Edits Recommended for CAR Standard Lease Form

[Kim Hopkins]

Hello!

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season or the end of 2020 or both! 

To continue where I left off last time, after fleeing our personal home in Los Angeles and relocating to Arizona, we decided to rent out our California home for the time being. We are using a specialty property management/leasing company that places people through their insurance company for temporary housing. It's always for a 30 day minimum and typically for a couple of months at a time. 

The company we're working with uses a standard template for their tenant leases. It is the "California Association of Realtors (CAR) Residential Lease or Month-To-Month Rental Agreement".

Since month-to-month renters have the exact same tenant rights as yearly renters in Los Angeles, it is important we treat the leases seriously. We will be doing whatever we can outside of the lease to vet the tenants as well (credit checks, etc.).

The company we're using has not made any edits to the CAR standard lease form. 

Question for those experienced in California and Los Angeles month-to-month and/or long term rentals: 

1. Is this form as good as it can be for Landlords in Los Angeles / California? 
2. Are there any standard edits that should be made to it? 
3. Do you think there is any point in hiring an attorney to do this or is it so tenant-friendly in Los Angeles that there is nothing that can really be done to the lease or in practice to increase protection for the Landlord?

I understand none of this in any way constitutes legal advice.

Thank you!
Kim