What landlords, tenants need to know

Many people prefer to rent homes, condos or apartments instead of purchasing them. Cost is the biggest factor which influences that choice, since purchasing a home is quite expensive compared to renting.

Many tenants do not understand or are unaware of the paperwork involved when renting a property. Here, landlord-tenant information plays a very important role because both parties must sign and understand the agreement in order to foster a good relationship.

Important information for both a landlord and tenant includes the following:
 
Application – The rental application determines whether a landlord should rent out the property to a particular tenant or not. This application form contains details about the tenant: name, address, employer, job, income, past history and more. The landlord has complete authority to perform a credit check against the name of the potential tenant. It is a soft check and does not affect the individual’s credit score at all.
 
Rule and regulations – This important document has a list of rules and regulation that are to be followed by the tenant. According to experts, in order to dismiss any future disputes, tenants should read the document closely. Either party, by mutual decision, can make changes to the document.
 
Inventory – Inventory forms are important for those tenants who prefer to rent furnished properties. This form lists the complete descriptions of all furniture, appliances, etc. provided by the landlord to the tenant.
 
Eviction – This is the most important portion of any landlord-tenant agreement. Both parties are required to give one month’s notice, depending on the original agreement, before leaving or being asked to leave the property. An eviction notice can be served for many reasons, including not paying rent on time, breaking rules or destroying rental property.

Both parties should understand the terms of the rental agreement so there are no surprises, just a good relationship between landlord and tenant.

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