leases, so do your research.
Many newbies to the rental property business mistakenly assume they can just look up a lease template or a lease example online and use that as the basis for their own lease. Or worse, they’ll just plain-out copy it and use it as the lease! Big mistake. First, the lease will either be too generic and not cover all the areas you need it to cover, or it will be too specific to a certain time and place that won’t necessarily apply to the year and where you live. Second, typing “free lease for rental property” or something similar on Google and then using it could get you into heaps of trouble legally because it’s not tailored to your location. Third, if you copy a contract, it could open you up to copyright infringement charges. Fourth, there’s no guarantee it’s a good lease — whoever wrote it might’ve done a bad job to the point that it could even be thrown out if a court case occurred. Your lease needs to be both location-specific and up-to-date because laws are always changing. You can’t do this alone, unless you’re an attorney yourself or have experience in drawing up leases. My recommendation is to hire the best attorney in your area — an attorney who’s intimately familiar with the area, an expert in rental property management, and has experience in tenant complaints and rental-related lawsuits. Consult with your attorney for clarification and confirmation on all location- specific laws about everything that you can and can’t (and should and shouldn’t) include in your lease. Your attorney should come highly recommended and have the experience, success stories, testimonials, and references to back them up. Expect to spend at least $500 to upward of $1,000 for a good, rock-solid lease that protects you and your home from any potential problems. However, if there’s just no way to work that
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