What to Include in a Rental Agreement

Key Takeaways

• Clear Lease Terms are Essential: A comprehensive, written rental agreement helps prevent misunderstandings and legal disputes by clearly outlining tenant and landlord responsibilities.
• Avoid Illegal Clauses: Ensure your lease complies with local laws by avoiding discriminatory terms, non-refundable deposits, and clauses that waive tenant legal rights.
• Essential Information: Include key details such as the full names of parties involved, the property address, lease duration, rent price, late fees, and security deposit policies.
• Set Clear Expectations: Clearly define tenant responsibilities, maintenance duties, additional rules (like pet policies), and any restrictions on activities to avoid confusion during the tenancy.

Whether you’re a first-time landlord or a seasoned investor, you must know never to rely solely on verbal agreements. Agreeing to specific lease terms verbally is okay as long as you put them in writing later on. If not, you won’t be able to enforce them as you won’t be able to prove tenants agreed to those terms in the first place.

If you want to protect your rental investment, then you must learn how to write comprehensive lease agreements.

By writing down the lease terms and key tenant responsibilities, you will prevent common misunderstandings and avoid costly legal disputes. A written contract makes it easier to enforce the terms of the lease, including evicting tenants if necessary.

If you’ve never written a lease before or want to learn how to improve your current rental agreements, you’ve come to the right place! In this article, the property management experts from Reside Rentals will tell you all the information your lease should include.

What Not to Include in a Rental Agreement

While you’re free to write your rental agreement however you please, you must ensure that it complies with local rental laws. Certain clauses should never be included as they may be illegal or unenforceable. Here are key items you should avoid including in your leases:

• Discriminatory Clauses: Terms that openly discriminate against tenants based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or familial status are a clear violation of the Fair Housing Act.
• Waiving the Landlord’s Responsibility for Repairs. As a landlord, you’re responsible for providing a habitable living environment. A lease cannot state that tenants must handle all repairs and property maintenance, as this violates landlord-tenant laws.
• Unauthorized Entry by the Landlord: Lease agreements cannot grant landlords unrestricted access to the rental without proper notice, as this violates tenants’ right to privacy.
• Non-Refundable Security Deposit Policies: Most states require security deposits to be refundable, with deductions only for legitimate damages or unpaid rent. Claiming deposits are non-refundable in your lease is a clear violation of rental laws.
• Tenant Waiving Legal Rights: Clauses that waive a tenant’s right to sue the landlord or seek legal remedies are a sketchy practice and typically unenforceable, so it’s best to avoid them.

Information to Include in All Rental Agreements

A well-drafted lease protects both you and your tenants while also complying with local and federal rental laws. Here is the key information all your rental agreements should include:

1. Full Names of All Parties Involved

A rental agreement is a legally binding contract. As such, it should include the full names of all parties involved, such as the landlord and all tenants over 18. Including all adult tenants on the lease makes them responsible for paying rent or taking care of the property.

2. Property Address and Description

Your rental agreement should include the full address of the property address, as well as a detailed description of the unit. This is crucial for multi-family properties, as it helps identify the specific unit tenants are renting, avoiding misunderstandings and disputes.

3. Terms of the Lease

Clearly stating the duration of the tenancy on the lease will help you prevent holdover tenancies. Whether it’s a week-to-week, month-to-month, or year-to-year lease, stating the start and end dates of the lease will prevent confusion and misunderstandings.

Additionally, in the case of fixed-term leases, such as weekly or monthly agreements, it’s important to define whether the lease will renew automatically after each term, as well as the conditions for ending the agreement.

4. Rent Price and Late Fees

If you want to avoid late payments or tenants paying less for rent, then you should clearly state the price of rent and the due date in the lease agreement. Simply stating that rent should be paid on the first of every month, for example, can go a long way in avoiding confusion and encouraging timely payments.

Additionally, your rental agreement should disclose the grace period for payments, as well as the conditions and price of any applicable late fees.

5. Tenant Maintenance Responsibilities

As the landlord, you are primarily responsible for maintaining the rental unit and performing necessary renovations. Tenants are also responsible for basic maintenance tasks, such as cleaning, taking out the trash, mowing the lawn, doing minor repairs, and informing you of any major maintenance issues that may arise.

Outlining tenants’ maintenance responsibilities on the rental agreement will prevent misunderstandings and make it easier to enforce rules and maintenance requirements.

6. Security Deposit Policies

Security deposits are a common source of disputes between landlords and tenants. By being clear about your security deposits upfront, you can prevent a lot of misunderstandings and disputes.

Make sure your rental agreement outlines the amount of the deposit, how it can be used, all potential deductions, and the expected refund timeline.

7. Additional Rules and Policies

Every property is different. Your rental agreement should reflect the unique needs of your property. For instance, if you don’t allow pets in the unit or if smoking is not allowed, you should clearly express this in the document.

Here are some examples of additional addendums you can add to your rental agreement:

• Noise Restrictions: You can specify quiet hours and add restrictions for loud activities, such as parties or construction work.
• Subletting Policies: Specify whether subletting is allowed and the conditions for it.
• Smoking Rules: Clarify whether smoking is allowed inside the property, and if it is, outline the rules for handling cigarette waste.
• Alterations: Specify whether tenants can customize their rental unit and the conditions for doing so.
• Parking Rules: If you own a multi-unit property with assigned parking spaces, make sure every tenant knows where and where not to park.
• Guest Policies: You can add any restrictions on having guests over, including maximum duration of stay and notice requirements.

Bottom Line

A lease agreement is the cornerstone of a good landlord-tenant relationship. A well-written lease outlines the rules and expectations for both parties, protecting their interests and setting the foundation for a better rental experience.

Now that you know what basic information every lease should include, you’re better prepared to draft a solid rental agreement that will keep your investment protected! If you need help writing a rental agreement for your Utah property, contact Reside Rentals today!