Lease Paperwork Help

[Jonathan Fisher]

Hello. I just became a landlord last week. I need to get my upstairs tenant on a lease and I currently need to find tenant for downstairs. Could someone point me to where to find a good lease document? Why do you like the one you use? Thanks.

[Daniel A.]

Jonathan,

While you can find many template leases online, you should really take the time to learn about what clauses are necessary to make a lease that conforms to your particular rental situation. You will find clauses that apply more to multifamily settings or toward appropriate use of land, etc. While many leases outline generalities that are cross-applicable, you may find that a "standard lease" doesn't specify something you may deem important to your particular situation.

What I did for my lease was I went and found a "standard" lease for my state and I read through it. I then Googled "important rental lease clauses" and spent the better part of a day reading through various articles that explained the importance of certain clauses and phrases. I added clauses to my lease and now have a twenty page lease that covers what I feel is applicable to my rental property.

Now, a twenty page lease sounds intimidating, but it's double spaced and a reasonable sized font. I personally have signed leases from corporations that (literally) are fifteen pages long, two columns with size 8 font. In addition, they throw out addendums for smoke alarms, for pest control, for parking, for appropriate cleaning, for house rules, for trash expectations, for yard maintenance. While I understand that this property management company manages many properties, when you spend the better part of three hours filling out paperwork and leave with a stack of papers that could be used as a weapon, that is excessive. 

But they have created a lease that is as airtight as it gets. You don't want to think that a "standard lease" you download from a website will cover everything that applies to your particular situation. Remember, what may be obvious to you may not be obvious to your tenant who thinks it's acceptable to flush kitty litter down the toilet and who dips into your fridge and eats that brisket you were saving. (A plight a friend of mine had.)

I like the lease that I use because I took the time and the attention to make it applicable to my particular rental situation. I realized that leases are like relationships in that not every one is a perfect match. You have to take the time and give it the attention it needs for it to work out.