Not having a lease has advantages and disadvantages for both landlord and tenant. If you are a tenant, no lease means you can move fairly easily and quickly. This can be great if you don't like the place, get noisy neighbors or decide to purchase a home. It can be less than ideal because the landlord can require you move on as little as 30 days' notice for any reason that is not discriminatory. The landlord can also seek to raise your rent at anytime. If you receive a notice to quit and do not have a lease, you will need to move. There may be some negotiating with the landlord to figure out a time that is mutually convenient, but ultimately, you must move. This is true even if you have lived in the unit for a very long time.
From the landlord's perspective, not having a lease gives you the freedom to evict someone without reason. For example, if a tenant has lease, is paying rent and generally abiding by the terms of the lease, but the landlord just does not like the tenant (for some non-discriminatory reason), the landlord does not have grounds to evict the tenant and must live with the tenant through the end of the lease term. With no lease, a landlord can send a notice to quit and with any luck, the tenant will move. The tenant can have the property available on reasonably short notice for a friend or relative who needs a place to live. You may also be able to charge a bit of a premium as there are certain groups of people in need of temporary housing. These would include people doing renovations on their home (either by choice or because of some sort of catastrophe), people moving out of their residence because of a divorce, people relocating, and people with temporary job assignments, just to name a few. The disadvantages for the landlord are that the tenant could leave at anytime and you could end up with a bit of a revolving door at your unit. Re-renting a place takes time, effort and expense. You also do not have the chance to specify rules or regulations that you wish to have followed.
So when is it better to have a lease as a tenant? If you plan on staying where you are for at least a year and do not want to move, you should seriously consider a lease. Similarly, if you have been in a unit for a number of years and do not want to move, you should make sure your lease is renewed. On the other hand, if you fall into any of the above categories -- recently separated or divorced, moving to a new town, or desirous of home ownership, then a month to month tenancy would be better for you, unless the landlord is willing to give you a short term lease.
From a landlord's perspective, in most cases you are better off having a lease. Your tenant is responsible for rent for twelve months and you can specify the terms of the tenancy. You can say no smoking, no waterbeds or no space heaters. You can charge a tenant for gas or electricity of separately metered. You can indicate fees for rent not paid for 30 days. However, there are a few situations when you may not want to have a lease. For example, if you purchased the property with the intention of having a family member move in and the date of move in is uncertain, then perhaps you want to rent the unit for a few months. Depending on your town, it may be easy to rent properties and you are happy with the premium you can get for rentals of several months at a time because there are always people who want to rent. You may not want a lease if you live in the same building as the rental unit and want to see if you and the tenant get along without being locked into a year long lease.
Finally, you can have a written month to month lease which could be a good combination in many circumstances. The amount of time which must be given to terminate the lease can be spelled out, so you can make it 60, rather than 30 days. The landlord also can spell out specific terms it wants included. Both sides still have flexibility in moving out, but neither side has a guarantee of housing (for the tenant) or income (for the landlord).
No comments:
Post a Comment