Difference between revisions of "Everything About Rental Agreements"

Latest revision as of 10:39, 29 November 2025

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


The RRAA requires that the tasks and rights of property managers and occupants in the law are suggested (made a part of) all rental arrangements. Which ones are indicated in all rental arrangements? See this list of rights and responsibilities of renters and proprietors. For more details on these rights and responsibilities, 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 occupancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.


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


Any part of a rental arrangement that tries to get around 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 uses the word "lease." Calling a residential rental arrangement 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 landlords and housing authorities do use the word "lease."


Rental arrangements can be for an amount of time that is defined in the rental contract. For example, the arrangement might be six months or a year. During that time, all of the terms (consisting of the amount of rent) of the occupancy stay the exact same. Or a rental contract can be "month-to-month." This means the length of the or the amount of rent can be changed as long as you get the notice needed by the RRAA.


As far as rental agreements go, calling it a lease does not ensure that the terms can't be altered for a year. If you desire the occupancy to be for a specific amount of time, you need to get the property owner to agree.


All of the rights and obligations of the RRAA belong to the contract even without being composed down. 9 V.S.A. § 4453. Any extra terms might not be enforceable unless you and the proprietor have talked about them and agreed - and after that just as long as the RRAA does not forbid the contract. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.


If you have just a verbal arrangement, you might "agree" to something without recognizing you have actually concurred. For example, if you agree to no holes in the walls believing that does not keep you from hanging photos, the landlord might charge you for fixing the holes from hanging your pictures.


When you are deciding to lease an apartment, you require to pay close attention to what the property owner says.


Because the RRAA sets out many rights and tasks of occupants and proprietors, and since composed rental contracts can't alter what is in the RRAA, a composed rental agreement tends to have more benefits for property managers than for occupants.


Advantages for a landlord:


- The property owner could reduce the time length of advance notice required to end the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4467( c), (e).
- The landlord could make the time length of advance notification you require to offer the landlord when you desire to leave longer. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d).
- A composed rental agreement could require you to pay your property owner's attorney's fees if a lawyer is utilized to impose any part of the contract or to evict you. (Note: If you harm the system or disrupt your next-door neighbors and your landlord evicts you because of it, the RRAA makes you accountable for the property manager's attorney's fees. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( e).).
- A composed rental arrangement can name individuals who can reside in the unit, and keep you from letting someone relocation in. - Note: It would be discrimination for a landlord to evict you for having a baby. 9 V.S.A. § 4503( a).
- A property manager can keep you from subleasing the location you lease, 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ), and can force out the individual who subleases your place in an "expedited hearing." Expedited methods much faster than usual. 12 V.S.A. § 4853b.


A composed rental contract might assist you as a tenant due to the fact that:


- It may ensure that the rent won't change up until a certain date.
- It can limit the quantity your rent can increase.
- It can say the length of time you can live there.
- If it isn't written in the contract, the landlord can't state you consented to it. Verbal contracts outside the written agreement might not be enforceable. For example, a written contract can state who should spend for heating fuel or electrical power.


Generally, a landlord can not charge late costs.


A late cost is legal just if:


- The rental agreement states a late fee will be charged for late lease, and


- The charge is just the reasonable cost to the property manager due to the fact that of the late payment. See Highgate Associates, Ltd. v. Merryfield, 157 Vt. 313 (1991 ). Reasonable costs to the proprietor means the property manager's actual extra cost because of late lease, like additional expense in keeping the books, driving over to you, making phone calls, or composing you letters.


A late cost is not legal when:


- A flat charge of a particular quantity of cash if rent is paid after the rent day is normally not the proprietor's reasonable expense, therefore is unlawful.
- Your property manager can not offer you a lease "discount rate" for paying by a specific date. In one case, the Windham Superior Court held that incentives for early payments are the very same as charges and therefore, they are not legally 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 offer it on your demand. Please use our website feedback form to do so.)


A rental contract can include these terms:


- Only individuals named in the composed rental arrangement (and their small children, even if they show up later on) can live in the rental system.
- Subleasing is allowed or not permitted. 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ).
- Smoking is not allowed.
- Pets are not permitted. But, if you need an animal due to the fact that of your special needs, see our Reasonable Accommodations page.
- A description of what spaces (home, other areas) are consisted of.
- Rules about using typical areas.
- Who is accountable for paying energy bills.
- The responsibility to pay a set amount of lease, for a set time period, even if the occupant decides to leave early. (The proprietor has a duty to re-rent the location as quickly as possible, but the renter might owe rent until another person leases it.)


You can consent to a modification however you do not have to.


If you or the property owner wishes to alter a term or condition in your rental agreement, you can ask each other to concur. You or the property manager can't change the rights and obligations in the RRAA, however other parts of rental contracts can be changed. If the rental contract remains in writing, modifications need to remain in composing.


Generally for things like pets, improvements (remodeling or upgrading devices or fixtures) if a single person asks, and the other agrees, then that regard to the rental agreement is altered. But if the property manager wants something, and you don't desire it, then you can disagree.


The examples listed below assume that the system is in excellent repair, and not being damaged by the renter:


- Two months after you relocate the landlord states, "I desire to take out the tub and put in a shower." You say, "No, I like the bath tub." The bath tub belongs to what you concurred to lease, and you don't accept change it. Landlord can't refurbish the bathroom.
- Or, proprietor says, "I am altering my mind. You can't have an animal." You don't have to consent to get rid of your family pet.
- Or you state, "I don't like the gas stove in the house. I desire an electric stove." Landlord doesn't need to accept a brand-new range.


Note: There is a distinction in between agreements to alter something and repair work required by law. The RRAA does not enable you or your pet to trigger damage, 9 V.S.A. § 4456( a), (c), and the RRAA needs the property owner to keep the unit safe and clean, 9 V.S.A. § 4458. See our page about Repair Problems and Tenant's Right to Repair.


You or the property manager may want to end the occupancy if one of you wants a modification and the other doesn't. If your rental agreement is not for a certain time period, either of you could offer advance notice to end the occupancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d), 9 V.S.A § 4467( c)( e).


Staying longer than a composed arrangement


Do you have a written rental arrangement that states the rental agreement was for a certain period of time, for instance January 1 - December 31? If that time has expired, you may wonder if there is still a written rental agreement, or exists no composed rental agreement?


It depends upon what the composed arrangement says. If it states the dates and does not additional address what occurs when it expires, the written contract ends, however the occupancy does not. That is because when you move in with the contract of a property owner, the proprietor must send a notice to end the occupancy, even if there is a written rental agreement which ends. To put it simply, the expiration of the contract is not sufficient notice to end a tenancy.


A composed rental arrangement that ends on a specific date could include a clause that defines the length of the occupancy after that date has passed. It might state, for instance, the occupancy continues from month to month. Or it might state if you do not leave, the tenancy continues for another year.


Whatever it states, if the property manager desires you out, they have to give you a termination notice needed by the tenancy you have.


Find out more on our Rent Increases page.


A Vermont law that took result on July 1, 2018, legalized possession of up to an ounce of cannabis and 2 fully grown and four immature plants. If you are an occupant, or if you have a rental aid from a housing authority, or if you have some other type of federally assisted rental subsidy, be mindful. Your lease and program guidelines may still make it an infraction of the rules for you to have marijuana or cannabis plants in your rental. Your lease may likewise ban smoking cigarettes, consisting of smoking cigarettes cannabis.


The brand-new Vermont law does not alter the regards to your lease. The brand-new law does not alter the program guidelines for renters with federal rental assistance. If you are uncertain, check your lease or program rules or speak with your property manager or housing authority. You can also contact us for help. Your details will be sent out to Legal Services Vermont, which evaluates requests for aid for both Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont.


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Housing.
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Disability Discrimination.
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Reasonable Accommodations and Modifications



Assistance Animals


Mortgages and Residential Or Commercial Property Taxes After a Catastrophe



COVID-19 Crisis, Mortgages and Foreclosures



Foreclosure Process



Foreclosure Mediation



Special Loans and Situations



Mortgage and Foreclosure Form Letters



More Help




Renter Rights After a Catastrophe



Vermont Law on Renting: The RRAA



What to Know Before You Rent



Everything About Rental Agreements



Rights and Duties Explained



Rent Increases



Bedbugs



Repair Problems



Guests, Roommates & Trespassers



Can the Landlord Enter My Unit?



Lockouts, Utility Shutoffs & Your Belongings



Housing Protections for Victims



Leaving



Down payment



Evictions



Notice to Terminate Tenancy



Court Process: General



Court Process: Eviction



Court Process: Suing Landlord



Court Process: Small Claims



Abandoned Rental or Residential Or Commercial Property



Rights of Tenants When a Property Owner remains in Foreclosure



Renter Credit/ Rebate



Subsidized Housing/ Subsidies




Health and Safety



Mobile Home Park Leases



Lot Rent Increases



Mobile Home Park Evictions



Selling Your Mobile Home



Abandoned Mobile Homes



When a Park is Sold or Closes


Links to Vermont law


V.S.A. suggests Vermont Statutes Annotated. The number before V.S.A. is the title number. The number after § is the area number. You can utilize these links to look up Vermont laws mentioned on this page:


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