Not so obvious lease additions. Seeking your input

[Brandon Rush]

Hello My Friends,

I am in the process of developing my first lease. I am trying to make it as bullet proof as possible. I have a lot of the standard stuff you would typically have in a lease agreement. My question to you is after building your first lease or re-developing your leases a few times, what are some of the not so obvious items you added to help cover all of your bases?

I am sure I will learn a lot of this with experience, but I figure why not get ahead of it. 

Any input is appreciated and thanks in advance!

[Adam Martin]

I have made several adjustments over the years but the ones that come to mind are requiring 60 days notice to vacate vs 30 to give me more time to plan.  I am a big fan of allowing dogs into the rental since so many people have them and are willing to pay extra both in rent and deposit.  I have a $600 refundable deposit that is just added to the general security deposit to try to incentive them to leave the house in good shape plus an additional $35/dog.  I don't know if this one will hold up in court but after having a turn that required cleaning above wear and tear that I paid a maid service to do so I could charge for it I have in my lease that they are responsible for services necessary from outside contractors or if I have to do work to get the house rental ready due to issues above wear and tear I charge 45/hour.  Typically speaking you can only charge tenants from the deposit for funds you have actually had to pay out but by listing a price per hour I feel I have a better chance of it holding up.  I also have a lease break fee of 2 months rent plus forfeiture of the entire security deposit including the pet amount they paid extra in the event they want out early.  Rentals typically rent quickly where I am so I would most likely come out ahead vs only holding them responsible until I get it rented and this compensates me for my time.  This seems pretty high of a penalty but hopefully it keeps them there but if they do leave I would most likely work with them on leaving it clean and allowing viewing to waive a month of penalties and leave on better terms.  I am considering having the lease automatically renew for another year or month to month for an additional % due to not liking the uncertainty of month to month but am still thinking this through.  While it is true they will leave when they want many more responsible renters will continue with their lease.  

This is what I can think of for now but as time goes I seem to make slight adjustments to the leases as time goes on and I am sure you will as well.