After researching your state and local landlord-tenant laws, the next step is adding important clauses, addendums, and disclosures to your lease. If you use our online rental lease agreement, these items are already included for you without doing any additional work.
In this chapter, we’ll go over important rental lease clauses, disclosures, and addendums and explain what they mean.
Unlike lease rules that you decide, clauses are typically written specifically to comply with state and local landlord-tenant laws and are written in legal jargon. Below, we’ll go over important rental lease clauses that should be included in every lease.
When you create an online rental lease agreement on Avail, it will contain 29 lawyer-reviewed clauses intended to protect the rights of both you and your tenants. However, there are a few you will need to review closely to ensure they’re written correctly and comply with local ordinances.
Here are the top 10 rental lease clauses to include and review in your rental lease agreement:
This clause states that tenants are jointly and severally liable for the full rent amount. Each individual tenant will be held responsible for the full rent amount, even if his or her roommates refuses to pay. It’s important tenants understand this so they live with roommates they feel certain will pay their share of the rent amount.
As a landlord, you want to ensure all of your tenants pay their rent online and share your property with others they can rely on. Even though each tenant is technically responsible for the full amount, it’s best to inform anyone occupying your rental property to provide full transparency and avoid hiccups down the line.
This clause states that if one portion of the lease is ruled invalid in court, the rest of the lease is still upheld. If you’ve added a new clause that is then ruled as invalid due to local landlord-tenant laws, then this clause can ensure your lease agreement is still valid.
This clause makes your tenants aware that you are allowed to access the premises as long as it’s during reasonable hours and with proper notice of entry. However, in the case of an emergency, you are allowed to enter the unit without notice.
Emergencies are often when you have good reason to believe there’s a fire or there’s an urgent maintenance problem that can severely damage the property (such as a pipe bursting.) This clause balances the landlord’s right to access the property and the tenant’s right to privacy.
As a landlord, you can access the property in order to:
The “Use of Premises” clause states a few rules about how the property is used. For one, it says the property should be for “residential purposes only” and not for an at-home business. There may be exceptions to this rule with the landlord’s permission, but generally landlords don’t want the property to be used as a business because of the added liability and risk.
For example, guests or customers in the building can bring additional noise and foot traffic, more delivery personnel, parking problems, and disturbance to neighbors.
In addition, this clause states the property should only be occupied by people listed on the lease and who submitted an application for the property. The tenant should take care of the property by not leaving trash in common areas, hanging objects out of windows, placing objects on ledges where they could fall and injure someone, etc.
It also states the tenant cannot leave personal belongings in common areas, such as leaving a bicycle on the porch. If your property has a deck or balcony, it prohibits the tenant from having too many people on the deck or balcony beyond the amount that is reasonably safe.
By advising tenants how they can use the property and that they are liable for maintaining a safe environment, you are protecting yourself and your tenants.
If a tenant stays in the unit past the move-out date, this clause states that, legally, the lease is still valid on a month-to-month basis and the tenant still owes rent. Without this clause, the lease becomes void at the lease end date.
Adding this clause makes sense when:
Some landlords customize this clause to state that rent will be double the previous price if the tenant stays past the move-out date.
This clause simply states that the landlord’s permission is required before a sublet occurs. The landlord also cannot say “no” if the sublet request is reasonable.
To create a sublease agreement with a tenant, take advantage of Rocket Lawyer’s free trial. You can create a free sublet agreement here.
The tenant is expected to not disturb neighbors. The volume of televisions, speakers, radios, and musical instruments should all be reasonable.
During the hours from 10 P.M. to 7 A.M., the overall volume coming from their apartment should be set so that neighbors can’t hear any noise.
The tenant is expected to take care of the property, the fixtures, and appliances. The unit should be clean and in good working order. If there’s any damage at the end of the lease, the tenant is liable to pay for damages, with the exception of reasonable wear and tear. Tenants are also expected to keep the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in good condition and to properly use all utilities.
This clause automatically renews your lease. It’s optional, so you don’t have to include this clause if you don’t want to. Instead of having to sign a new lease, it is understood that the lease will automatically renew for the same rental term, whether it’s six months, one year, etc.
If you include this clause, be sure to make this clear to your tenants. We recommend reminding tenants 90 days before the automatic renewal that the lease will renew. This gives tenants the opportunity to say they don’t want to renew.
Another optional clause that is useful is the buy-out clause. It allows either you or the tenant to break the lease without penalty as long as 60 days’ notice is provided and a penalty fee is paid to the other party. There are several reasons why a tenant may need to break a rental lease, so it’s always recommended to include this clause.
There is one exception to this rule: if a tenant is called to military service during his or her tenancy, you must comply with a lease termination within 30 days, as long as the tenant provides a written order as proof. In the case of being deployed for military duty or a permanent change of station (PCS), you can’t charge a penalty fee.
All tenants have rights when renting a property, so it’s important you’re aware on what they are. Tenants have a right to:
Remember, these two important rules:
Landlords should also know of two importance notices that tenants will need to be informed on. The Notice of Habitability states whether there are known conditions that affect the tenant’s ability to safely live in the unit. If there are any code violations, this is where the landlord would notify the tenant. The Notice of Foreclosure tells tenants if the property is subject to foreclosure proceedings.
Addendums are added to written documents to support or add to the document.
Common Types of Rental Addendums:
Addendums can be created by the tenant or the landlord, but both parties have to agree to them being included in the lease. Signing the lease means you are agreeing to all attachments or addendums. Our online rental agreement makes it easy for you to include addendums. All you have to do is simply upload attachments for it to be added to your lease.
A pet addendum usually specifies the pet’s specific breed, color, weight. It should list the amount of the pet deposit and pet rent. Some landlords ask for a photo of the pet to verify they are allowing a particular pet and to verify the pet’s size and breed.
A renovation addendum is helpful if the property is undergoing renovations. If the tenant is signing the lease before seeing the updated unit, then he or she might ask for an addendum that states what renovations will occur. This ensures the landlord follows through on promises for certain renovations, such as including a stainless steel refrigerator, etc.
Addendums can also be required educational brochures. The lead paint pamphlet (below) is a nationally required addendum. The EPA provides a link to the lead paint pamphlet here.
Some cities and states may require additional addendums that aim to educate tenants. Chicago, for example, requires a bed bug addendum that educates tenants on how to prevent bed bugs, the health risk bed bugs pose, and protocol for reporting and handling bed bugs. Here is a breakdown of which states require the bed bug addendum.
Lease disclosures are statements on the lease that disclose information. They are usually state-mandated. For example, the bed bug disclosure states whether or not the property has ever had a bed bug infestation. Similarly, asbestos, mold, and radon disclosures inform tenants if there has ever been mold, asbestos, or radon on the property.
The following disclosures should be included in all your online rental leases:
Now that we’ve reviewed important rental lease clauses, addendums, and disclosures, the next step is writing custom rules into your lease. We’ll review important rules to include, such as whether you allow smoking, if you require renters insurance, and more.
Or sign up now to have access to our lawyer-reviewed, state-specific rental lease agreement.
