Planning to move? Well, there comes a time when your dream of moving comes true. But this is only always possible after you have found a suitable apartment. During this time, it is usually easy for even the most cautious folks to make the wrong choices especially when it comes to signing the Rental Agreement.The urge to move into your new home can get the best of you and put you in a tough position when looking for a new apartment. The moment you sign a Rental Agreement form, you agree to a binding contract plus any financial commitments that are involved in paying its rents and deposits.
There are a lot of important things you have to look into before agreeing to sign any Rental Agreement forms and move into a new apartment. The purpose of carefully skimming through the Rental Agreement form is to ensure that you agree with all the information that guarantees your stay in your new apartment.
1.Get everything in writing
It is wise to always get all the information in your Rental Agreement right with your landlord before you sign any agreements. Have a detailed communicating with your landlord about what to include in the agreements, the amendments to make, and issues to omit. Simply put, communicating with your landlord ensures that he/she knows what you, the tenant, want to reflect in the Rental Agreement before youcommit to sign it. Your landlord might give you a form if you fall behind on rent as well as other parts of your agreement.
If your landlord, for example, promises to paint or re-carpet your new apartment before you move in, it is wise that you ask him/her to have it in writing. If not, then you have to acknowledge the fact that your landlord may refute ever saying such a thing. Legally, this will put you in a very bad position especially if you do not have this information down in your landlord-tenant agreement. Doing this helps to ensure that there is no dispute in the Rental Agreement that you and your landlord sign.
2.Agency fees
This is another factor that is usually added in most Rental Agreement forms by landlords. Most agency fees charge between £20 and £150 for each person. So, if you happen to come across an agency that charges anything above this, try and avoid it.
To know more about the agency fees that you may have to pay for your new apartment, you can always ask for a copy of the Rental Agreement form in advance. This gives you ample time to go through it and familiarize yourself with everything about it, especially any other hidden fees or agreements you may not have verbally heard of from your landlord.
3.Read the rental agreement carefully
Studies have found that only about 25% or fewer tenants actually go through their Rental Agreement forms. This is not a good number at all and is usually the source of all troubles.
For a legally binding document, you might want to go through everything in it before you commit yourself to it by signing anywhere. Your landlord will draft the document and hand it over to you. Do not be in a rush to sign it though. Make sure you go through it carefully and understand everything that it is talking about.
Some Rental Agreement forms might also contain legal jargons which can be quite confusing. This will force you to seek clarification from a party who understand what the contract is talking about.
You will notice that the Rental Agreement form usually discusses a lot more information most of which do not accurately reflect on what your landlord discussed with you. In such instances, you have the right to ask him/her to edit the document. If you can, go back and forth through the document as many times as possible until you fully comprehend what it is talking about.
4.Double check the important rental terms
After carefully going through the ready-to-sign version of your Rental Agreement form, you have to double check it once more to ensure you understand what all the important rental terms are talking about. It is crucial that you check the dates, the rent price and how your landlord expects you pay it, everything else included in the rent, whether any utilities are also included, and also the policies mentioned in the Rental Agreement form.
If you have a pet, it is also essential that you have your landlord draft a Rental Agreement form that also includes your pet. You want to understand what both you and your landlord are mutually agreeing on. You do not want a scenario where your landlord allover sudden turns on you and says that a pet of your size or breed is not allowed in the premises later on. That is what the Rental Agreement is for so make sure you exploit it fully.
5. Ensure you know answers to some key questions
Before agreeing to sign your legally binding Rental Agreement form, it is also crucial that you know the answers to any terms or policies that are not clear to you. As yourself and your landlord these questions to better understand the Rental Agreement form, you are about to sign.
- Do you need renter’s insurance?
- How is the property managed?
- Will the locks be changed?
- How can you contact your landlord for maintenance problems?
- Can you renew your terms towards the end of your rental term?
- How do you contact your landlord in case of emergencies or other problems?
These are some of the crucial questions you must have answered before agreeing to put your sign on the legally binding paper. Choosing to sign the Rental Agreement form blindly without knowing the answers to all of these questions can land you in very deep waters and troubles with your landlord no sooner than you moved in.
Final thoughts
It is true that having to go through papers of a new Rental Agreement form after you have just moved can be a lot of work. However, it is a necessary one, and if done right, can also be an exciting task especially knowing that you are moving into a new apartment.
After ensuring that all the information in your Rental Agreement form is accurate by following the processes mentioned above, you can now go ahead and sign. However, ensure you keep a digital copy of the agreement form after all the relevant parties have signed it. You will find that it is actually less hectic than it sounds.
