What to Be Aware of when Signing a Lease

In the fall, when they return to colleges and universities around the country, some students will be renting apartments (or condos or houses) for the first time in their lives.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ While such an experience can serve to assure them that they’re independent and can function as adults in the real world, it’s important for them to remember that signing a lease has legal ramifications.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ It’s not something they should take lightly.

Here are key aspects of singing a lease which they should keep uppermost in their minds when they decide to rent a particular housing unit –

1)�¯�¿�½ A lease is a legal contract which sets out specific obligations on the part of both the renter and the landlord.�¯�¿�½

2)�¯�¿�½ Typically, a landlord agrees to provide a specific unit of housing to the renter, as of a specific date, in good condition and ready for occupancy.

3)�¯�¿�½ For his part, the renter usually agrees to make regularly to the landlord a series of rental payments in a specific amount of money by a certain date each month.

4)�¯�¿�½ Specific clauses in the lease describe other important matters, such as whether or not the renter can sublease the premises,�¯�¿�½ the amount of the security deposit and how it will be handled, and legal remedies available to the landlord if the tenant fails to carry out his obligations under the lease.

In other words, students should be aware that , in renting a unit, they’re assuming a financial obligation which has to met faithfully each month.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ With more and more landlords reporting to credit agencies, student renters run the risk of getting black marks on their credit reports while still in their late teens or early twenties, if they fail to pay the rent on time each month.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ That’s something most students don’t fully appreciate.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ It’s a fact of life that can haunt them later during their adult years.

In today’s world, it’s become a fact of life that prospective employers do background checks more and more.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ A critical element of more and more such checks is a reviewÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ of a person’s credit report.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Too many black marks on that report, and prospective employees remove a person’s application for further consideration for a job.

With respect to the security deposit, student renters should pay particular attention to how it’s to be handled while the lease is in effect and then returned to them, once they’ve vacated the premises.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Many tenant/landlord disputes are about security deposits.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ There are key steps which students can take to increase the likelihood that they’ll have all of the security deposit refunded at the conclusion of the lease period.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ They include taking pictures of the vacant unit, both before they move in and once they’ve removed all their belongings when moving out.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ In that way, they’ll have indisputable proof about the condition of the premises, in case the landlord challenges them on it.

While occupying rented spaces, students should keep in mind that they are not big playpens which they can trash at will. When signing the lease, they are agreeing to return a rental unit to the landlord in the same condition in which they received it originally.

All things considered, affixing their signature to a lease agreement is a big step in more ways than one.�¯�¿�½ Students should be sure they appreciate that fact before they do so.�¯�¿�½