Apartment Lease Agreement: Read Before You Sign

Whether it's your first time to rent an apartment or not, you should always exercise prudence before signing the lease agreement between you and your landlord. An apartment lease agreement is a contract between the lessor (landlord) and the lessee/s (tenant) that stipulates certain terms, conditions, rules, regulations, obligations and responsibilities the parties agree to undertake. One apartment contract may differ from the other especially in terms of security deposit, payment procedure and obligations of the landlord.

Some apartment contracts may even have a fine print on the bottom of the age. Don't forget to read this before signing since these are often tricky statements which binds or unbinds one party to the advantage of the other. Basically, apartment lease agreements contain the premises or area you will rent, the name of the lessor, your name and name of other lessees (if applicable) and the commencement and termination date of the contract. Of course, aside from these, the contract will also contain how much you should pay for the rent, when and how you should pay and other policies concerning pets or lifestyle.

The lease agreement should also contain other policies concerning minor changes you wish and are allowed to make ion the apartment, like for example you wish to change the color of the paint. It should also address issues concerning repairs and insurance. Sometimes, you are made to sign a contract in groups. Meaning all the lessees or tenants act as signatories to the contract.

Since the contract is a legal binding document, check and clarify if the obligations and benefits are applicable to all or are subdivided per individual. For example, when it comes to the repair of electrical wiring, is the landlord responsible for the expense of such repair or should it be shouldered by all the tenants or just the tenant experiencing the effects of the faulty wiring? Aside from these, check if the landlord has the right to enter your apartment during certain instances. As a tenant, you have the right to negotiate any of the stipulations in the lease agreement which you feel are disadvantageous to you.