Tenant Rental Agreement - How Does This Help?

By Author: Vijay Koragappa Shetty
Total Articles: 2542
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What is tenant rental agreement?

A tenant rental agreement is an agreement which is written or oral. This contract is legally binding between a landlord who is letting out the property and the tenant who will reside in his rental unit. It details out all the information related to rent such as when the rent is due and the minimum notice of termination to be provided by the tenant or landlord and also mentions the furnished items and other contents in the house which has to be maintained in good condition. If the contents are damaged then this would be recovered from the tenant. A list of items in the home and its condition will be mentioned in the inspection report. This report can be used by a tenant in order to show that there were damages before the tenant moved in and a landlord can use it to his own benefit.

Week on week rental contract
Month on month rental contract
Half yearly or annual rental contract

This tenant contract can be on a weekly, monthly, annual or bi-annual basis. A Landlord who is the owner of the rental unit or apartment building can rent out a unit to a Tenant on a month-to-month ...
... basis. The contract will identify the parties, property, term and amount of rent for the term.

No tenant is obligated to pay rent until he receives a copy of the rental agreement. It is a landlord's responsibility to provide a photocopy of the tenant contract within 10 days after the date of signing by both the parties. A landlord jots down all the important terms including the rental amount, the rental period, the rights and obligations of the Landlord and the Tenant, what are the legal complication he will get into in case of breach of the agreement. A tenant may be evicted if he defaults on rent without any valid reason.

Incase, there is an untoward incident, a landlord has to take responsibility of shifting him to another location and he should also cover up any accommodation expenses. Hence, a landlord gets a landlord building insurance to cover up the costs of damages and his tenant's accommodation cost in times of a calamity.

On the other hand, a landlord can sue a tenant if he breaches the contract. The court will order the losing tenant to pay the landlord's court costs such as attorney fees, filing fees, process charges, deposit costs and eviction charges. The amount to be paid will be decided by the judge and tenant(losing party) will have to pay what the judge thinks is reasonable.

Vijay Koragappa Shetty, Expert Author, Platinum Status. Information on Residential tenant reference from: Residential Tenant Reference CheckAnd: Verifying Tenant Identification