Landlord: 8 Points to Include in your Lease Agreement

28 de July de 2022

A housing lease agreement must meet certain minimum legal requirements established by law. In addition to this, clauses that are deemed convenient by mutual agreement between the landlord and tenant can be included. Today, I will explain the points that you should include in the lease agreement if you are a landlord, both those established by law and those that may be of interest to you.

Contenido

1 Include details about the rental money
2 Inventory the apartment
3 How long the contract lasts and the penalties
4 Set the Times to Give Notice of Abandonment
5 Breakdowns and Repairs
6 Prior Consent of the Owner in Case of Works and Reforms
7 When is the Deposit Returned?
8 Ask for an alternative address of the tenant

The points that are not mandatory but that you, as the landlord, should include are all those that can strengthen your position and protect your interests. You will better defend your rights as the owner of the property and will be given guarantees so that the rental goes perfectly at all times, without scares, without defaults, and without undue worries.

Before explaining in detail the points that you should include in the lease agreement, I recommend that, as far as possible, you always consult with an advisor or lawyer who is an expert in the field. A lease agreement is a legal document, and not doing it in accordance with the law could cause a problem that no one wants in the future.

Here I explain 8 recommended points to include in your lease agreement to protect your home and your rights.

Include details about the rental money

Many lease agreements only include the amount of the monthly rent, and at most, a prior deposit is set, and little else.

It is advisable to include more data and leave everything better regulated. For example, the days or period of payment of each of the monthly payments can be set. It is also good to include a clause that sets the revaluation of the rent (based on the CPI, for example) and when it should be reviewed.

The more data included in this regard, the better. This will avoid problems by subjectively interpreting what is written in the contract if it is too generic.

Inventory the apartment

In reference to the previous point, it is more than advisable to make an inventory of everything that remains in the apartment at the time the rental begins.

Not only make a list of the things that you leave to your tenant in the apartment, but also their general condition. It is also advisable to make an economic valuation of each of the assets that are included and even provide photographs or videos of their condition, especially if there is already a previous breakage or worn element of the house.

This point is convenient for you as the owner, but also for the tenant. Ultimately, it is a way to do things well and fairly.

How long the contract lasts and the penalties

It is essential to clearly establish the duration of the contract, but also the minimum period to be fulfilled. Penalties should also be included in the event of non-compliance.

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Many rentals are signed generically without including this possibility. This results in the tenant being able to leave your house earlier and stop paying you if a minimum period has not been set, for example.

For the same reason, it is also advisable that the duration be for 5 years with the possibility that the tenant leaves the house earlier with compensation in such case. Making a renewable annual contract eliminates this possibility of compensation to the tenant.

Set the Times to Give Notice of Abandonment

It is important to add the minimum period of notice in the event that the tenant is going to leave the house. Establishing a 30-day notice period assures you that you have time to think about looking for another tenant and that the abandonment of the current one does not mean a loss of income.

This is an aspect that is also convenient for the tenant since you as the owner also have the right to recover your home if you need it in some cases established by law.

In this way, you will also be obliged to communicate it to your tenant in time so that he can think about looking for another home to rent.

Breakdowns and Repairs

It is more than advisable that the responsibility for the consequent breakdowns and repairs that must be carried out is well established.

It is true that some of these repairs may correspond to the owner as the owner of the building, but it is also true that there are breakdowns caused by misuse of household items or appliances or by simple wear and tear from their use that should correspond to the tenant.

Leaving this well reflected in a lease agreement is the best way to avoid disputes and delays in the future.

Prior Consent of the Owner in Case of Works and Reforms

Although it may seem hard to believe, there are many tenants who decide to do some type of reform in the house without asking permission from their landlord.

This can give rise to a subsequent legal dispute that is not recommended for you as the owner of the property.

It does not hurt to state in the contract that the prior written consent of the owner is needed before carrying out any reform, even if it is minor.

When is the Deposit Returned?

In any contract, a prior deposit that the tenant pays to the landlord is usually established. It is a way to ensure that what is owed to the landlord is faced in the event that the tenant does not pay, or that there is any damage or breakdown at the time of handing over the apartment.

If everything is correct, the owner must return that deposit to the tenant. It is good that the terms of return of this and under what conditions are established in the lease agreement.

As you can see, these points to include in the lease agreement are convenient for both signing parties, but mainly for you as the owner. Protecting your rights as the owner of the property is essential since a home is an expensive asset and you must try to protect it at all costs.

Ask for an alternative address of the tenant

The law states that the tenant must give their address for notification purposes. In general, this address is usually that of the home that is rented. For the same reason, it is advisable to have a second alternative address. It can be that of a family member, for example.

The reason is that if the tenant leaves the rented house and there is any subsequent legal problem, you, as the owner, will not have an address to send the corresponding notifications.

It is a point that is not usually seen as necessary when the rental is formalized. This is because we always think that everything is going to go smoothly. Including this optional point is designed to minimize problems when this does not occur.

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