How to Draft a Lease for Your Rental Property

If you're renting out property, it's important to draft a rental contract that spells out the responsibilities of both the landlord and tenant.

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Real Estate Attorneys

1. Visit an office supply store or consult Internet sites to obtain a fill-in-the-blank rental form that is tailored to your state's rental laws.

2. Prepare a rental contract, based on the fill-in-the-blank form, that spells out the responsibilities of both the landlord and tenant.

3. Specify all payment terms in the lease, including due dates, payment methods, late fees, grace periods, penalties and the period of time (such as 1 year, 6 months, month-to-month) covered by the lease.

4. Determine specific provisions to include in the lease, such as who pays for utilities, taxes, maintenance and repairs, and policies about pets, sub-leasing and inspections.

5. Include terms in the lease about security deposits, stating when the deposit will be returned and the conditions for a full or partial refund.

6. Hire a local attorney to review your rental contract and to verify that the document meets all state and local rental laws.

Tips & Warnings

• Since a lease is a legal document, paying an attorney to review the draft of your lease is money well spent.
• Landlord-tenant laws can be confusing and complex. Make sure your lease covers all the bases by consulting a local attorney.

[gbaker50]

on 10/17/2009 If you're looking for an inexpensive lease to use for your rental property go to: http://www.bealandlord.net You can get a full lease for $8.95. Cheaper than Legal Zoom.

[ceoralee]

on 4/30/2007 I used RocketLawyer.com to make a lease and it was easy. Here is a link to Rocket Lawyer's rental property lease documents:
http://www.rocketlawyer.com/landing/landing-real-estate.aspx