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Things You Should Know Before You Sign An Lease
By: Timothy Rea
If you are contemplating a move to a new apartment, be sure you know your rights and obligations before you sign a lease.
Whether you live in Chicago, New York, Boston, San Francisco, or Peoria, Illinois, your perfect is the one in the right neighborhood, near the right highways or train or bus lines for commuting, at the right rate, in a secure building.
There are probably other features you have on your list. But, no matter what you are looking for in the way of housing, the right nearly always comes with a lease.
When you think youve found the right apartment, you should protect yourself by reviewing the lease before you sign it and asking a few questions of your new landlord.
If your landlord does NOT ask you to sign an lease, you should ask why. Moving into an without a lease can cause problems, because your rights and obligations are not defined and, in some states, your landlord can throw you out of your without notice.
If you have an lease in hand and you are ready to sign, you should review these items before you put your signature on the dotted line.
Each state has different laws regarding rentals and obligations. You can search online or call your State offices to find out more information about landlord and tenant rights and obligations for rentals.
Dont sign up for more than your State requires if you can help it. If the landlord is using his own lease form instead of a standard form, read it carefully and dont hesitate to ask for changes if you feel the terms are too restrictive.
While you may not be able to get changes for stipulations like pets, or things that impact fire insurance or fire laws, there are some things you CAN negotiate.
Here are a few other things to check on that dream apartment. Some of them may be in the lease and some may be services that are not outlined in the lease you will sign.
In any case, you should know about these lease conditions upfront. If the terms and conditions of your lease are not to your liking and there are serious concerns, you may have to rethink your dream and keep looking.
Security How much security, if any, does your landlord provide? If there is a parking garage, is there security for that garage, 24 hours a day?
Elevators If your has an elevator system, how often is it inspected? If there are problems with the elevator, is there a number YOU and the other tenants can call or should you call the super for the building? Is there a guaranteed turnaround time for a service visit or might you be walking up six flights of stairs for a week or more?
Apartment Super If your building has a super, is he/she resident in the building or does the super live offsite? What days of the week and hours does he/she work, and how do you reach him/her? What services does he provide and what services are subcontracted to others, e.g. plumbing, electrical, security systems, etc.
Pets Are you allowed to have pets in your building? If so, what kind? What happens if there are complaints about you or some other tenant regarding a barking dog, odors, etc.
Garbage and Incineration What services and systems does your landlord provide for garbage or incineration? Are there garbage receptacle areas in the building, or do you throw your garbage down into an incinerator? What type of clean-up and sanitation is done on a regular basis to ensure that the garbage does not attract rats or vermin?
Apartment Security Deposit Typically, a landlord will ask for payment upfront, equal to one or more months of rent to hold for any repairs he may have to make if you leave the in disarray at the end of your lease. If you must make a security deposit, find out whether your landlord is holding this in escrow in accordance with law, and when you can expect to get it back when you are ready to move.
Apartment Vacancy and Sublease Can you sublet your if you have to move out of your for any reason? What happens if you vacate the and continue to pay rent? Can you move back in or will the landlord seize the and cancel the lease with penalties?
Changes to the Apartment Can you hang pictures on the walls, or change fixtures in your apartment?
You should also consider any specific requirements YOU have and add those to the list of questions you want to ask your landlord. For example, do you have a baby grand piano you need to move into the apartment? If so, can you take out a window to hoist the piano in from the street, through the window frame? Do you raise ocelots? If so, find out if you can do that in your new before you sign the lease.
Be sure you ask all of these questions and review the lease before you make a decision on an apartment.
About the Author:
Find out what questions to ask before you move into a new apartment. You can find everything you need to know about rentals at our web site: http://www.apartmentsdnld.com/apartments/
By: Timothy Rea
Whether you live in Chicago, New York, Boston, San Francisco, or Peoria, Illinois, your perfect is the one in the right neighborhood, near the right highways or train or bus lines for commuting, at the right rate, in a secure building.
There are probably other features you have on your list. But, no matter what you are looking for in the way of housing, the right nearly always comes with a lease.
When you think youve found the right apartment, you should protect yourself by reviewing the lease before you sign it and asking a few questions of your new landlord.
If your landlord does NOT ask you to sign an lease, you should ask why. Moving into an without a lease can cause problems, because your rights and obligations are not defined and, in some states, your landlord can throw you out of your without notice.
If you have an lease in hand and you are ready to sign, you should review these items before you put your signature on the dotted line.
Each state has different laws regarding rentals and obligations. You can search online or call your State offices to find out more information about landlord and tenant rights and obligations for rentals.
Dont sign up for more than your State requires if you can help it. If the landlord is using his own lease form instead of a standard form, read it carefully and dont hesitate to ask for changes if you feel the terms are too restrictive.
While you may not be able to get changes for stipulations like pets, or things that impact fire insurance or fire laws, there are some things you CAN negotiate.
Here are a few other things to check on that dream apartment. Some of them may be in the lease and some may be services that are not outlined in the lease you will sign.
In any case, you should know about these lease conditions upfront. If the terms and conditions of your lease are not to your liking and there are serious concerns, you may have to rethink your dream and keep looking.
Security How much security, if any, does your landlord provide? If there is a parking garage, is there security for that garage, 24 hours a day?
Elevators If your has an elevator system, how often is it inspected? If there are problems with the elevator, is there a number YOU and the other tenants can call or should you call the super for the building? Is there a guaranteed turnaround time for a service visit or might you be walking up six flights of stairs for a week or more?
Apartment Super If your building has a super, is he/she resident in the building or does the super live offsite? What days of the week and hours does he/she work, and how do you reach him/her? What services does he provide and what services are subcontracted to others, e.g. plumbing, electrical, security systems, etc.
Pets Are you allowed to have pets in your building? If so, what kind? What happens if there are complaints about you or some other tenant regarding a barking dog, odors, etc.
Garbage and Incineration What services and systems does your landlord provide for garbage or incineration? Are there garbage receptacle areas in the building, or do you throw your garbage down into an incinerator? What type of clean-up and sanitation is done on a regular basis to ensure that the garbage does not attract rats or vermin?
Apartment Security Deposit Typically, a landlord will ask for payment upfront, equal to one or more months of rent to hold for any repairs he may have to make if you leave the in disarray at the end of your lease. If you must make a security deposit, find out whether your landlord is holding this in escrow in accordance with law, and when you can expect to get it back when you are ready to move.
Apartment Vacancy and Sublease Can you sublet your if you have to move out of your for any reason? What happens if you vacate the and continue to pay rent? Can you move back in or will the landlord seize the and cancel the lease with penalties?
Changes to the Apartment Can you hang pictures on the walls, or change fixtures in your apartment?
You should also consider any specific requirements YOU have and add those to the list of questions you want to ask your landlord. For example, do you have a baby grand piano you need to move into the apartment? If so, can you take out a window to hoist the piano in from the street, through the window frame? Do you raise ocelots? If so, find out if you can do that in your new before you sign the lease.
Be sure you ask all of these questions and review the lease before you make a decision on an apartment.
About the Author:
Find out what questions to ask before you move into a new apartment. You can find everything you need to know about rentals at our web site: http://www.apartmentsdnld.com/apartments/
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If you are a Real Estate Professional and would like to become part of our 'Service Directory', Please use the 'contact' link or send a request to my activerain profile. You are encouraged to include original content about your services, Business information and links back to your site along with any submission. Thank you.
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