All arrangements in between a property manager and a renter 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 writing. You and the landlord have all the rights and obligations in the law even though there is no written contract. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.
The RRAA requires that the responsibilities and rights of property managers and tenants in the law are indicated (made a part of) all rental arrangements. Which ones are suggested in all rental agreements? See this list of rights and responsibilities of renters and property owners. For more info on these rights and responsibilities, visit our Rights and Duties Explained page.
All of the arrangements made by you and the proprietor or suggested by the RRAA are called the "terms" of the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.
The RRAA protects you and needs 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 very same if you have a written or spoken rental agreement. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.
Any part of a rental agreement that tries to get around the RRAA isn't legal. 9 V.S.A. § 4454. See the list of rights and duties in the RRAA for what should be in a rental arrangement.
The RRAA never ever uses the word "lease." Calling a domestic rental arrangement a "lease" does not have any special 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 landlords and housing authorities do use the word "lease."
Rental arrangements can be for an amount of time that is specified in the rental contract. For example, the contract could be six months or a year. During that time, all of the terms (consisting of the amount of lease) of the occupancy remain the very same. Or a rental contract can be "month-to-month." This suggests the length of the occupancy or the quantity of lease can be altered as long as you get the notification required by the RRAA.
As far as rental agreements go, calling it a lease doesn't guarantee that the terms can't be altered for a year. If you desire the occupancy to be for a particular period of time, you have to get the landlord to agree.
All of the rights and obligations of the RRAA belong to the arrangement even without being made a note of. 9 V.S.A. § 4453. Any additional terms may not be enforceable unless you and the landlord have discussed them and concurred - and then just as long as the RRAA does not forbid the arrangement. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.
If you have only a verbal contract, you might "agree" to something without realizing you have actually agreed. For instance, if you accept no holes in the walls thinking that does not keep you from hanging images, the proprietor might charge you for fixing the holes from hanging your pictures.
When you are deciding to lease a house, you need to pay very close attention to what the landlord states.
Because the RRAA sets out many rights and responsibilities of renters and property managers, and because written rental arrangements can't change what remains in the RRAA, a written rental agreement tends to have more benefits for property owners than for renters.
Advantages for a property manager:
- The property owner might reduce the time length of advance notification required to end the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4467( c), (e).
- The property manager could make the time length of advance notification you require to provide the property manager when you desire to vacate longer. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d).
- A composed rental agreement might need you to pay your property manager's lawyer's costs if an attorney is used to implement any part of the contract or to evict you. (Note: If you harm the system or disrupt your next-door neighbors and your property manager evicts you because of it, the RRAA makes you accountable for the property manager's attorney's costs. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( e).).
- A composed rental contract can name individuals who can live in the unit, and keep you from letting somebody move in. - Note: It would be discrimination for a property manager to evict you for having a baby. 9 V.S.A. § 4503( a).
- A proprietor can keep you from subleasing the place you rent, 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ), and can kick out the individual who subleases your location in an "expedited hearing." Expedited methods faster than typical. 12 V.S.A. § 4853b.
A written rental agreement may assist you as a renter because:
- It might guarantee that the rent won't change till a specific date.
- It can restrict the amount your rent can increase.
- It can say the length of time you can live there.
- If it isn't composed in the arrangement, the property manager can't state you agreed to it. Verbal contracts outside the composed agreement might not be enforceable. For instance, a written arrangement can state who should spend for heating fuel or electrical energy.
Generally, a property owner can not charge late charges.
A late charge is legal only if:
- The rental contract says a late charge will be charged for late lease, and
- The charge is only the reasonable expense to the property manager since of the late payment. See Highgate Associates, Ltd. v. Merryfield, 157 Vt. 313 (1991 ). Reasonable costs to the property owner suggests the property manager's real additional cost since of late lease, like additional cost in keeping the books, driving over to you, making phone calls, or writing you letters.
A late cost is not legal when:
- A flat charge of a specific quantity of money if rent is paid after the rent day is usually not the property owner's affordable expense, therefore is prohibited.
- Your proprietor can not provide you a rent "discount rate" for paying by a particular date. In one case, the Windham Superior Court held that incentives for early payments are the same as penalties and therefore, they are not legally legitimate. See Shapiro v. Cormier, Docket No. 220-5-12 Wmcv (Windham Super. Ct., Aug. 22, 2012). (If you require an available variation of this PDF file, we will supply it on your request. Please utilize our site feedback form to do so.)
A rental agreement can include these terms:
- Only the individuals named in the composed rental agreement (and their minor kids, even if they arrive later) can reside in the rental unit.
- Subleasing is allowed or not allowed. 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ).
- Smoking is not permitted.
- Pets are not enabled. But, if you require an animal because of your disability, see our Reasonable Accommodations page.
- A description of what areas (home, other locations) are included.
- Rules about utilizing typical locations.
- Who is accountable for paying utility expenses.
- The duty to pay a set quantity of rent, for a set amount of time, even if the renter decides to leave early. (The proprietor has a task to re-rent the place as quickly as possible, however the occupant may owe rent until somebody else rents it.)
You can agree to a change but you do not have to.
If you or the property manager wishes to alter a term or condition in your rental contract, you can ask each other to agree. You or the property manager can't alter the rights and responsibilities in the RRAA, but other parts of rental arrangements can be changed. If the rental agreement is in composing, changes ought to remain in composing.
Generally for things like animals, enhancements (redecorating or updating home appliances or fixtures) if a single person asks, and the other concurs, then that term of the rental arrangement is changed. But if the proprietor wants something, and you do not want it, then you can disagree.
The examples listed below presume that the unit is in good repair, and not being damaged by the occupant:
- Two months after you relocate the landlord says, "I wish to secure the bathtub and put in a shower." You state, "No, I like the bathtub." The tub belongs to what you consented to rent, and you do not agree to change it. Landlord can't refurbish the restroom.
- Or, proprietor says, "I am changing my mind. You can't have an animal." You don't have to accept eliminate your pet.
- Or you state, "I do not like the gas range in the apartment. I want an electrical stove." Landlord doesn't have to accept a brand-new range.
Note: There is a distinction in between arrangements to alter something and repair work needed 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 proprietor to keep the system safe and clean, 9 V.S.A. § 4458. See our page about Repair Problems and Tenant's Right to Repair.
You or the property manager may desire to end the occupancy if one of you desires a modification and the other does not. If your rental contract is not for a specific duration of time, either of you might give advance notice to end the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d), 9 V.S.A § 4467( c)( e).
Staying longer than a written contract
Do you have a composed rental agreement that says the rental contract was for a certain duration of time, for instance January 1 - December 31? If that time has expired, you may question if there is still a composed rental contract, or is there no written rental contract?
It depends upon what the composed arrangement says. If it specifies the dates and does not additional address what happens when it ends, the written agreement ends, but the occupancy does not. That is due to the fact that when you move in with the contract of a proprietor, the property manager should send a notice to end the tenancy, even if there is a composed rental arrangement which expires. To put it simply, the expiration of the arrangement is not enough notice to end an occupancy.
A composed rental agreement that expires on a particular date might include a provision that specifies the length of the occupancy after that date has actually passed. It might say, for instance, the tenancy continues from month to month. Or it might say if you do not vacate, the tenancy continues for another year.
Whatever it states, if the property manager wants you out, they have to give you a termination notice required by the occupancy you have.
Find out more on our Rent Increases page.
A Vermont law that worked on July 1, 2018, legalized possession of as much as an ounce of marijuana and two mature and four immature plants. If you are a tenant, or if you have a rental aid from a housing authority, or if you have some other kind of federally helped rental subsidy, take care. Your lease and program guidelines may still make it a violation of the rules for you to have marijuana or marijuana plants in your rental system. Your lease might also prohibit smoking cigarettes, consisting of cigarette smoking cannabis.
The brand-new Vermont law does not alter the regards to your lease. The brand-new law does not change the program guidelines for occupants with federal rental support. If you are not sure, examine your lease or program rules or talk with your property owner or housing authority. You can likewise contact us for help. Your details will be sent out to Legal Services Vermont, which screens demands for aid for both Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont.
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