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Lease Agreement

SCNCY

SCNCY

Well-Known Member
Sep 11, 2009
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La Fox, IL
I am getting close to listing and possibly renting my first rental property. I have a few things to finish up from a construction standpoint, but hopefully by the end of next weekend, should have it listed.

With that said, for those of you who rent properties, what are some good places online to find a solid lease agreement. I have done some research and looked at a couple already, but wanted some advice from the Cyclone community.

Thanks in advance.
 
I have no experience so just my 2 cents.

I would spend the money to hire a lawyer to draft the agreement. I’m sure you can find someone familiar with leases and they may have a boilerplate agreement ready to go.

To me, it would be worth a couple hundred bucks to have it done right.
 
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I strongly support hiring a lawyer. I haven't done this first hand for this purpose but I know several friends outside of Iowa who have all stated that things can get crappy fast if you don't have an agreement that is tight. No matter if you know the person or not. Weird stuff can happen and then your screwed out of thousands of dollars.
 
Thanks for the advice. So it sounds like a lawyer is the best approach. Does anyone have any recommendations in the Kansas City area?

I hired a lawyer to do a quit claim deed on my property to change the title from myself to the LLC I have, but I'd like to find another one as I didn't have a good feeling throughout the whole process. Now, I got what I wanted just fine, but I just didn't quite like the service/tone the guy used towards me.
 
Sometimes I think CF has a thing about supporting lawyers for every little thing but I am on the side of getting a lawyer to draw one up. I am sure some may have some pretty standard ones already done that you can use as a baseline.
 
wxman1 said:
Sometimes I think CF has a thing about supporting lawyers for every little thing but I am on the side of getting a lawyer to draw one up. I am sure some may have some pretty standard ones already done that you can use as a baseline.
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One thing I wonder though is if the lawyer will give me a word document of the agreement so I can use for future leases/modifications. I have feeling that this may not be the case though.
 
SCNCY said:
One thing I wonder though is if the lawyer will give me a word document of the agreement so I can use for future leases/modifications. I have feeling that this may not be the case though.
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I think most landlords use a template.
 
SCNCY said:
One thing I wonder though is if the lawyer will give me a word document of the agreement so I can use for future leases/modifications. I have feeling that this may not be the case though.
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That I am not sure of but they may not necessarily stand by it if altered.
 
A lawyer can draft one for you and you can use it in the future too. Also, you can go on BiggerPockets and they have leases drafted by lawyers for each state.
 
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DSMCy said:
I have no experience so just my 2 cents.

I would spend the money to hire a lawyer to draft the agreement. I’m sure you can find someone familiar with leases and they may have a boilerplate agreement ready to go.

To me, it would be worth a couple hundred bucks to have it done right.
Click to expand...

I would also go this route. Have a buddy that rented years ago to a friend of a friend situation without any official agreement in place. Renters got behind on payment and when it got far enough to evict them, the place was left damaged and many repairs needed. They now have application forms and agreement forms from a lawyer for anybody that is interested, even if they know them or have a good reference.
 
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DSMCy said:
I have no experience so just my 2 cents.

I would spend the money to hire a lawyer to draft the agreement. I’m sure you can find someone familiar with leases and they may have a boilerplate agreement ready to go.

To me, it would be worth a couple hundred bucks to have it done right.
Click to expand...

This would be my advice as well. You don't want to inadvertently omit something that could prove critical at a later date.
 
The key is to have a severability clause which states that if any part of the agreement is contradicted by statute, only that part of the lease is null and void and not the entire lease.

I used boilerplate leases for years. Just make sure any late or other fees are not unreasonable and that there is a process for gaining access to the property should the need arise for maintenance or other items. Some will write in language for things like periodic inspections. And don't forget mowing/snow removal if it's the tenants' responsibility.
 
I am an attorney that does a little bit of landlord/tenant. Just have someone draw up an agreement for you. It will save you headaches later on. I can't tell you how many times I've been stuck with awful, boilerplate leases when having to evict someone. The Iowa Code is very tenant friendly, so at least start with a decent leg up with a good lease.
 
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I am currently a landlord as well. First, I recommend going to the website Biggerpockets.com and doing some serious research on potential tenant screening. This is one of the most important aspects of landlording. Also, you want to familiarize yourself with national and local fair housing and tenant laws. As for a lease, the website mentioned above also has state specific leases that you can buy. They are supposed to have been drafted by a lawyer.
 
Instead of a lease agreement/lawyer....I might suggest finding an agency that does tenant/lease management. We have a few properties and we dont mind not getting tenant calls. Ours takes care of routine maintenance too up to $500, then we have to approve unless they are emergency related such as heat in winter.
 
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