Everything About Rental Agreements

All agreements between a proprietor and a renter are "rental contracts" according to Vermont's Residential Rental Agreements Act (RRAA). 9 V.S.A. § 4451( 8 ). The rental contract does not need to remain in composing. You and the proprietor have all the rights and responsibilities in the law despite the fact that there is no written arrangement. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.

The RRAA requires that the tasks and rights of proprietors and tenants in the law are implied (made a part of) all rental contracts. Which ones are suggested in all rental arrangements? See this list of rights and tasks of tenants and proprietors. For more details on these rights and responsibilities, visit our Rights and Duties Explained page.

All of the agreements made by you and the landlord or suggested by the RRAA are called the "terms" of the occupancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.

The RRAA protects you and requires you to do (or not do) some things. It also protects property owners and requires them to do (or not do) some things. The law is the exact same if you have a composed or verbal rental arrangement. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.

Any part of a rental agreement that tries to get around the RRAA isn't legal. 9 V.S.A. § 4454. See the list of rights and responsibilities in the RRAA for what should remain in a rental arrangement.

The RRAA never uses the word "lease." Calling a residential rental contract a "lease" does not have any special legal meaning in Vermont. Other statutes (12 V.S.A. § 4851( ejectment), 10 V.S.A. § 6201( 5 )( mobile home parks)), the courts, subsidized housing property managers and housing authorities do utilize the word "lease."

Rental agreements can be for an amount of time that is specified in the rental arrangement. For example, the agreement might be six months or a year. During that time, all of the terms (consisting of the quantity of rent) of the occupancy stay the exact same. Or a rental agreement can be "month-to-month." This implies the length of the occupancy or the quantity of rent can be changed as long as you get the notification required by the RRAA.

As far as rental arrangements go, calling it a lease doesn't guarantee that the terms can't be altered for a year. If you desire the occupancy to be for a specific amount of time, you have to get the property manager to concur.

All of the rights and responsibilities of the RRAA become part of the agreement even without being documented. 9 V.S.A. § 4453. Any additional terms may not be enforceable unless you and the property manager have talked about them and agreed - and after that just as long as the RRAA does not forbid the contract. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.

If you have just a spoken contract, you may "concur" to something without realizing you have concurred. For instance, if you consent to no holes in the walls thinking that does not keep you from hanging photos, the landlord may charge you for repairing the holes from hanging your pictures.

When you are choosing to lease an apartment, you require to pay close attention to what the landlord states.

Because the RRAA sets out lots of rights and duties of tenants and property owners, and due to the fact that written rental agreements can't change what remains in the RRAA, a composed rental contract tends to have more benefits for landlords than for tenants.

Advantages for a property manager:

- The property owner might reduce the time length of advance notification needed to end the occupancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4467( c), (e).
- The landlord might make the time length of advance notification you need to give the property manager when you wish to vacate longer. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d).
- A written rental arrangement could need you to pay your property manager's lawyer's charges if an attorney is used to impose any part of the agreement or to evict you. (Note: If you harm the unit or disturb your next-door neighbors and your property owner evicts you since of it, the RRAA makes you accountable for the landlord's lawyer's costs. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( e).).
- A composed rental agreement can call the individuals who can live in the system, and keep you from letting somebody relocation in. - Note: It would be discrimination for a property owner to evict you for having a child. 9 V.S.A. § 4503( a).
- A landlord can keep you from subleasing the place you rent, 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ), and can kick out the individual who subleases your place in an "expedited hearing." Expedited ways much faster than usual. 12 V.S.A. § 4853b.

A composed rental contract may help you as an occupant because:

- It might guarantee that the lease will not alter till a specific date.
- It can restrict the amount your rent can go up.
- It can say the length of time you can live there.
- If it isn't written in the arrangement, the property manager can't state you accepted it. Verbal arrangements outside the composed agreement may not be enforceable. For example, a written arrangement can state who must spend for heating fuel or electrical energy.

Generally, a landlord can not charge late costs.

A late charge is legal just if:

- The rental contract says a late charge will be charged for late lease, and

- The charge is only the affordable cost to the property owner because of the late payment. See Highgate Associates, Ltd. v. Merryfield, 157 Vt. 313 (1991 ). Reasonable expenses to the landlord means the landlord's actual additional cost since of late rent, like extra expense in keeping the books, driving over to you, making telephone call, or composing you letters.

A late fee is illegal when:

- A flat charge of a certain amount of cash if rent is paid after the lease day is usually not the property manager's reasonable expense, therefore is prohibited.
- Your property manager can not offer you a lease "discount rate" for paying by a specific date. In one case, the Windham Superior Court held that rewards for early payments are the exact same as penalties and thus, they are not legally valid. See Shapiro v. Cormier, Docket No. 220-5-12 Wmcv (Windham Super. Ct., Aug. 22, 2012). (If you need an accessible variation of this PDF document, we will provide it on your request. Please utilize our website feedback kind to do so.)

A rental agreement can include these terms:

- Only individuals called in the written rental arrangement (and their minor kids, even if they get here later on) can reside in the rental unit.
- Subleasing is permitted or not allowed. 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ).
- Smoking is not permitted.
- Pets are not permitted. But, if you require an animal due to the fact that of your special needs, see our Reasonable Accommodations page.
- A description of what areas (home, other areas) are consisted of.
- Rules about using typical areas.
- Who is accountable for paying utility costs.
- The obligation to pay a set quantity of rent, for a set period of time, even if the occupant decides to move out early. (The property owner has a task to re-rent the place as soon as possible, however the tenant may owe lease up until someone else leases it.)

You can consent to a modification however you do not need to.

If you or the property manager wishes to alter a term or condition in your rental agreement, you can ask each other to agree. You or the landlord can't change the rights and obligations in the RRAA, but other parts of rental arrangements can be altered. If the rental contract is in composing, changes ought to remain in composing.

Generally for things like animals, improvements (redecorating or upgrading appliances or fixtures) if someone asks, and the other concurs, then that term of the rental agreement is altered. But if the proprietor desires something, and you do not desire it, then you can disagree.

The examples below assume that the system remains in excellent repair work, and not being damaged by the renter:

- Two months after you relocate the proprietor states, "I wish to get the bath tub and put in a shower." You say, "No, I like the bath tub." The tub is part of what you concurred to lease, and you do not accept alter it. Landlord can't refurbish the bathroom.
- Or, property owner says, "I am altering my mind. You can't have a family pet." You don't need to agree to get rid of your pet.
- Or you state, "I do not like the gas stove in the apartment. I want an electric range." Landlord does not have to consent to a brand-new range.

Note: There is a distinction between agreements to change something and repairs needed by law. The RRAA does not enable you or your animal to cause damage, 9 V.S.A. § 4456( a), (c), and the RRAA requires the proprietor to keep the system safe and tidy, 9 V.S.A. § 4458. See our page about Repair Problems and Tenant's Right to Repair.

You or the property owner might want to end the occupancy if one of you desires a modification and the other does not. If your rental agreement is not for a specific amount of time, either of you might give advance notice to end the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d), 9 V.S.A § 4467( c)( e).

Staying longer than a composed agreement

Do you have a composed rental contract that says the rental contract was for a specific time period, for instance January 1 - December 31? If that time has expired, you may wonder if there is still a written rental contract, or exists no written rental agreement?

It depends on what the composed arrangement says. If it mentions the dates and does not further address what happens when it ends, the composed arrangement ends, however the tenancy does not. That is since when you relocate with the arrangement of a landlord, the property manager must send out a notice to end the tenancy, even if there is a composed rental contract which ends. In other words, the expiration of the contract is not enough notice to end a tenancy.

A written rental contract that expires on a particular date could consist of a provision that defines the length of the tenancy after that date has actually passed. It might say, for instance, the occupancy continues from month to month. Or it might say if you do not leave, the tenancy continues for another year.

Whatever it states, if the property manager desires you out, they have to give you a termination notification required by the tenancy you have.

Learn more on our Rent Increases page.

A Vermont law that worked on July 1, 2018, legalized belongings of approximately an ounce of cannabis and two fully grown and four immature plants. If you are a renter, or if you have a rental subsidy from a housing authority, or if you have some other kind of federally helped rental subsidy, be cautious. Your lease and program rules may still make it a violation of the guidelines for you to have cannabis or cannabis plants in your rental unit. Your lease may likewise prohibit smoking, including smoking cigarettes marijuana.

The new Vermont law does not change the regards to your lease. The new law does not alter the program rules for tenants with federal rental support. If you are uncertain, examine your lease or program guidelines or speak to your property owner or housing authority. You can likewise contact us for assistance. Your info will be sent out to Legal Services Vermont, which evaluates requests for aid for both Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont.

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V.S.A. means Vermont Statutes Annotated. The number before V.S.A. is the title number. The number after § is the section number. You can utilize these links to look up Vermont laws mentioned on this page:

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