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Do I Need a Residential Lease or Rental Agreement?

By: David F. The fact is most states only allow a oral contract between the tenant and landlord to be legal for a short period of time, because oral contracts often go to court it is necessary to have a written lease or rental agreement. The rental or lease agreement is used to specify the length of tenancy, the amount to pay, the number of people living on the property, pets, who pays utilities, whether your allowed to sub lease the property, when the landlord can access the property, and who is responsible for paying attorney fees if there is a lawsuit.

The difference between a rental agreement and a lease agreement is a rental agreement is automatically renewed (usually on a month to month basis) and the landlord can change the terms with "proper written notice."

A lease agreement is only for a set term, usually 6 months or more. The lease agreement allows the tenant stay on the property as long as he/she pays the rent and complies with the terms. A lease agreement does not automatically renew itself.

If you need a lease or rental agreement usually the local office supply store is not your best option. These forms may sometimes be out of date or often use too much legal jargon to easily understand. The best place to look is online, and try to find a website with a money back guarantee or satisfaction guaranteed, these places are good about updating a form as soon as theirs a complaint or they notice out of date forms.