Download these 10 Rental Agreement Sample Templates to help you in preparing your Rental Agreement quickly and without missing anything important.

‘Agreement’, also known as ‘Rental Lease Agreement’, is an agreement in which both the parties have responsibilities within the agreement and are legally bound to follow and enforce the conditions mentioned in it. There are four basic components of the agreement: the offer, the acceptance, consideration, and acceptance. Once these requirements are fulfilled, a contract or agreement is deemed to be enforceable.

Rental Agreement Types:

There are two basic types of rental agreements:

1. Lease.
2. Lease and License Agreement.

‘Lease Agreement’ is when we pay a fixed amount of money to a landlord every year and in return, he/ she will lend you the property as if it is yours. It is more popular in commercial rental properties. Normally, in 99% of cases second type, i.e.; ‘Lease and License Agreement is used. So, it is the most popular type of rental agreement that we come across.

Free Rental Agreement Templates

Clauses to Consider In a Rental Agreement:

1. Finding out who the ‘Actual Owner’ is is the first and foremost step toward signing a rental agreement. One must check documents to ensure the authenticity of the real owner. Make sure you sign the agreement with the real owner.
2. The ‘Term of Agreement or the Duration of agreement’ is the second most important thing to consider. It can be in years or months. The desirable duration must be kept in mind because this will decide upon the rest of the clauses like a raise in rent, etc. So, you must check the terms of the agreement before signing the agreement.
3. The third one is the ‘Termination Clause and Notice Period’. This clause is necessary to use when the owner, for some reason, wants to terminate the agreement. In that case, you will have to invoke the termination clause and ask for the notice period. A notice period may be from 2 weeks to a few days. This helps you to find out an alternative for yourself.
4. Next is the ‘Lock-in Clause’. This clause is for the owner to save him any loss in case you decide to terminate the agreement before the completion of the duration mentioned in the agreement. So, in such a case, even if you want to terminate the agreement before the completion of the duration, you will have to pay for the full duration you have signed for in the agreement.
5. The ‘Payment Clause’, however, is the clause that decides the mode and the date of payment. Also, it decides if the payment will be quarterly monthly, or yearly. These will be the deciding factors in the payment clause. So, this clause must be checked consciously while signing the agreement and you have to keep in mind the date on which you have to pay the rent to your owner.
6. ‘Increase in Rent Clause’ is another important clause for rental agreements. This clause decides how much an increase in the rent will be after a specific duration of time. You must check the figures given in the agreement.
7. It is necessary to mention a guarantor name under the ‘Guarantor Clause’ in case someone else is paying the rent in your place. This is important to make sure that he/ she will pay the rent for you.
8. ‘Maintenance/ Association Charge Clause’ tells who will bear the maintenance charges of the things given for rent. It will be a part of the rent or not? Whether there will be some extra charges other than the rent. You should check out for these conditions.
9. For a short duration, one can ignore the ‘Wear and Tear Clause. But for a long duration, the owner may ask you for the wear and tear charges so you should mention in the agreement how much you are willing to pay against these wear and tear charges.
10. The ‘Furniture and Fixtures Clause’ is of importance, especially in cases when you are signing a house rental agreement. You must take a good look at the furniture and the fixtures, that if they are in good condition or not. If not, then the owner should repair them and bring them into workable condition and they should be mentioned in the agreement.
11. Next is the ‘Clause for Facilities and Amenities’. To access the facilities of the place, such as a gym or pool, etc, you must see if it will be available for rent or not.
12. The ‘Security Deposit Clause’ is the most important. The security deposit is decided beforehand and it must be returned to you after the completion of the duration of the agreement. The owner may deduct some security deposit in case of some abnormal wear and tear.
13. ‘Repair Work during Occupancy’ is the clause that is necessary when there is a small repair and does not cost much financial and manual labor, then you have to do it by yourself. However, if something requires huge financial help, then the owner should bear it.
14. Next comes the ‘Dispute Resolution Clause, which is necessary to use when the owner comes into some type of dispute. Read this clause very carefully, as it will decide what will be the outcome of the dispute for you.

Rental Policies:

While preparing the agreement, the owner must consciously think about the policies of the agreement:

• Make sure that your policies are correctly available in the rental agreement. You must maintain consistency throughout.
• While drafting the agreement, you must also keep in mind to not put yourself at risk for liabilities.
• Be reasonable, rational, and not lawfully discriminatory while shaping your agreement. Choose the words carefully, so that misunderstanding does not arise.
• Take care that you do not make fraudulent misrepresentations of your property or services.

Keeping in mind the above discussion, it is necessary to use an accurate rental agreement while giving property on rent. If you have a strong and properly managed rental agreement, then you will have a written guide on what to do when a violation occurs. It will solve all your challenges if something unexpected happens.

Given below are the sample templates for rental agreements that will surely be helpful for you to make a good one for yourself.