Tenant Agreement help

[Table 5]

So I have a possible renter, offering to rent an apartment and pay 1 year in advance...which is, hey, great.

The issue is that my tenant agreement is only written for month-to-month, and therefore I have to amend that whole section to reflect this type of payment. My legalese is definitely not my strong suit however.

Does anyone have a tenant agreement that is under a similar circumstance that I could take the wording from? I only really need that one section, I don't need to see the whole thing.

[fundmark19]

I have had people want to pay in advance to secure the property to avoid competition as well to try and lower the monthly rent a bit. If I was you I would keep the contract month to month and advise of reimbursement of pre-deposit plus interest earned if tenant contract is terminated.

[Table 5]

He's basically self-employed like I am, so this is his offer of getting around the fact that I have no employer to call. And its an incentive to give him the property over others.

I remember having to pay 6 months up front myself back in the day for the same reason.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

If I was you I would keep the contract month to month and advise of reimbursement of pre-deposit plus interest earned if tenant contract is terminated.

Could you expand/clarify this a bit?

[fundmark19]

What is the wording that you are using currently? Here is what mine looks like:

1 . PAYMENT OF RENT.
The Tenant shall pay the Landlord rent of $1,900.00 per month payable in advance on the first day of each month. If that day falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the rent is due on the previous business day. Rent shall be paid by personal check, money order or bank draft or cash only to................My name and address....., or at such other place as the Landlord shall designate from time to time. The rent includes housing only Tenants are to arrange for all utilities such as heating, cold and hot water, gas and property management services, electricity cable and internet services.


Now if I was doing month to month I would say:




1 b. PAYMENT OF RENT.
The Tenant shall pay the Landlord rent of a lump sum payment of $22,800 per year payable in advance of the first day of "possession date". If that day falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the rent is due on the previous business day. Rent shall be paid by personal check, money order or bank draft or cash only to................My name and address....., or at such other place as the Landlord shall designate from time to time. The rent includes housing only Tenants are to arrange for all utilities such as heating, cold and hot water, gas and property management services, electricity cable and internet services.


1 b. Rental Contract is based upon a Month to Month agreement. If Landlord or Tenant chooses to terminate the rental agreement the balance of the lump sum payment shall be returned to Tenant plus any accrued interest over the rental period.

[Table 5]

Thanks fundmark, that wording really helps.

I guess my question is, why would I as a landlord want to specify that it's a month to month agreement? Wouldn't that basically give him the option to leave whenever he wants?

At the moment, I have it as a 1 year term, and if he breaks the contract, I have it written as:
In the event that the Tenant vacates the Premises before the end of the term, the Tenant will be charged a re-rental fee of 1-Months Rent, plus the cost of advertising, and will also be responsible for paying rent until the end of the Residential Tenancy Agreement term, or until a suitable new tenant is found to occupy the Premises.

[fundmark19]

Like I said in PM it is a double edged sword. It gives the tenant the option to leave but gives you a lot more power to evict. If a tenant in a year lease stops paying and starts squatting it is a lot harder to evict them vs someone who's lease ends month to month.

[photon]

I don't think that's true at all, the eviction remedies for non-payment of rent are the same for a month by month and a fixed term agreement. There's no difference, I've never seen anywhere in the Landlord Tenant Act where they are treated differently for a substantial breach. I've had both situations.

EDIT: The only difference is the one he already has in his contract, if someone leaves before the end of a fixed term they are responsible for the entire term, not just max one month for a month-to-month (with the stipulation that the landlord has to make all possible efforts to re-rent and once it is re-rented then they aren't responsible anymore).

Fixed terms can work in the landlord's favor as well. There's very few reasons you can get rid of a month-by-month tenant that is paying their rent (you can't just give them notice for no reason, there's very few and very specific reasons), whereas on a fixed term lease you can word it so the agreement ends. No agreement, no tenancy, they have to leave. That's how I have mine worded so that at the end of the fixed term I have a choice (and I've put ones I wasn't sure about on 3 or 6 month fixed terms to start out).

Wording for 1 year prepayment you can change or not, I don't think it matters, as long as he pays on or before the first of the month (which he is). Just give him a receipt for the full amount. EDIT2: I've also had 1 year prepayment before as well, convenience I think was the reason for them.

[photon]

Also Table 5 just FYI as far as I know the portion "re-rental fee of 1-Months Rent" isn't legal. From what I've been told by pro-landlord lawyers, charging a "fee" is prohibited. What landlords are supposed to charge is damages, so whatever the landlord is out is supposed to be what they pass on to the tenant.

This came up with regards to late fees for missing rent. I know someone that charges like $100 if late at all and $5 a day, but the lawyer told me that I can charge an NSF fee if the bank charged me one, as well as interest on the owing amount at the amount I'm being charged it, but that's it.

Or in the case of someone leaving a fix term tenancy early, they have to pay their rent even though they aren't there right up until it is re-rented, or the end of the tenancy, but an extra month in there isn't something you as the owner are getting in damages, so you can't charge that to the tenant, and in a court case or a mediation that wouldn't be allowed.

Or so I was told by the lawyer, this was Foster and Associates, they used to be called Landlord 911 they're very pro-landlord and quite helpful, I had them help me with a mediation once as well.

That said, it doesn't stop most landlords from charging penalties.

[onetwo_threefour]

I generally advise landlords to stick with fixed term leases. Month to month sounds more flexible, but in my experience the opposite is true. Once a fixed term has expired you can get rid of a tenant very easily by simply not renewing and not accepting any rent after the termination date. If the tenant does move out, it's a straightforward process. You could theoretically sign a one month fixed tenancy every month if you wanted to (not that you'd want to sign a new lease every month). Lots of ways to draft a fixed term tenancy that is actually more flexible than a month to month and gives the landlord the ability to get rid of a tenant much faster if the need arises.

[Table 5]

Thanks for all the help guys, really appreciate it.

[troutman]

http://www.discover-realestate.com/s...erm%20form.pdf

https://www.alberta-mortgages.com/pd...al%20Lease.pdf

[I-Hate-Hulse]

The Calgary Apartment Association has a pile of forms (carbons which is handy) that should address these. I bought a pile of stuff from them for various things and it's been handy.