All contracts in between a property manager and an occupant are "rental agreements" according to Vermont's Residential Rental Agreements Act (RRAA). 9 V.S.A. § 4451( 8 ). The rental arrangement does not need to remain in composing. You and the landlord have all the rights and commitments in the law despite the fact that there is no written arrangement. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.
The RRAA requires that the tasks and rights of landlords and renters in the law are indicated (made a part of) all rental contracts. Which ones are indicated in all rental agreements? See this list of rights and duties of renters and landlords. For more information on these rights and duties, visit our Rights and Duties Explained page.
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All of the agreements made by you and the landlord or suggested by the RRAA are called the "terms" of the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.
The RRAA protects you and requires you to do (or not do) some things. It likewise safeguards property owners and requires them to do (or not do) some things. The law is the same if you have a composed or verbal rental arrangement. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.
Any part of a rental agreement that tries to navigate the RRAA isn't legal. 9 V.S.A. § 4454. See the list of rights and duties in the RRAA for what need to be in a rental arrangement.
The RRAA never uses the word "lease." Calling a domestic rental arrangement a "lease" does not have any unique legal meaning in Vermont. Other statutes (12 V.S.A. § 4851( ejectment), 10 V.S.A. § 6201( 5 )( mobile home parks)), the courts, subsidized housing property owners and housing authorities do utilize the word "lease."
Rental arrangements can be for an amount of time that is specified in the rental arrangement. For example, the contract could be six months or a year. During that time, all of the terms (consisting of the amount of rent) of the occupancy stay the same. Or a rental contract can be "month-to-month." This implies the length of the occupancy or the amount of rent can be altered as long as you get the notification needed by the RRAA.
As far as rental arrangements go, calling it a lease doesn't guarantee that the terms can't be altered for a year. If you desire the tenancy to be for a particular amount of time, you need to get the landlord to concur.
All of the rights and commitments of the RRAA belong to the even without being written down. 9 V.S.A. § 4453. Any additional terms might not be enforceable unless you and the property manager have actually spoken about them and concurred - and after that just as long as the RRAA does not prohibit the agreement. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.
If you have only a spoken agreement, you may "agree" to something without recognizing you have actually concurred. For instance, if you concur to no holes in the walls believing that does not keep you from hanging pictures, the proprietor might charge you for repairing the holes from hanging your pictures.
When you are choosing to rent a home, you need to pay very close attention to what the property manager says.
Because the RRAA sets out many rights and duties of renters and property managers, and since composed rental agreements can't change what is in the RRAA, a written rental agreement tends to have more benefits for landlords than for occupants.
Advantages for a property owner:
- The property manager might reduce the time length of advance notification needed to end the occupancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4467( c), (e).
- The property owner might make the time length of advance notification you require to provide the landlord when you wish to leave longer. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d).
- A composed rental arrangement might need you to pay your landlord's attorney's costs if a lawyer is used to impose any part of the agreement or to evict you. (Note: If you damage the unit or disturb your next-door neighbors and your property manager evicts you due to the fact that of it, the RRAA makes you accountable for the landlord's lawyer's fees. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( e).).
- A written rental contract can call the people who can live in the unit, and keep you from letting somebody relocation in. - Note: It would be discrimination for a landlord to evict you for having a child. 9 V.S.A. § 4503( a).
- A property manager can keep you from subleasing the location you lease, 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ), and can force out the individual who subleases your place in an "expedited hearing." Expedited ways faster than typical. 12 V.S.A. § 4853b.
A written rental arrangement might help you as an occupant due to the fact that:
- It might guarantee that the lease won't change up until a particular date. - It can restrict the amount your rent can go up.
- It can state the length of time you can live there.
- If it isn't written in the agreement, the proprietor can't state you consented to it. Verbal contracts outside the composed agreement may not be enforceable. For instance, a written arrangement can say who should spend for heating fuel or electrical power.
Generally, a landlord can not charge late costs.
A late fee is legal just if:
- The rental agreement states a late charge will be charged for late rent, and
- The charge is only the reasonable cost to the landlord due to the fact that of the late payment. See Highgate Associates, Ltd. v. Merryfield, 157 Vt. 313 (1991 ). Reasonable costs to the property owner indicates the property manager's actual extra expenditure because of late lease, like additional expense in keeping the books, driving over to you, making phone calls, or composing you letters.
A late fee is not legal when:
- A flat charge of a particular amount of cash if rent is paid after the lease day is normally not the property manager's sensible expense, and so is unlawful. - Your property manager can not use you a lease "discount" for paying by a specific date. In one case, the Windham Superior Court held that rewards for early payments are the same as penalties and hence, they are not lawfully legitimate. See Shapiro v. Cormier, Docket No. 220-5-12 Wmcv (Windham Super. Ct., Aug. 22, 2012). (If you need an available version of this PDF document, we will supply it on your request. Please utilize our website feedback type to do so.)
A rental agreement can include these terms:
- Only individuals named in the written rental arrangement (and their minor kids, even if they show up later) can live in the rental. - Subleasing is allowed or not permitted. 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ).
- Smoking is not enabled.
- Pets are not allowed. But, if you need an animal since of your impairment, see our Reasonable Accommodations page.
- A description of what areas (home, other locations) are included.
- Rules about using common areas.
- Who is accountable for paying utility bills.
- The obligation to pay a set quantity of lease, for a set duration of time, even if the tenant decides to leave early. (The property manager has a task to re-rent the location as quickly as possible, but the renter might owe lease until someone else rents it.)
You can accept a modification but you don't have to.
If you or the proprietor wishes to alter a term or condition in your rental agreement, you can ask each other to concur. You or the landlord can't alter the rights and responsibilities in the RRAA, but other parts of rental arrangements can be altered. If the rental agreement is in writing, modifications must remain in composing.
Generally for things like family pets, enhancements (remodeling or updating home appliances or fixtures) if one individual asks, and the other concurs, then that regard to the rental agreement is changed. But if the proprietor wants something, and you don't want it, then you can disagree.
The examples below presume that the system is in excellent repair work, and not being harmed by the renter:
- Two months after you move in the landlord states, "I wish to secure the bathtub and put in a shower." You state, "No, I like the tub." The bath tub belongs to what you accepted lease, and you do not accept alter it. Landlord can't refurbish the restroom. - Or, landlord states, "I am altering my mind. You can't have an animal." You do not need to consent to eliminate your animal.
- Or you state, "I do not like the gas range in the apartment. I want an electric range." Landlord does not have to accept a brand-new stove.
Note: There is a distinction between contracts to change something and repairs required by law. The RRAA does not permit you or your animal to trigger damage, 9 V.S.A. § 4456( a), (c), and the RRAA requires the property owner to keep the unit safe and clean, 9 V.S.A. § 4458. See our page about Repair Problems and Tenant's Right to Repair.
You or the landlord may want to end the tenancy if among you desires a change and the other doesn't. If your rental arrangement is not for a specific amount of time, either of you could provide advance notification to end the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d), 9 V.S.A § 4467( c)( e).
Staying longer than a written arrangement
Do you have a written rental arrangement that states the rental contract was for a particular amount of time, for example January 1 - December 31? If that time has expired, you may question if there is still a written rental contract, or is there no written rental agreement?
It depends on what the composed arrangement says. If it mentions the dates and does not additional address what takes place when it expires, the written arrangement ends, but the tenancy does not. That is because when you move in with the agreement of a property owner, the property owner needs to send a notification to end the occupancy, even if there is a composed rental agreement which expires. Simply put, the expiration of the arrangement is not sufficient notification to end a tenancy.
A composed rental agreement that expires on a certain date could consist of a provision that specifies the length of the occupancy after that date has passed. It might say, for example, the occupancy continues from month to month. Or it might say if you do not move out, the tenancy continues for another year.
Whatever it states, if the landlord desires you out, they need to provide you a termination notification needed by the tenancy you have.
Discover more on our Rent Increases page.
A Vermont law that worked on July 1, 2018, legalized ownership of approximately an ounce of marijuana and two mature and four immature plants. If you are a tenant, or if you have a rental subsidy from a housing authority, or if you have some other type of federally assisted rental aid, beware. Your lease and program rules might still make it an infraction of the rules for you to have cannabis or cannabis plants in your rental system. Your lease might likewise prohibit smoking, including smoking cigarettes cannabis.
The new Vermont law does not change the terms of your lease. The brand-new law does not change the program guidelines for renters with federal rental assistance. If you are unsure, inspect your lease or program guidelines or speak to your property manager or housing authority. You can also contact us for aid. Your info will be sent to Legal Services Vermont, which evaluates demands for assistance for both Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont.
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