What is a Tennessee Lease Agreement?
Tennessee Lease Agreements are binding "contracts" as governed by Tennessee state law. A Lease is a contract that typically allows the tenant to have possession of the property for an agreed upon consideration or rent. The basic definition of a Lease is an "agreement" whereby the landlord gives the right to possess property to the tenant for a certain period of time. The Lease may be written or oral (however, leases longer than one year must be in writing). Since a landlord has the legal right to enter a tenant’s premises and seek the tenant’s eviction for violations of the lease agreement, it is clearly in the tenant’s best interest to carefully read and understand the terms of the lease itself!
There are obviously many terms and provisions of a lease that may be included in the written agreement; the following is a partial list of the various elements a lease may contain:
*The time period the lease covers – a week, a month, a year, etc.;
*The amount of rent due and what the rent covers (ex. electric, water, telephone, trash, sewer);
*Payment of utilities , including which party is responsible for paying the utilities (ex. water, gas, sewer, trash, telephone, electricity etc.)
*The condition in which the premises are to be kept or maintained;
*The manner in which the leased premises shall be used;
*Renovations to the property and who shall be responsible for maintaining the improvements/renovations;
*Extra fees or security deposits;
*Restrictions on tenant keeping a pet on the premises;
*Sale of the property by the landlord before the end of the lease agreement;
*Lease extension or option to purchase the property;
*Violation of the lease agreement (ex. tenant fails to pay rent or uses the property for illegal activities);
*Terminating the lease agreement including giving proper notice to landlord and agreeing to leave the premises after providing notice;
*Evicting the tenant for failure to properly pay or otherwise violating the lease agreement;
*Evicting the tenant without cause if allowed by the lease or Tennessee law; and
*An agreement of choice of law i.e. Tennessee law governs the parties’ lease dispute.
Essential Elements of a Tennessee Lease Agreement
The Tennessee Commercial Real Estate Commission has a recommended form lease agreement with sample provisions for tenants and landlords to sign. The recommended form is available here: http://www.tn.gov/regboards/crec/documents/09242009/997.pdf
Although the document is recommended by the CREC it is not necessarily an all inclusive contract or one that will be sufficient for a complex lease arrangement. The form should be edited and/or supplemented to ensure it covers all issues necessary for the agreement. The following are key pieces of information that should be included in a Tennessee lease agreement:
Rental Term – The rental term informs the landlord and tenant for how long the premises is being leased and can be negotiated on a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis. In multiple tenant properties (e.g. large apartment complexes) the rental term might be on a tenancy-at-will basis and therefore not contained in the lease.
Rent and Due Date – The landlord must indicate how much rent is due and when the tenant is responsible for making the payment (e.g. on a specific date, every two weeks, monthly, etc.) Failure to make rent payments on time could be grounds for termination of the lease. It is also important to include a designated place where payments should be made (e.g. direct deposit, bank, by mail, at a physical office or online via the internet)
Tenant’s Obligations – This section includes the rights and responsibilities of the tenant as well as any penalties for non-compliance. Common responsibilities include: keeping the premise in good condition, properly disposing of trash, informative the landlord of repairs that are needed, following the proper agreement for use (e.g. not turning the apartment into a restaurant), and making sure all guests and visitors act in a respectful manner (i.e. no loud music, parties, or damaging the property). Depending on the type of property additional obligations might also be included such as: maintaining appropriate insurance policies, paying for utilities, agreeing to a background check, or not discriminating against any person.
Landlord’s Obligations – This section outlines the responsibilities of the landlord which could include: providing reasonably clean facilities, cleaning common areas, maintaining and fixing key features (e.g. plumbing, electrical systems, heating and cooling units, roofs, fire alarms, water heaters, elevators, and smoke detectors), ensuring the tenant has full use of the property and its features, and appropriately addressing any problems tenants may have in a timely manner.
Termination – The lease agreement should include an explicit right for either party (the landlord or the tenant) to terminate the contract if any provisions are violated. The termination terms might also include the right to terminate the lease after a certain period of time has elapsed or a mutual right of cancellation.
Legal Considerations for Tennessee Lease Agreements
In Tennessee, lease agreements must comply with both state and federal laws. These legal provisions cover a wide range of topics, including disclosures that landlords are required to give tenants, rights that tenants have, and responsibilities that landlords must assume under certain conditions.
For example, all Tennessee rental leases require disclosures and inclusive clauses about the following:
Tennessee law stipulates that all leases, even month-to-month agreements, should be in writing. However, a verbal lease is still considered valid.
Tennessee landlord-tenant law also contains provisions regarding security deposit limits, how deposits must be maintained, and what to do with such deposits once the tenant vacates the rental unit.
Tennessee does not have any laws that deal specifically with rent control; thus, landlords have free rein to set their own requirements. However, they cannot ask for more than the first month’s rent and security deposit in advance of the lease signing. Additionally, signs must clearly state the necessary deposits to renew a tenancy in order for them to be legally coercive.
A new law enacted concerning lead-paint disclosure came into effect in March 2018. As a result, all landlords and real estate agents in Tennessee must provide tenants with a document that discloses the possibility that lead may be found in the home. If present, lead plastics can harm both children and adults, and especially pregnant women.
Downloading and Using a Tennessee Lease Agreement PDF
If you have decided that you need to use a downloadable version of a Tennessee lease agreement, then you will want to know the steps needed to complete the process. The first thing that you need to do is to visit a site where you will be able to find various types of rental contracts in a downloadable file. Once you have located a site with a contract that you would like to use, simply click on the "Download" button and allow it to download to your computer. You may also choose to click on the "Print" button if you would like to print the agreement out now and complete it later.
In order to complete the file, you should open the document with a PDF program that will enable you to add text in the fields. Many times, you can use a free PDF program or simply use the function that is integrated into your computer or laptop. If you would prefer to complete the lease agreement by hand , you can print the file out and then fill it in. However, the most convenient way to fill it in is to do so on your computer and print it out after you have completed the process.
Having the file in a digital format is beneficial for a number of reasons. First of all, you will not need to spend money on printing supplies and ink. In addition, you will be able to locate a program that automatically saves your changes to the cloud so that you will have the agreement available on any device. Most of these programs are also secure, so you will know that you are protected.
Having access to an available Tennessee lease agreement PDF that you download is a simple way to make the real estate rental process far less stressful. You will be able to save time, money and paper, without missing any of the important aspects of the document. All you need to do is to complete the process by downloading a file today.
Modifying Your Tennessee Lease Agreement
The standard downloadable Tennessee lease agreement PDF can initially seem fairly comprehensive. However, it should be noted that this is a customizable document, and landlords are able to modify it in a number of ways in order to fit their specific purposes.
Rental agreements in general can be tailored to meet the needs of landlords as well as the needs of tenants. After all, they should serve all parties participating in the transaction.
The main consideration to keep in mind while customizing any rental agreement or lease is avoiding any terms that may prove to be unlawful. When customizing a Tennessee lease agreement form, landlords should ensure that the modifications made comply with local, state and federal laws.
While there are certain issues that can consistently cause complications for landlords, such as what happens if a tenant fails to pay or damages the property, it can be beneficial to consider including topics such as pets, roommate issues and deposit conditions. The more comprehensive the language of a Tennessee lease agreement PDF is, the less likely it is that the document will be put to the test in court.
Obtaining a standard Tennessee lease agreement from the publisher we recommend will prove useful for landlords. Perhaps most significant in this case is that the document is a legal PDF, which is LexisNexis branded official state form.
Common Pitfalls and How to Prevent Them
One of the most common pitfalls we see is tenants agreeing to sign a document they haven’t had a chance to review. Don’t be fooled by the property sold with "a lease agreement already prepared" on the sale! You need to make sure to read that lease before putting your name to it. Don’t be bullied – even if the landlord denies it, he cannot force you to sign a contract that you have not been able to vet beforehand.
Another major error landlords are repeatedly caught making is incorporating local laws into their lease agreements. These laws can change from city to city, so even though your old law might have been compliant in every way, your new one may not be . It’s important to update when making new amendments, as ignoring the changes can be costly.
Landlords also tend to forget that many consumers may not actually understand the terms of the lease agreement or even what some of the sections mean. It’s always a good idea to explain or go through these more complex terms and sections with your tenants so that they know how to handle any issues they may have while renting the property. Taking a few minutes to explain what a term means can save you hours of confusion later on.
Of course, all of these common mistakes mentioned above can be avoided simply by hiring an attorney to look over the fine print. Things have gotten more complicated, and these days you can never afford to be too careful.