what is the difference between a lease and a rental agreement for a condominium?

Question

i have a condominium in san francisco and want to make sure i use the form that will give me the most protection as a landlord/owner.

Answer 1

Black's Law Dictionary (6th ed.) starts the definition of "Lease" with "Any agreement which gives rise to relationship of landlord and tenant (real property) or lessor and lessee (real or personal property)....

It does not list "rental agreement" separately as though there is a difference.

In sum, I believe you can be confident a lease and rental agreement have no legal difference.

Answer 2

A lease covers a fixed period of time. A rental agreement does not. A rental agreement runs from month to month. I was on a month to month rental agreement that ran for 13 years. A rental agreement does not have to be renewed. A rental agreement can be terminated at will by the property owner or tenant provided either party gives proper notice as spelled out in the rental agreement. A lease typically locks in rent at an agreed to amount. Unless the lease specifies, rent cannot go up while the lease is in force. A lease binds the tenant to the property for the lease term and binds the property owner to the tenant for the lease term. Both parties have to make good on their lease obligations. A lease must be renewed at the end of its term or allowed to convert into a month to month rental agreement as they often do. If a tenant moves out of the apartment before the lease term is up, then the tenant is responsible for covering the rent up to a certain point over the remaining period of the lease. Moving out before the lease is up is known as breaking the lease. Breaking a lease can be a very expensive. The advantage of a lease is you are guaranteed housing for the period of the lease at a rent rate that you can predict. The property owner can't sign a lease with you and then evict you two months later because someone else wants to pay more for the apartment than you pay. The advantage of a rental agreement is you are not obligated to stay in the apartment for a fixed period of time. You can move any time you desire as long as you give proper written notice.

Answer 3

As a fellow landlord in California rest easy in the knowledge that no matter what form you use if your tenant wants to screw you, consider yourself screwed. This is a tenants rights state.

My advice to you is:

1) Use applications for any potential tenants,
2) Check the references listed and not just the current landlord. These maybe the devil incarnate and the current landlord will rave about how great they are just to get rid of them. Older landlords usually will tell the truth,
3) Check job history,
4) MOST IMPORTANT!!! Run a credit check. If you do not know how or where to do this e-mail me and I will give you the information on the company I use... All online and easy,
5) When sitting down to make a decision on whom to rent to act just like a mortgage underwriter would if they were borrowing money. Have specific guidelines and stick to them. You are better to let the condo sit vacant for a month or two than to get the wrong people in your place.

Remember, once your tenant is in it is hard to get them out. Be selective of who you rent to. If they ever are late/miss a payment the second they have passed any grace period you allow slap them with a 3 day pay or quit. I never negotiate with them for partial payments etc... When you end up in front of the judge you want him/her to see that your running a business not a charity. If your acting like a charity the judge may force you to keep people in your home rent free for a long period of time to allow them time to find a new place. Of course you still get to make your house payment... but without the rental income.

I have several files I use for applications, rental agreements etc... If you would like a copy drop me a line and I will e-mail them to you.

Kevin 866-562-6838 x 106
[e-mail]
www.firstratelending.com

Answer 4

A "rental agreement" is usually a month to month agreement where a "lease of years" is usually for a period of time, for example 6 months or 2 years. To protect yourself, I would recommend a lease that makes provisions for every situation that might arise.

By the way, if your lease is for a year or more, it must be in writing to hold up in court.

Regards

Answer 5

one is a lease other other you are agreeing to a rental agreement