Important Terms Found In A Tenancy Program

By Wanda Rosner


The type of tenancy arrangement affects your rights and responsibility as a tenant. Your tenancy program will be guided by the terms contained in a tenancy contract that spells out your relationship with your landlord. It is therefore important that you understand some of the common terms that will appear in any typical tenancy contract.

You will find some standard terms which are usually required by law since they control the guidelines of a tenancy agreement and have to be incorporated in almost any tenancy contract. Whether these elements are incorporated or otherwise, they will be assumed to exist, and for that reason relevant just in case of disagreement. Always make sure you know these terms prior to signing any tenancy contract. You will find essential information on these terms in the residential laws and regulations regulating your state.

Landlords are generally allowed by the law to obtain any credit information regarding any body entering or renewing a tenancy agreement. However, the law requires that they obtain a written consent from their tenants. If a tenants does not want to consent to the landlord obtaining their credit information, then their landlord reserves the right to terminate or refuse to enter into any tenancy agreement with them.

Landlords can include a clause in your tenancy agreement prohibiting or limiting the number of pets you can keep in his premises. He can as well set some rules that will restrict the presence of pet animals within common areas within the building such as parks. This is because there could be tenants who are uncomfortable with your pets.

A common tenancy contract will also contain a clause regarding refundable and non-refundable fees that your landlord may charge you. Landlords are however prohibited from charging application fees or processing fees from their clients. Costs like the cost of keys, bank charges due to a cheque issued by a tenant bouncing and other necessary charges can be levied upon a tenant but within predetermined limits. The general rule is that a landlord charges no more than is necessary.

Most contracts will contain a term touching on the privacy of his tenant. The clause will spell circumstances under which a landlord can conduct a search in the house of a tenant. The rule is that landlords respect the privacy of their tenants and should not indulge themselves with the private life of a tenant for more than is necessary. The word necessary remains a question to be answered by the courts.

The other term that may be obtained in a tenancy contract is usually whether your landlord can ask you for your social security number. Generally, your landlord may ask for your social insurance number if it is necessary for the purposes of identifying you or conducting a credit check. Landlords are not supposed to require their tenants to disclose personal information beyond what is necessary as condition of renting to them.

In the industry of manufactured houses, a landlord may need a moving insurance policy. This is to make sure that there is a third party that may be held liable if there is any harm to the home during moving. You have got to be prepared to prove it to your landlord that indeed you possess an insurance before you rent his property.




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