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Lease Addendum Template
What Is a Lease Addendum?
A Lease Addendum is a document that is added to a Lease Agreement in order to outline certain rules, which are not covered by the original contract. There are no real restrictions for the subject of a Lease Addendum and a landlord is entitled to create any add-on to an agreement that they deem necessary. Some other popular addendum types are:
Every Addendum to Lease Agreement (along with the Lease Agreement itself) forms the whole agreement which must be signed by the landlord and the tenant. Every addendum is as important as the Lease Agreement itself because it outlines the rules that the landlord wants the tenant to follow in their rental.
In case you are inexperienced in writing addendums, you can download our Lease Addendum template that will give you a basic you can use to make your own document.
Do I Have to Sign a Lease Addendum?
A Lease Addendum may be required when a landlord allows the following things:
- Subleasing.
- Purchase of leased property.
- Landscaping and renovation.
- Pets.
- Guests and roommates.
- Smoking.
- Lease extension.
The main benefit of an Addendum to Lease is that it allows keeping the terms in your Lease Agreement unchanged for every new tenant. If the tenant has some special needs which are not covered by the original agreement, you can always cover them with an add-on to supplement the lease.
An Addendum may not be necessary when the Lease Agreement:
- Contains a "Not Pets" clause;
- Allows no subleasing;
- Allows no landscaping and renovation;
- Does not allow extra roommates;
- Prohibits smoking on the leased premises and lease-common areas.
How to Write an Addendum to a Lease?
Before beginning to write an Addendum to a Lease, make sure that your Lease Agreement has a provision allowing the attachment you need. If there is no such provision - add it, because, without it, your Lease Addendum will have no legal power.
When writing this, you should not start from scratch unless you have experience as a lawyer or have some kind of legal education. Instead, you had better use a template, which will save you time and effort. You also might employ the services of a transactional lawyer qualified to write and execute lease agreements and make the legal framework for an add-on.
If you have decided to go about this process yourself, here are several things a standard Addendum to Lease must include:
- Correct title (Pet Addendum, Mold Addendum, etc.);
- Effective date;
- Lease address;
- Landlord's and tenant's names;
- Landlord's and tenant's signatures.
Make sure you use clear language in your attachment that is consistent with the language of the original Lease Agreement so that the two documents look connected. Also, check to make sure that your addendum add-on is not violating any landlord-tenant laws. Such violations may nullify certain provisions or the whole agreement entirely.
Related Forms and Templates:
Download Lease Addendum Template
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