The most popular form on our site, and the reason most landlords purchase the landlord package, is the residential rental / lease agreement.
This is a combined document where whether you are renting or leasing a property, you can use this form. Only a minor change is required in the wording and setup and our form will easily handle that for you with just a click of a button.
First things first – you may wonder why we don’t sell it separately. The price you’re getting for the complete landlord package is still much, much cheaper than it would cost if you went to a law firm etc to get a rental agreement done. So you are still saving lots of money there.
On top of that if you’ve been a landlord for awhile you know that being a landlord doesn’t end with just a rental agreement. Or if you’re a new landlord then trust us – you’ll need more form than just a rental agreement.
Our landlord package includes a whole host of forms with at least one form added every week. We’ll also try and add forms by request too. So down the road when you are looking to extend or cancel a lease, make addendum’s to the existing lease, make modifications to the lease agreement, create rent reciepts or even just send the tenant a notice to enter form – these will all be available free of charge at your fingertips with our complete landlord package.
Now let’s talk about what a residential rental agreement is, what is included in it and how our landlord form works.
What Is A Residential Rental / Lease Agreement?
A residential rental agreement is an agreement between a landlord and tenant, or multiple landlords and tenants in regard to the tenant(s) renting the property that the landlord owns.
A rental agreement will be on a set renewal time. When you are looking to set up an agreement with a tenant to be renewed on a weekly, monthly or annual basis then you will choose to create a residential rental agreement.
A residential lease agreement is very similar to a rental contract. The only different is that the lease agreement will state a specific day as to when the agreement will end. You will list both the start dates and the end dates in a residential lease agreement contract.
How To Write A Rental / Lease Agreement:
There’s a lot of information that should be in a residential rental / lease agreement. How our system works is it prompts you for the information you need to provide in a Q&A format. That way you don’t miss out on anything. Trying to create a residential rental or lease agreement can be a very complicated process but it doesn’t have to be – our system makes it so easy for you!
We’ll run through everything that our system asks you:
Premises Basic Details: You will input the type of premises (ie: a house or a condo) and the address. We also provide an option to list any additional details you would like to about the property.
Premises Guidelines: Next we prompt you about guidelines in regard to the premises. These include details in regard to whether the tenant(s) are allowed to sublet the premises, if there is a minimum age for tenants, if smoking is allowed, if pets are allowed to be kep ton the premises, the amount of days notice the landlord must give prior to non-emergency entry (which is regulated by your city / state) and then any details about parking you wish to provide.
Landlord and Tenant Information: Next we ask you for the landlord and tenant details. This is the name and current address of the landlords and tenants. Our form is set up to accommodate up to two landlords and up to four tenants although it’s easy enough to add additional tenants in the editing process if you need to.
Agreement Terms: In this section you will choose whether it is a lease agreement or a rental agreement that you are wanting to create. If it is a lease agreement, you will choose the beginning and end dates of it. If it is a rental agreement, you will choose the start date, and then how often it is renewed. There is also an option for you to add termination details if you choose, in which case you will put the days required for a notice from a landlord, from a tenant and for a breach in lease. Again these are often set at the city/state level so we leave it completely open to you to enter the amount of days. Whether it’s a 3 day notice or a 24 hour notice, our form is set up to accommodate both.
Payment Details: In this section you outline everything in regard to the rental payments. We’ve seen every rental situation there is and we are glad to say our form accommodates all. Whether you want rent to be paid by the month, week, six months or year, and all of the different payment methods – we accommodate that. We also prompt you for the date the rent payments are due. There’s also a section within here for penalties. If you wish to add penalties for late payment or returned checks, you can do so within this section. There’s also the option for the tenant to provide a security deposit and the amount of it.
Tenant Responsibilities: We will ask you if the tenant has any responsibilities on the property, such as any duties or maintenance. We leave this open for you to fill in whatever you require as we know this can vary widely.
Utilities: If the tenant is required to pay any utilities such as gas, electricity etc then you can fill it in on this section. We leave it open to you to fill in anything needed.
Appliances and Furnishings: A section that lists any appliances or furnishings that are being included with the premises. There’s also the option to just state that there will be no appliances and furnishings coming with the property.
Amenities & Extras: If any amenities or anything else are going to be available for the tenants use – ie: a swimming pool – there is a section where you can provide that.
And that’s mostly it. We have a section in regard to Lead Paint Information because you need to have that on the rental agreement. Our form also allows you to insert whether there are going to be any witnesses to the signing of the agreement, or a notary public.
One thing we need to note – that’s all the information that is required from YOU to create a customized rental agreement. However there is a lot more information that will be included in the rental agreement. This is information that is standard for any rental agreement such as the process of the termination of the agreement and that the property much be in good condition. Also sections outlining that no house alternations can be made, insurance details, quiet enjoyment and much more.
Luckily all that is stuff you don’t have to worry about – our system handles it all for you!
Rental Agreement Template:
We don’t offer a template for a rental agreement and we advise never using one. It’s best to create your own. You never know if a template is going to have all the information required or if it is missing sections. It may also be set up for a specific state or have information in it that you don’t need.
If you’re looking to create a blank rental agreement template you can even do that with our system. Simply click “Create My Agreement” after being logged in on this page and you’ll be able to create a blank rental agreement template instantly.
And while we don’t offer free rental agreements, our landlord package is just a one time purchase. Make that purchase just one time and you can create as many rental agreements as you wish. It is lifetime as well so you can create a rental agreement today, then come back six years down the road and create a rental agreement at no charge!
State Specific Rental Agreements:
Our rental / lease agreement is set up to accommodate all states. Where applicable and if we have knowledge of it, we will add in specific details required by a state. When you choose the state of the premises, our form will adjust to allow you to create it for that state.
In saying that, it is the landlords responsibility to be aware of all state laws in regard to all the various details, such as days notice to enter etc. So you need to be read up on that and be well aware of it. So whether it is a California rental agreement, Texas rental agreement or an Arizona rental agreement, our form will be set up for you.
Downloadable Rental / Lease Agreement:
Our residential rental / lease agreement is stored in the cloud for you to access anywhere, and you can download it in various formats. We offer our completely printable rental / lease agreement in PDF, DOC, RTF and HTML formats.