These papers might be overwhelming at first but getting to understand them entirely is a must if you want to protect your rights and expenses. Before moving in any rental properties, it would be best to both landlords and tenants to sign in some legal papers. The following article will explain to you the definition, the terms, and the procedures and what to pay attention.

Must-know terms in a lease contract

Premises

a house, apartment, condo, basement, or attic. In general, it is the type of properties. For Hanoi housing, the premises mainly are apartment/house/villa for rent. .

Landlord

Landlord or “Lessor” is the one who rents out the property in exchange for monthly or quarterly rent

Tenant

or “Lessee” is the one who rents the property

Term

the length of time a Tenant has the right to stay on the Premises

Deposit and Payment

a sum of money equivalent to one month of rent, which will be refunded in full to The Lessee when the contract expires as per article, and all the bills are paid

Lease contract and important papers

Besides the lease contract, there are several kinds of paper that need serious attention, including deposit receipt, rent receipt, Inventory list move in/out, Termination of lease contract, and Extension of the lease contract.

What is a lease contract?

 

A lease agreement is a legal paper officially recognizes the binding relationship between the landlord and the tenant, in which the landlord agrees to rent their property (apartment/house/villa) with a fee to the tenants. There are some terms laid in the paper that both parties have to follow, or else they will pay an amount of money. The terms includes the rental price, agreed contract time, speculations in modifications, pet allowence, security deposit, lease termination requirements and so on.

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What is deposit and deposit receipt?

 

A deposit is an amount of money placed by the tenants in the hand of the landlords for insurance of security. With that being said, once a property is rented, the landlords face possibilities of losing money due to the incoming irresistible damage caused by tenants, both intentionally and accidentally.

With a security deposit (aka damage deposit) being placed, the landlords will be compensated in case the tenants damage the property or break the contract. Moreover, this can be a method for landlords to set some responsibilities on tenants as they must be careful while renting the place, or else they will lose a quite significant amount of money.

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However, the landlords are not the only one can benefit from this because commonly, in a deposit receipt that is accepted mainly within the housing market, it is noted that if one of two parties violates or terminates the lease contract unilaterally, He/She should compensate the other party amount of money equal to the deposit. In the deposit receipt, The Lessor and The Lessee’s information and the amount of deposit have to be clearly stated. The security deposit should be equivalent to one month’s rent of the property.

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What is a rent receipt?

 

A rent receipt is a paper or digital document that provides proof that a tenant paid rent. Generally, it contains the date of the transaction, rental period, landlord and tenant’s name, the amount of rent paid and more. The rent receipt is used by landlords and property managers to keep track of who has paid rent. As for the requirement of landlords, tenants are expected to pay once every three or six months, and rent must be paid upfront.

What should be included in the inventory list?

 

While the deposit is paid by the tenants, the landlords have to propose a list of items attached to the rental property before handing out the keys. With this being done, the landlords can keep track of their possess and hence base upon that to check when the lease contract is terminated.

To keep yourself out of mistakes, you should list the items in ordinal numbers, name of items, quantity, material, brand, color, size, content, and status. Try to be as specific as possible so that everything is under control. This particular paper is for both tenants and landlords to base upon to determine what to do with the security deposit when they decide to terminate the contract. If everything is kept intact, the security deposit should be paid to the tenants, and if not, that amount of money is for the repair and fee compensation.

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What paper do you need for early lease termination

It is not uncommon that expats aren’t satisfied with the property that they rented and want to end the lease contract early. If this is the case, before verbally say anything to the landlords, you should prepare these two papers of Early lease termination letter and the termination of the lease contract.

An early lease termination letter is just a written announcement of the lessee to the lessor about their early leaving. Lessor is expected to announce this one to two months ahead (this is up to the agreement of the two parties) if he/she wants to receive their security deposit before.

Case 1

Lessor has to pay back the deposit and the rent of the coming month(s) paid by lessee. This is when the lessee announces their leaving 30 days before.

Case 2

Lessor has to pay only the rent for the coming month(s). Please be noted that not many lessors agree to the contractual term of paying back the deposit if the lessee announces leaving 30 days ahead. If you want this term to be included in the contract, you should ask a real estate agent to compromise with the landlord. With his/her experience, they can convince or deal with the landlord more easily.

Case 3

In another case, if the landlord is the one who wants to terminate the contract early, this might be because he/she has another use with the property. Hence, the lessor will pay back the deposit, the rent of the coming month(s), and a fine equivalent to one-month rent.

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What paper do you need to extend the lease contract ?

 

After one or two years rent, if the lessee wishes to stay, they can extend the contract by filing the paper Extension of lease contract. In this paper, the time extension and a notation of confirming all terms in the previous contract will be added.

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There are some things you should state clearly state in the contract, including:

Modifications: Anything regarding changes, furnishing, maintenance should be announced upfront because most landlords do not agree to any alterations to the property. Once done without approval, this can cost your deposit or even more.
Payment: Payment of monthly/quarterly rent should be manifest in terms of payment method and due date.
Pets: Most landlords would require tenants to place a pet fee or pet deposit in chance any damage is caused.
Subletting: Subletting is quite uncommon in the market of Hanoi housing. Landlords would want to terminate the lease contract and continue with new tenants for clarification in paperwork.
Parking: For apartment for rent in Hanoi , each property will have a limited number of free spots in the underground parking lot. Landlords must deal with the building’s manager to make sure there is no additional charge of parking.

To draft out a lease contract is no easy work, and with our many years of experience and legal knowledge, Alphahousing agents will help you with this.