paperwork for new tenant

[Robert P.]

Hi All!

As you may know from an earlier post, I have found a tenant for my apartment! (woo hoo) I screened and screened and screened some more and nothing but positive outcomes, so I am pretty excited about this. 

Let me know if I am missing anything:

1. I am doing a month to month tenancy, so I have an "At-Will" agreement which states it's month to month, rent amount, deposit amount, where/how to pay and when due. Pretty basic.

2. Agreement Rules Addendum: this contains all the rules, no smoking, don't wash you car, storage in limited in basement, how to report maintenance, yada yada (my uncle who is a real estate lawyer reviewed and confirmed everything that needs to be in there is, and will hold up in MA court)

3. They have a pet, so I have a pet addendum which states what pet they have, how they can't add anymore, and the responsibility/accountability tenant has for having a pet on my property. 

4. First/Last/Security deposit form which states what they gave, what it's for and where the money will be stored (bank info)

5. Statement of condition form: for us to walk through apartment beforehand and list anything that was there prior to move in.

Am I missing any other important forms? The property is in full lead compliance, do I still need to give them the lead law paperwork? Anything else?

[Robert P.]

@Michele Fischer Great idea about the pet. I was planning on taking a picture of their ID, but didn't think about the pet. I will look into local laws, but did find out that I need to still give the lead disclosure along with my letter of compliance (found here http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dph/prog...)

@Jonna Weber Thank you! Although I am a first time landlord, I am not new to dealing with tenants (have been helping family members) and know what kind of people some tenants can be. Along the lines of what Michele stated, it gives me flexibility if the tenant is not a good fit. It also allows the tenant to move on when they feel is necessary. I'm not in the business of holding people hostage for the rest of their lease. I'm a firm believer, if something isn't working out, why prolong it? Just move on and begin the next chapter.