How to Change a Rental Agreement
There can be many reasons to make changes to a rental agreement. They can either be related to the landlord's needs such as a need to increase the rent, or the tenant's needs such as a need to add another tenant's name to the lease. The most important thing about changes to a rental agreement is that, just as in most legally binding contracts, both parties must agree to the changes.
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Instructions
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Check what the tenancy laws are for your area. There are varying requirements in different states and local jurisdictions. To find the laws and regulations that may apply in your situation, you can check with local tenant advocacy groups, the housing division of your local government or with your state bar association.
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Identify the specific change that you need or want to make. Make sure that the change is clearly defined. Remember that a rental or lease agreement is a legal document, so you want to ensure that your change will be clear to an arbitrator in case the change is ever disputed.
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Make all changes in writing. Even though changes can be agreed upon verbally, without a written document a verbal agreement can be hard to prove if need be. Therefore, it is advisable to make any and all changes as amendments to an old document or to completely draft a new document.
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Have verifiable signatures and/or initials on all changes and on all amended documents. It is important that all changes are made binding with the endorsement of the concerned parties. You may also want to make sure that these signatures are the common signature for each party, that is, the one you would find on their driver's license or on checks, and not an illegible scribble.
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Get the signatures notarized by a certified notary public to ensure the document's legality. You can find a notary public in most banks, and all lawyers are notaries.
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Seek legal counsel for advice on any complicated or confusing aspects of rental agreement changes.
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Tips & Warnings
There are some situations where the original rental agreement allows for certain changes by either party without requiring any special verbal or written amendments. Read yours carefully to see if it contains such a clause.
