Off Campus Housing Guide                          Back to Table of Contents

Chapter 2
Rental Agreements  
Lease                                 
Glossary of Terms      

Rental Agreements or Leases

Once housing has been located, you should give thorough consideration to the rental agreement because it will control the relationship between you and your landlord during occupancy. The rental agreement is the controlling document of the landlord/tenant relationship since it sets forth the rights and duties of both parties.

The Lease

If you are signing a lease, read it carefully and understand all of its provisions.

Essential Provisions

At a minimum, a lease must contain the name, address, and phone number of the owner and any other persons responsible for maintenance of the property; the name, address, and phone number of the persons authorized to receive complaints and any notices of violations of the law; the amount of rent to be paid; the day of the month on which the rent is due; and the amount of the security deposit.

Terms in the Lease

The lease is the original written document signed by you and your landlord. It must be delivered to you within thirty days of signing. You, the tenant, are considered the lessee and your landlord is the lessor.

Rent is the amount of money you pay each month for occupancy. Your landlord cannot require you to pay any amount exceeding the first and last months’ rent, a security deposit equal to the first month’s rent, and the cost of installing a new lock and key.

Some leases contain tax escalator clauses. If property taxes go up, this provision provides the only way a landlord can raise rent prior to the end of the lease. The clause must state that the tenant will pay only the proportion of the increased taxes as the apartment contributes to the entirety of taxed real estate. If the landlord receives an abatement or a refund, the tenant must receive a proportionate share. Without these provisions, the tax escalator clause is unenforceable.

A standard fixed term lease runs for twelve months and is renewed after the period expires. A self-extending lease automatically renews itself if neither you nor your landlord give formal notice to end the tenancy. Be sure you are clear which type of lease you are signing.

 

Roommates

Friends usually are a good choice for roommates since you have something in common. But even the closest of friends do not always make great roommates. Nothing can ruin an otherwise enjoyable housing experience than an incompatible or irresponsible roommate.

No set of rules can be offered for deciding upon a roommate, but it is often helpful to sit down with him or her in advance of moving in and together discuss mutual concerns. You can reduce the likelihood of arguing by coming to some basic agreements about your living arrangements in advance.

Issues to Resolve

Before you decide on a potential roommate, it is a good idea to share some of your needs. It is safest to go into a roommate relationship with a clear understanding of each other’s expectations rather than discover them at the end of a term after an argument. Some, but certainly not all, of the issues you might want to discuss are:

  • Study habits;

  • Socializing or partying habits;

  • Cleanliness, tidiness, or neatness;

  • Bill paying;

  • Borrowing each other’s personal belongings;

  • Hosting friends or overnight guests;

  • Buying and preparing food collectively or individually;

  • Alcohol and drugs;

  • Pets;

  • Housekeeping responsibilities;

  • How problems and differences will be resolved.

Responsibility

Tenants are jointly and individually bound to the lease. In other words, although you and your roommate have both signed the lease, if one of you breaks the agreement or fails to pay the rent, the other can be evicted or required to pay the rent in full. It is very important to find a roommate who is responsible.

Discrimination
Discrimination may exist when a landlord says there are no places available when there are, refuses to rent to you, or gives you an unfair lease that is different from other tenants’. A landlord may not discriminate against you because of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, physical or mental handicap, children, sexual orientation, or marital status. A landlord may also not discriminate against you because you receive welfare or other public assistance or because of your military status.

Glossary of Terms Commonly Used in Leases

Leases were developed in medieval Britain and some of the language used in them dates from that time, much to the confusion and mystification of modern tenants. This section defines some of the common terms found in leases.

  • ARREARS—Overdue rent

  • ASSIGN—Transfer the un-expired portion of a lease to a new tenant

  • CAUSE OF ACTION—Specific situation that may become the basis for a lawsuit

  • CIVIL—A non-criminal legal matter. Housing disputes are generally handled in civil courts

  • COVENANT—Promise. Independent covenant: You must perform your obligation even if the other party does not. Dependent covenant: You carry out your obligation on the condition that the other party fulfills its obligation

  • DEFAULT—To forfeit or lose by omission; to fail to perform a legal obligation

  • DEMISED PREMISES—The place being rented

  • DETAINER—Withholding another’s property against his or her will

  • DISPOSSESS—Remove a person from land; the legal action brought for non-payment of rent

  • DISTRAINT (proceed by distress) -- The landlord takes your personal property to force you to pay or eventually sells it to get his or her money

  • EJECTMENT—Physical or legal eviction from land

  • EMURE—To take effect

  • ENJOYMENT—Possession or occupation of land. Quiet enjoyment: freedom from invasion of privacy by landlord

  • EVICTION—Depriving a person of possession of occupancy. Constructive eviction: not actually removing a tenant but making it impossible for him or her to remain because of the conditions, such as serious deterioration

  •  GOODS AND CHATTELS—Personal property

  •  INDEMINIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS—To free from any responsibility or liability

  • INURE—Take effect

  • LEASE—A type of legal agreement establishing a landlord-tenant relationship

  • LESSEE—Tenant

  • LESSOR—Landlord

  • LIABILITY—Responsibility, loss; a negative element

  • NOTICE TO QUIT—Notification from the landlord to tenant ordering tenant off the property, usually after thirty days from the first day of the rental period

  • NOTICE TO VACATE—Notification from the tenant to the landlord stating the tenant’s intention to leave the property, usually after thirty days from the first day of the rental period

  • PARTIES TO A LEASE—Those who agree to abide by the provisions of a lease; typically you as a tenant, any roommates, and the landlord

  • POSSESSION—Lawful occupation and use of the land, subject to protections of “quiet enjoyment”

  • REPLEVIN—Legal action to recover property that was unlawfully seized

  • SUBLET—Agreeing to permit someone to use a rented property for a term less that the full term of the lease, and to be paid for that permission

  • SUMMARY PROCEEDING (to recover possession) -- Eviction. It is called “summary proceeding” because it is a swift and simple procedure for the landlord

  • TENANT AT SUFFERANCE—A tenant who has remained in a unit after a lease or tenancy at will agreement has expired or was terminated

  • TENANT WITHOUT A LEASE—A tenant with the landlord’s consent to occupy a premises without a lease

  • TENANT WITH A LEASE—A tenant with a contract that allows for a certain length of occupancy at a set rent

  • TERM OF LEASE—The length of time that a lease shall be in effect; duration of obligation

  • WAIVER—Relinquishment of a right, agreeing to give up something to which you are entitled

  • WARRANTY OF HABITABILITY—Promise that the property is safe and usable for residential use.

If you have questions about terms in your lease, the following offices may be able to help:

  • Student Cooperative Council Legal Advice

  • Parents and/or their legal counsel

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