What To Know Before Signing A Housing Rental Contract

If you want to sign any housing or rental contracts, you must take steps to understand exactly what you’re signing. A rental housing contract is a legally binding document.

You should first carefully read the terms of the housing contract you are signing. Fully understand what your tenant rights are. Then you should review all aspects of the contract in particular. What are the contract dates, and when will specific things be due for you to pay in the future? You should fully understand all aspects of the contract and the time to go over it. This is before you sign your name on the contract, not after.

Read The Terms Of The Housing Contract

What are the first mistakes many people make when they are looking to sign a housing or rental contract? If they do not read the fine print. I do not understand precisely what they are signing. That is why we recommend that the first thing you should do when you are looking to sign a housing rental contract is to read the contract and fully understand the terms of the contract.

Most contracts should be clear enough for you to be able to understand all the terms of the rental contract. If you are signing a rental contract for a large sum of money, you may want to have a lawyer look at the contract and tell you if there are any red flags or anything you should be concerned about.

You must read the contract and understand the legally binding agreement you are entering by signing the housing contract.

Know Tenant Rights

Understand what your tenant rights are. Different states in the United States may have additional tenant rights in other cities, counties, and communities.

Also, if you’re signing a rental agreement outside the United States or are in a foreign country, understand the tenant rights are in the place you are signing the contract.

Review Dates On Contract

Review the dates of the contract and understand the dates entirely. Is the contract structured with a month-to-month payment, or does it have a specific beginning and end date? All those things are essential for you to understand before signing the contract.

This is where there can also be a lot of confusion. You may think the contract you signed is month by month, but in reality, it may have completely different terms.

You must fully understand these terms in the contract, so you know exactly what you are signing and when payment and other things will be due.

Understand The Contract Fee Schedule

Fully understand the fee schedule of the contract and what you are expected to pay. Are there additional charges that you may be expected to pay, such as utility hookup fees, Internet, parking, water, general repair fees, general cleaning fees, carpet cleaning fees, application fees, contract, transfer fees, and all the other fees that are stated in the contract?

A contract should list all these types of fees or what you might expect to pay. If it does not list out any of these, ask the person you are signing the contract with to spell all the fees, so you understand precisely what you need to pay and when.

Clauses For Contract Release

Sometimes our life, jobs, or other things change. That is why when you are signing a contract, you must understand the clause and reasons to be released from the contract.

If your work causes you to move, can you get out of the contract, or do you need to pay the penalty to get out of the contract? Are you able to sell your contract to another person?

All of these are things you should understand before you sign the contract. If, for some unforeseen reason, you need to get out of the contract, how will you remove yourself from the contract?

Review Everything Included In The Contract

Is the apartment or house that you are renting furnished? If furnished, there should be a list of all the furniture at the property being rented together with the house or apartment.

Go over this list to understand everything in the house or apartment you are renting so that you know exactly what you are responsible for. You may also want to consider taking some photos of the condition of everything when you rent an apartment or house.

Understand Landlord Tenant Guidelines

Are there specific landlord and tenant guidelines the landlord has put in the contract? Maybe the landlord does not want you to have guests over, or if you are going to have guests, they can only stay for a specific timeframe.

All of these things you should understand clearly before you sign any contract. This will help to ensure there is no confusion or misunderstanding later on.

Review Subletting Guidelines

Some rental properties will allow you to be able to sublet your property. Others will not allow you to sublet your property.

If you are planning to sublet your property or think that you may need to sublet your property sometime in the future, it is good for you to be able to understand this at the beginning when you sign a contract.

Resolve Any Questions Or Concerns

The time to ask questions about the contract is before you sign the contract. Before you put your name down on the contract and give the landlord any money understand precisely what you are signing.

Before signing any rental agreement or contract, you should resolve any questions about the legally binding document you are signing.

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