What information should a rental agreement contain?

01-12-2016

The need to sign fast, pressure, lack of time ... sometimes lead us to sign contracts that we are not even sure they contain all the necessary information. Even many times we sign without reading all the conditions and without taking into account all the clauses that the contract contains. Big mistake.

Many of the problems of tenant-owner relations appear because the rental agreement has not been structured properly.

First of all, it should be clear that a home rental agreement is a formal agreement between two parties in which the owner (landlord) assigns the use and enjoyment of a property of his to a tenant for a period determined by contract.

During that time, the landlord agrees to rent the house and the tenant to pay the agreed amount and, once the contract ends, to return the property as received.

The information that cannot be missing in your contract is the following one:

• Identity of the contractors: this means that the name and surname, as well as the ID and address of both the lessor and the lessee must appear
• Identification of the house: the exact address of the house must be specified
• The agreed duration of the contract: normally they are contracts of 11 months extendable if both parties agree
• The initial rent that the tenant must pay to the lessor: it is an initial amount agreed between the parties that must be maintained during the duration of the contract and that can be modified in the course of the contractual relationship if both parties agree.

Of course, you must also take into account the deposit, both the amount and the way it is to be returned at the end of the contract (and if the landlord can keep part of the deposit in case the house is not delivered in the same conditions in which it was received).

It is also necessary to explain in the contract what are the reasons that can lead to the end of the contract, as well as the certificate of energy efficiency.

In addition to this, you have to look carefully at all the clauses that include the owner, as they can be abusive and even illegal. That is why, always, always, always, you have to read the contracts up and down and consult all the doubts that arise before signing something that you do not agree with.