1 Everything About Rental Agreements

Darrel Ornelas edited this page 2025-06-21 08:00:00 +00:00

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All arrangements in between a proprietor and an occupant are "rental contracts" according to Vermont's Residential Rental Agreements Act (RRAA). 9 V.S.A. § 4451( 8 ). The rental agreement does not have to be in writing. You and the property owner have all the rights and responsibilities in the law even though there is no written agreement. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.

The RRAA needs that the responsibilities and rights of property managers and occupants in the law are suggested (made a part of) all rental contracts. Which ones are implied in all rental contracts? See this list of rights and responsibilities of tenants and property managers. To learn more on these rights and tasks, visit our Rights and Duties Explained page.

All of the agreements made by you and the property manager or suggested by the RRAA are called the "terms" of the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.

The RRAA protects you and requires you to do (or not do) some things. It also secures property owners and needs them to do (or not do) some things. The law is the same if you have actually a composed or verbal rental agreement. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.

Any part of a rental agreement that tries to navigate the RRAA isn't legal. 9 V.S.A. § 4454. See the list of rights and duties in the RRAA for what must be in a rental agreement.

The RRAA never utilizes the word "lease." Calling a property rental agreement a "lease" does not have any unique 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 property managers and housing authorities do use the word "lease."

Rental contracts can be for an amount of time that is defined in the rental arrangement. For example, the contract might be six months or a year. During that time, all of the terms (consisting of the quantity of rent) of the occupancy remain the very same. Or a rental contract can be "month-to-month." This implies 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 arrangements go, calling it a lease does not ensure that the terms can't be changed for a year. If you want the tenancy to be for a particular duration of time, you need to get the property owner to agree.

All of the rights and commitments of the RRAA belong to the arrangement even without being documented. 9 V.S.A. § 4453. Any additional terms might not be enforceable unless you and the property manager have spoken about them and agreed - and after that only as long as the RRAA does not restrict the agreement. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.

If you have only a spoken agreement, you may "concur" to something without understanding you have agreed. For instance, if you accept no holes in the walls believing that does not keep you from hanging pictures, the landlord may charge you for repairing the holes from hanging your pictures.

When you are deciding to rent a house, you need to pay close attention to what the proprietor states.

Because the RRAA sets out many rights and tasks of renters and landlords, and because written rental contracts can't alter what is in the RRAA, a composed rental arrangement tends to have more advantages for property owners than for occupants.

Advantages for a property owner:

- The landlord might shorten the time length of advance notice required to end the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4467( c), (e).

• The proprietor could make the time length of advance notification you need to give the property owner when you desire to vacate longer. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d).
• A written rental agreement might require you to pay your attorney's costs if a legal representative is utilized to impose any part of the agreement or to evict you. (Note: If you harm the system or disrupt your next-door neighbors and your property owner evicts you since of it, the RRAA makes you accountable for the landlord's lawyer's fees. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( e).).
• A written rental agreement can name individuals who can reside in the unit, and keep you from letting somebody move in. - Note: It would be discrimination for a property owner to evict you for having a child. 9 V.S.A. § 4503( a).
• A property manager can keep you from subleasing the place you lease, 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ), and can force out the individual who subleases your location in an "expedited hearing." Expedited methods faster than normal. 12 V.S.A. § 4853b.
  
  A written rental agreement might assist you as an occupant because:
  
  - It might guarantee that the rent won't change till a certain date.
• It can limit the amount your lease can go up.
• It can state the length of time you can live there.
• If it isn't written in the arrangement, the landlord can't say you concurred to it. Verbal agreements outside the composed contract may not be enforceable. For instance, a written contract can say who must spend for heating fuel or electrical power.
  
  Generally, a landlord can not charge late charges.
  
  A late cost is legal only if:
  
  - The rental arrangement states a late cost will be charged for late lease, and
  
  - The charge is just the affordable cost to the property owner due to the fact that of the late payment. See Highgate Associates, Ltd. v. Merryfield, 157 Vt. 313 (1991 ). Reasonable costs to the property manager implies the proprietor's real extra expenditure due to the fact that of late rent, like extra expense in keeping the books, driving over to you, making call, or writing you letters.
  
  A late fee is illegal when:
  
  - A flat charge of a certain amount of money if lease is paid after the lease day is typically not the proprietor's reasonable expense, therefore is unlawful.
• Your property manager 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 very same as charges and thus, they are not lawfully legitimate. See Shapiro v. Cormier, Docket No. 220-5-12 Wmcv (Windham Super. Ct., Aug. 22, 2012). (If you require an accessible version of this PDF file, we will supply it on your demand. Please use our site feedback type to do so.)
  
  A rental arrangement can include these terms:
  
  - Only individuals named in the composed rental arrangement (and their minor children, even if they show up later on) can live in the rental.
• Subleasing is permitted or not enabled. 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ).
• Smoking is not enabled.
• Pets are not enabled. But, if you need an animal because of your impairment, see our Reasonable Accommodations page.
• A description of what spaces (home, other areas) are consisted of.
• Rules about utilizing typical locations.
• Who is responsible for paying utility bills.
• The duty to pay a set amount of rent, for a set amount of time, even if the renter decides to move out early. (The landlord has a responsibility to re-rent the place as quickly as possible, however the renter might owe lease till somebody else rents it.)
  
  You can consent to a change but you don't need to.
  
  If you or the landlord desires to change a term or condition in your rental contract, you can ask each other to concur. You or the proprietor can't change the rights and commitments in the RRAA, but other parts of rental agreements can be changed. If the rental agreement is in composing, modifications need to remain in writing.
  
  Generally for things like pets, improvements (redecorating or upgrading appliances or fixtures) if someone asks, and the other concurs, then that term of the rental arrangement is altered. But if the proprietor wants something, and you don't want it, then you can disagree.
  
  The examples below assume that the unit remains in excellent repair work, and not being damaged by the occupant:
  
  - Two months after you move in the landlord states, "I want to take out the bath tub and put in a shower." You state, "No, I like the bathtub." The bathtub belongs to what you accepted rent, and you don't accept alter it. Landlord can't renovate the bathroom.
• Or, property manager states, "I am changing my mind. You can't have a family pet." You don't have to agree to get rid of your family pet.
• Or you say, "I don't like the gas stove in the apartment. I want an electrical range." Landlord doesn't have to accept a brand-new stove.
  
  Note: There is a difference in between agreements to change something and repair work required by law. The RRAA does not allow you or your family pet to trigger damage, 9 V.S.A. § 4456( a), (c), and the RRAA requires the landlord to keep the system safe and tidy, 9 V.S.A. § 4458. See our page about Repair Problems and Tenant's Right to Repair.
  
  You or the property owner might wish to end the tenancy if one of you desires a modification and the other doesn't. If your rental contract is not for a certain duration of time, either of you might give advance notice to end the occupancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d), 9 V.S.A § 4467( c)( e).
  
  Staying longer than a composed agreement
  
  Do you have a composed rental contract that states the rental arrangement was for a particular time period, for instance January 1 - December 31? If that time has ended, you may question if there is still a written rental contract, or exists no composed rental arrangement?
  
  It depends upon what the written arrangement states. If it specifies the dates and does not additional address what takes place when it expires, the written arrangement ends, however the tenancy does not. That is because when you relocate with the agreement of a proprietor, the property manager should send out a notification to end the tenancy, even if there is a written rental agreement which ends. Simply put, the expiration of the arrangement is not adequate notification to end a tenancy.
  
  A written rental agreement that expires on a certain date might include a provision that specifies the length of the tenancy after that date has actually passed. It might say, for instance, the tenancy continues from month to month. Or it could say if you don't leave, the occupancy continues for another year.
  
  Whatever it states, if the proprietor wants you out, they need to offer you a termination notification needed by the occupancy you have.
  
  Discover more on our Rent Increases page.
  
  A Vermont law that took result on July 1, 2018, legislated belongings of up to an ounce of cannabis and 2 fully grown and four immature plants. If you are a renter, or if you have a rental subsidy from a housing authority, or if you have some other kind of federally assisted rental subsidy, take care. Your lease and program rules may still make it an offense of the guidelines for you to have cannabis or marijuana plants in your rental. Your lease may likewise prohibit smoking, including cigarette smoking marijuana.
  
  The new Vermont law does not change the terms of your lease. The new law does not alter the program guidelines for tenants with federal rental help. If you are unsure, examine your lease or program guidelines or talk with your property manager or housing authority. You can also call us for aid. Your details will be sent to Legal Services Vermont, which screens demands for aid for both Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont.
  
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