in the lease somewhere.
- Real Estate Agent · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2017 · 54 posts · 63 votes5y
@Jonah T. In Ohio you have to send them an itemized list of all of the deductions within 30 days off them leaving. If it is more than their security deposit I send them a bill. If they don’t pay it I take them to court.
- Rental Property Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2020 · 21 posts · 11 votes5y
@John Ringgold
I’ve had to add in more direct verbiage about smoking not only in the unit but also on the premises. Also, I’ve added direct verbiage about tenants leaving trash or belonging in shared spaces.
- Investor · scotssdale · Member since 2021 · 4 posts · 0 votes5y
I wonder if anyone added a clause about 'fostering' an animal as a temporary pet ownership?
- Property Manager · Williamsport, PA · Member since 2020 · 93 posts · 74 votes5y
Originally posted by @Jim K.:
I hate to disagree with so many of you in this thread, but what @Dennis Wayne said in this thread is absolutely true. The lease needs to be short and sweet or it means nothing when you get it in front of a Pennsylvania magisterial district judge. Careful wording? Ingenious provisions? Wise precautions? Many MDJs don't even look at leases in landlord-tenant disputes. Just how the Commonwealth works, and why I so frequently repeat the same advice about evictions here in the forums. Maybe it's different in your states.
A well written lease doesn't require the judge to read it, their job is to decide what has happened, how the law and the lease address it and then enforce those. This is based on my experience doing hundreds of evictions in my career and testifying before at least 12 judges across PA. PA is pretty landlord friendly.
- Member since 2020 · 339 posts · 356 votes5y
Originally posted by @Jennifer Ruelens:
Originally posted by @Jim K.:
I hate to disagree with so many of you in this thread, but what @Dennis Wayne said in this thread is absolutely true. The lease needs to be short and sweet or it means nothing when you get it in front of a Pennsylvania magisterial district judge. Careful wording? Ingenious provisions? Wise precautions? Many MDJs don't even look at leases in landlord-tenant disputes. Just how the Commonwealth works, and why I so frequently repeat the same advice about evictions here in the forums. Maybe it's different in your states.
A well written lease doesn't require the judge to read it, their job is to decide what has happened, how the law and the lease address it and then enforce those. This is based on my experience doing hundreds of evictions in my career and testifying before at least 12 judges across PA. PA is pretty landlord friendly.
How do they see if a breach of contract has taken place and fairly make a judgment on that without seeing or reviewing the contract ? I’m glad you had good judges over your career but out here ours won’t ever read the darn lease
- Property Manager · Williamsport, PA · Member since 2020 · 93 posts · 74 votes5y
Originally posted by @Dennis Wayne:
Originally posted by @Jennifer Ruelens:
Originally posted by @Jim K.:
I hate to disagree with so many of you in this thread, but what @Dennis Wayne said in this thread is absolutely true. The lease needs to be short and sweet or it means nothing when you get it in front of a Pennsylvania magisterial district judge. Careful wording? Ingenious provisions? Wise precautions? Many MDJs don't even look at leases in landlord-tenant disputes. Just how the Commonwealth works, and why I so frequently repeat the same advice about evictions here in the forums. Maybe it's different in your states.
A well written lease doesn't require the judge to read it, their job is to decide what has happened, how the law and the lease address it and then enforce those. This is based on my experience doing hundreds of evictions in my career and testifying before at least 12 judges across PA. PA is pretty landlord friendly.
How do they see if a breach of contract has taken place and fairly make a judgment on that without seeing or reviewing the contract ? I’m glad you had good judges over your career but out here ours won’t ever read the darn lease
I don't ask them to read the lease, I prepare the documents highlighted and ready to go. I phrase my violation notices and LT complaint using the same language as the lease. I am a professional property manager, so we know how to get this stuff done.
- Rental Property Investor · Grapevine, TX · Member since 2018 · 33 posts · 17 votes5y
@John Ringgold
Early move out for sure
- Largo, FL · Member since 2016 · 53 posts · 62 votes5y
Originally posted by @Gavin Henry:
@Renee Potoczny #7 -How do you even track that? How would you know if the guest stayed for 7 consecutive days? What if the guest stayed for 5 days this week and 5 days the next week? I’m just trying to think of how a renter would try and find a loophole in that.
It's a 4-plex and I live in one of the units, so it's easy for me to see if there are extra guests staying. It happened recently, I saw the same car for about a month, so I asked the tenant about it. The plan was to add the additional occupant to the lease if they were going to stay. They moved on after the conversation.
- Real Estate Agent · Destin, FL · Member since 2016 · 57 posts · 45 votes5y
@John Ringgold We added a bedbug addendum to our leases. We had tenants living in our units for a couple years before bedbugs were discovered. Upon getting a pest inspection, it was determined that it was a newer case, so the tenants had brought them in somehow. Our lease originally stated that the landlord was responsible for pest control. After the huge bill to remediate the bedbugs, we added an addendum to our leases stating that if bedbugs weren't there within the first 30 days of tenancy, then the tenant is responsible for remediation.
We also have units with shared utilities (water and trash). Instead of having the tenants pay a different amount each month depending on the amounts of the bills, we took an average over the year in order to create a set amount for utilities and added that to the rent. So if the average for the two utilities was $50/mo and rent would normally be $800, we made rent be $850. This ensured that the tenant would pay their portion of utilities, and if they didn't, it was considered non-payment of rent, so we could evict if necessary. You cannot evict for non-payment of utilities. You just have to be careful that you aren't making money on utility payments, so our set amount was a few dollars under the average amount per month. Any major overages are on us, so there is risk.
- Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes5y
Originally posted by @Renee Potoczny:
1. No open flames/candles of any kind
2. No feeding wild animals (including stray cats)
3. Take trash cans to the curb on the 2 trash pick up days
4. No smoking on the property. We don't rent to smokers
5. Landlord will change air filters for the unit
6. Specify number of vehicles per unit. Specify if you allow motorcycles/boats
7. Guests can not stay for more than 7 consecutive days
Great list! Can you explain the reasoning behind item 2? Does it include birds and squirrels? My best tenant is an older single gentleman who lives in an expensive four bedroom house by himself. Rent is always early and he keeps the property in better condition than I keep my home. He likes to feed squirrels and birds. He keeps to himself, but that is an interest of his. I get not wanting stray cats or potentially some other animals. Just curious what happened that lead you to add this.
- Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes5y
Originally posted by @Gavin Henry:
@Renee Potoczny #7 -How do you even track that? How would you know if the guest stayed for 7 consecutive days? What if the guest stayed for 5 days this week and 5 days the next week? I’m just trying to think of how a renter would try and find a loophole in that.
This is a good point. We say no more than 7 consecutive days and 14 days total for the same guest within a calendar year, without written consent form the landlord. The main point of this clause is to avoid someone sneaking in a roommate and calling them a guest. Otherwise to your point, someone could say they just live there Monday-Friday and are "visiting". This one is hard to enforce regardless. It would only come up if we found out someone was living there; through inspection, police incident, if a neighbor mentioned something, etc. We are not at the property daily, so no way to know. Most lease clauses are there in good faith that the tenant will follow them and it gives you legal rights if you find out they are violating them.
- Rental Property Investor · Coral Springs, FL · Member since 2019 · 8 posts · 1 vote5y
@Renee Potoczny Okay that makes total sense to me now! Thank you for your response
- Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes5y
Originally posted by @Ivan Vargas:
Must pay all 12 months up-front. Did that in March 2020 during the pandemic.
Just for people reading this to be aware, some states prohibit advance rent beyond a month or two, so this could be illegal in certain areas. Other states require the landlord to hold advance rent in a separate account for the lease duration and only draw down the monthly amount. Some even require the landlord to give some or all the interest on the money to the tenant.
Even though you collected up front, you could be legally obligated to return the money. Even in a lease break situation, the landlord is obligated to re-rent the property and only charge the tenant for actual loss of income (rents, damages and leasing fees). Or if the property became uninhabitable (mold or storm damage for example) you would have to refund the money.
Just mentioning it because this is one of those things that can get landlords in trouble.
- Rental Property Investor · Member since 2021 · 63 posts · 27 votes5y
@Dennis Wayne this is something I’ve always been curious about. Let’s say I have an ironclad lease. Let’s use an example. Let’s say I have in the lease “you will pay $100 penalty/fine if you are caught smoking in the residence.” I charge them $100 and they don’t pay. Then I add late fees. They still don’t pay. Let’s say they just never decide to pay it, but still pay their rent. Do you evict them and if so, will a judge force them to pay? And if so how much is out of your pocket going to court or is it even worth the fine?
I just see a lot of people on here saying their lease will cover it, but I’ve met some pretty terrible people who just don’t care. I just don’t feel a little fine or penalty of something will worry them too much. Do these people truly ever get a punishment or held accountable at the end of the day if they chose to follow nothing?
- Royal Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2016 · 127 posts · 44 votes5y
Originally posted by @Joe Splitrock:
Originally posted by @Ivan Vargas:
Must pay all 12 months up-front. Did that in March 2020 during the pandemic.
Just for people reading this to be aware, some states prohibit advance rent beyond a month or two, so this could be illegal in certain areas. Other states require the landlord to hold advance rent in a separate account for the lease duration and only draw down the monthly amount. Some even require the landlord to give some or all the interest on the money to the tenant.
Even though you collected up front, you could be legally obligated to return the money. Even in a lease break situation, the landlord is obligated to re-rent the property and only charge the tenant for actual loss of income (rents, damages and leasing fees). Or if the property became uninhabitable (mold or storm damage for example) you would have to refund the money.
Just mentioning it because this is one of those things that can get landlords in trouble.
Yes you're absolutely right Joe. Advanced rents are classified the same as security deposits. Every landlord should definitely know the laws in the state where the property is located. However it is not advanced rent if your lease term is 1 year as opposed to 12 months.
For example, if your lease reads 1 year for $12k/year and not 12 months for $1k/month. Then the tenant paid for the current term and nothing more. Of course finding a tenant that is willing and able to do this is more difficult, but by doing this you (sort of) weed out the bad tenants, and most importantly in my case eliminate the potential for non-payment due to loss of income caused by the pandemic.
- Investor · PA · Member since 2019 · 56 posts · 51 votes5ymy lease as one of the posts said, is a living organism. It is over 15 pages now. It's really impossible to cover all contingencies. As noted before, screen well. No matter how well you screen in time a bad one slips thru the cracks. The majority of my tenants are great. It's the one bad apple that ruins the day and sometimes the year!
In my area a notice quit waiver is fairly standard. Has been tested in court several times.NOTICE TO QUIT WAIVER THE TENANT HEREBY
Have a similar abandonment of property clause which allows me to dispose of property left behind without the mandated 30 day storage rules of the city.
SPECIFICICALLY WAIVERS HIS (HER) (THEIR) RIGHT TO RECEIVE 30 DAY NOTICE ON ANY
“NOTICE TO QUIT” REQUIRED BY THE LANDLORD TENANT ACT. THE TENANT FURTHER
UNDERSTANDS THAT THE LANDLORD SHALL HAVE THE ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO DEMAND
THE IMMEDIATE VACATION OF THE PREMISES BY THE TENANT AND THAT THE
LANDLORD MAY EXERCISE THEIR RIGHT AT ANY TIME THAT THE LANDLORD FEELS
THAT ANY TERMS OF THE LEASE MAY HAVE BEEN VIOLATED.
One other clause I have found VERY effective is an early payment discount. ( really a late fee in reverse.)
I make the rent $50 more and give them a discount if paid On Time. Most pay ON TIME to save the $50.- Subject to the provisions of this Lease, the rent for the Property is $______ per month ( the rent)
- The tenant is allowed an early payment discount of $50 is the rent is PAID AND RECEIVED, on for before the 1th of the month effectively making the rent $_______ per month IF PAID ON TIME.
Another thing I learned and has saved the day several times in court is: I have a line for Time at the start of the lease and end. I go thru the lease LINE BY LINE and ask if they understand and when they finally do I have ALL signers INITIAL by the numbered clauses. This indicates that they read and understand it. Sooooo they can't tell me or the judge later that they didn't know it was in the lease. Yeah a bit time consuming on the front but saving time later. So I tell tenants upfront that they need to allow 1 hour for lease signing and walk through.
Lots of the postings before are in my leases most are impossible to collect except thru deposits when the tenants leave.
Why the tenant is awarded more protection than the Landlords, baffles me, but trying to put it all in the lease is a bit excessive and as stated only as good as the intent of the tenant is.
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