The point of a lease agreement is to protect you, as the landlord and property owner, as well as the rental home you’re making available.
Tenants need protection too, and your lease agreement must be tenant-friendly in order to be legally compliant and legally enforceable in California.
So, how can you create a tenant-friendly lease agreement in Santa Rosa while also protecting your own interests?
The answer is simple: get a lease template from a local property manager. At Prestige Real Estate & Property Management, we make sure our lease agreements are thorough, legal, and a smart balance of tenant rights and landlord protections.
Here’s a look at what we include in all of our lease agreements.
Landlord and Tenant Information and Lease Terms
Let’s start with the most basic information. Your lease needs to provide your tenant with information about the property. It should include contact information for your property (or for you, if you’re managing on your own) so that your tenants know who to contact in case there’s an emergency or a question.
Every adult 18 years of age and older who will live in the property should be included as a tenant on the lease agreement. It’s important to include the full names of each resident, and to include identifying information, such as a social security number and driver’s license number. Residents under 18 years of age are not legally responsible for rent, but they should still be included in the lease so you know who they are.
This is tenant-friendly because it gives every tenant who has been approved for the property the rights that come with enjoying that property. When tenants are listed on the lease agreement, they are protected by all the laws in California that lawful residents have. If a tenant moves into the property but is not on the lease, they lose those legal protections.
The lease should specifically state that occupancy is limited to the parties listed on the lease. You don’t want any long-term visitors in your property who have not been screened, and your approved tenants do not want to be held accountable for people who are not legally renting your home.
Every lease agreement designed to protect tenants will also include information about when the lease begins and when it ends. Tenants will need to know whether the lease will renew automatically or convert to a month-to-month arrangement. You also want to reference how much notice you and the tenant must provide to one another in order to end the tenancy.
Our lease agreements include information on what needs to be done for a tenant to get their security deposit back. This is an important part of protecting your tenant’s security deposit, setting them up for success during the lease agreement so that they can get that deposit back at the end. We reference any cleaning requirements. If we want the carpets to be professionally cleaned, for example, we make sure the lease agreement has that requirement in writing, and we request the receipts be submitted as verification.
Rent Collection Policy and Security Deposit Information
Tenants typically want to pay rent on time.
Protect them from late fees and other consequences by sharing a clear and easy-to-understand rent collection policy in the lease agreement. This is the best place to keep our written rent collection policy.
We’re careful about screening tenants. If you’re placing your own residents, we hope you have been strict about screening them. Then, you likely won’t need to worry about late or missing rental payments. But, if something does happen and rent doesn’t come in when it should, the lease agreement should outline what happens when rent isn’t paid or the eviction process needs to start.
A tenant-friendly lease agreement will have a rent collection policy that includes:
- Due dates. A tenant-friendly lease explains which date rent is due every month and whether it is still due on a non-business day such as a weekend or a holiday.
- Grace periods. California does not require you to offer a grace period, but if you’re focused on a tenant-friendly lease, you might provide a day or two after the due date for tenants to pay the rent without penalty. Either way, your lease should explain whether there is a grace period for the payment of rent before penalties or fees go into effect.
- Payment methods. In our experience, tenants prefer to pay rent online. Offer that as a payment method if you can. We allow and even encourage online payments through our tenant portal. Your lease must include how the rent should be paid. Reference whether you accept online payments, payments by check, or other payment methods. Be specific. State whether you’ll accept cash and personal checks.
- Late fees. Your late fee must be reasonable. Tell tenants in your lease how late fees are applied and when. You’ll also want to let them know whether you charge a fee for insufficient funds.
In California, there are legal limits to the amount you can collect in a security deposit, and your lease agreement should reflect how much is collected and how it will be used. The security deposit is held by the property owner or the property manager, but it’s still the tenant’s money. Until the tenant is preparing to move out and you’re conducting an inspection to look for damages, you cannot spend that deposit. Keep it separate and not co-mingling with your own funds.
Reference Landlord and Tenant Maintenance Responsibilities
Tenants want to understand what you’re expecting from them. If you want to avoid disputes over repairs and property conditions and create a pleasant and positive rental experience for your residents, it’s important to be explicit about who is responsible for what in your lease agreement.
As property managers, we believe maintaining a rental property is a joint responsibility, and we rely on our tenants to report maintenance needs right away, to allow vendors and service professionals access to the home, and to pay for any damage that they cause themselves.
Most tenants understand that. But specifics are important, and they need to be documented.
Our tenant-friendly lease agreements are detailed about who is responsible for utility payments and any HOA fees. We identify the party responsible for landscaping, security, pest control, and any pool or spa services if your property includes those amenities.
A good lease agreement will also include the process that tenants should follow when they need to request repairs. This is important information for your residents and for you, especially as we work hard to protect your property and its value.
- Outline the process for emergency maintenance. Usually, it will include a phone call.
- Share the difference between an emergency and a routine repair. The more information your Santa Rosa tenants have, the better prepared they are.
- Include procedures for routine maintenance reporting. We always prefer those requests to be in writing, so have the documentation.
Use your lease to prohibit the tenants from making any repairs or cosmetic changes without your prior permission.
Rules and Regulations for your Santa Rosa Rental Property
A tenant-friendly lease will reflect whether you allow smoking and pets. It will also indicate how and when common areas in a multi-family building can be used. Landlords need to provide a specific amount of notice before entering a property, and every lease agreement must include that notice period and how inspections or walk-throughs will be conducted.
The lease should include standards for guests and parking. It must prohibit illegal and criminal acts. Most leases will set standards against noise and other disruptions. It should also prepare your tenant to follow any HOA or condo association rules and regulations.
Legal Disclosures and Requirements in California Leases
There are a number of disclosures you must include in your lease. Some are federal laws, such as the lead-based paint disclosure. The state of California also requires disclosures about the sexual predator watch list, chemicals and toxins that may be found in the property, and mold.
The statewide rent control laws require your lease to indicate whether or not your property is included or excluded in rent control. Make sure you’re using the correct wording and formatting. California courts will take this seriously.
Tenant-friendly leases include information on evictions. There are no just-cause evictions and no-fault evictions in California. If you need to evict a tenant through no fault of their own, you might have to pay them a relocation fee that’s equal to one month’s rent. Your lease should include the situations that might apply.
Finally, make sure you indicate under what conditions the lease agreement will be terminated or voided. Tenants will occasionally need to break a lease. Make sure you have something in place that dictates how such an event will be handled.
We can help you make sure you’re providing a tenant-friendly lease agreement that also meets the state’s legal requirements and protects your own interests. Please contact us at Prestige Real Estate & Property Management. We manage homes in Sonoma County, including Santa Rosa, Windsor, Sebastopol, Petaluma, and Rohnert Park.
