Everything About Rental Agreements

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All arrangements between a proprietor and a tenant are "rental arrangements" according to Vermont's Residential Rental Agreements Act (RRAA). 9 V.S.A. § 4451( 8 ). The rental contract does not need to be in composing. You and the proprietor have all the rights and obligations in the law although there is no written arrangement. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.


The RRAA needs that the tasks and rights of landlords and tenants in the law are suggested (made a part of) all rental arrangements. Which ones are implied in all rental contracts? See this list of rights and duties of renters and property owners. 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 implied by the RRAA are called the "terms" of the occupancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.


The RRAA protects you and needs you to do (or not do) some things. It also secures proprietors and needs 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 attempts 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 arrangement.


The RRAA never utilizes the word "lease." Calling a property rental contract a "lease" does not have any special 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 utilize the word "lease."


Rental agreements can be for a period of time that is defined in the rental agreement. For instance, the agreement could be 6 months or a year. During that time, all of the terms (consisting of the quantity of rent) of the occupancy remain the exact same. Or a rental agreement can be "month-to-month." This means the length of the tenancy or the amount of rent can be changed as long as you get the notice needed by the RRAA.


As far as rental contracts go, calling it a lease doesn't ensure that the terms can't be changed for a year. If you want the occupancy to be for a particular duration of time, you have to get the landlord to concur.


All of the rights and obligations of the RRAA become part of the contract even without being written down. 9 V.S.A. § 4453. Any additional terms might not be enforceable unless you and the property owner have actually talked about them and agreed - and then only as long as the RRAA does not forbid the agreement. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.


If you have only a verbal contract, you may "agree" to something without realizing you have actually agreed. For instance, if you concur to 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 home, you need to pay very close attention to what the proprietor says.


Because the RRAA sets out many rights and responsibilities of renters and property managers, and due to the fact that composed rental arrangements can't change what is in the RRAA, a composed rental arrangement tends to have more advantages for landlords than for renters.


Advantages for a proprietor:


- The property owner could reduce the time length of advance notice needed to end the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4467( c), (e).
- The proprietor could make the time length of advance notification you require to offer the proprietor when you desire to move out longer. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d).
- A composed rental arrangement might need you to pay your property manager's lawyer's fees if a lawyer is used to implement any part of the contract or to evict you. (Note: If you harm the unit or disturb your next-door neighbors and your landlord evicts you since of it, the RRAA makes you responsible for the property manager's attorney's charges. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( e).).
- A composed rental contract can name the people who can live in the unit, and keep you from letting somebody move in. - Note: It would be discrimination for a landlord to evict you for having an infant. 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 kick out the person who subleases your place in an "expedited hearing." Expedited ways faster than typical. 12 V.S.A. § 4853b.


A written rental agreement may assist you as an occupant due to the fact that:


- It may guarantee that the rent will not change up until a certain date.
- It can limit the amount your rent can increase.
- It can say the length of time you can live there.
- If it isn't composed in the contract, the property manager can't state you concurred to it. Verbal agreements outside the written contract may not be enforceable. For instance, a written agreement can say who must spend for heating fuel or electrical power.


Generally, a property manager can not charge late charges.


A late cost is legal just if:


- The rental arrangement states a late charge will be charged for late lease, and


- The charge is only the sensible expense to the proprietor since of the late payment. See Highgate Associates, Ltd. v. Merryfield, 157 Vt. 313 (1991 ). Reasonable expenses to the landlord means the landlord's actual extra expenditure since of late lease, like additional expense in keeping the books, driving over to you, making telephone call, or writing you letters.


A late charge is not legal when:


- A flat charge of a certain amount of money if rent is paid after the lease day is normally not the property manager's affordable expense, therefore is illegal.
- Your property owner can not use 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 same as charges and hence, they are not lawfully valid. See Shapiro v. Cormier, Docket No. 220-5-12 Wmcv (Windham Super. Ct., Aug. 22, 2012). (If you need an accessible version of this PDF file, we will supply it on your request. Please use our website feedback kind to do so.)


A rental agreement can consist of these terms:


- Only the people called in the composed rental contract (and their minor children, even if they get here later on) can live in the rental unit.
- Subleasing is enabled or not allowed. 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ).
- Smoking is not allowed.
- Pets are not allowed. But, if you require an animal because of your disability, see our Reasonable Accommodations page.
- A description of what spaces (living space, other areas) are consisted of.
- Rules about utilizing typical areas.
- Who is accountable for paying energy bills.
- The obligation to pay a set amount of lease, for a set duration of time, even if the renter decides to leave early. (The proprietor has a duty to re-rent the location as quickly as possible, but the tenant may owe lease till somebody else rents it.)


You can concur to a modification but you don't have to.


If you or the proprietor wishes to alter a term or condition in your rental arrangement, you can ask each other to agree. You or the proprietor can't change the rights and responsibilities in the RRAA, but other parts of rental contracts can be altered. If the rental arrangement remains in composing, modifications must be in writing.


Generally for things like animals, enhancements (redecorating or upgrading appliances or components) if someone asks, and the other concurs, then that regard to the rental arrangement is changed. But if the property owner wants something, and you do not desire it, then you can disagree.


The examples below presume that the unit remains in great repair, and not being damaged by the renter:


- Two months after you relocate the property manager states, "I wish to take out the tub and put in a shower." You say, "No, I like the tub." The tub becomes part of what you agreed to rent, and you don't accept change it. Landlord can't remodel the bathroom.
- Or, proprietor says, "I am changing my mind. You can't have an animal." You do not need to accept eliminate your family pet.
- Or you state, "I don't like the gas range in the apartment or condo. I desire an electrical range." Landlord doesn't need to accept a brand-new range.


Note: There is a distinction in between arrangements to alter something and repair work required by law. The RRAA does not allow you or your family pet to cause damage, 9 V.S.A. § 4456( a), (c), and the RRAA needs the property manager to keep the unit 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 may want to end the tenancy if one of you wants a modification and the other does not. If your rental agreement is not for a specific amount of time, either of you could 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 arrangement


Do you have a written rental contract that says the rental arrangement was for a particular amount of time, for example January 1 - December 31? If that time has ended, you may wonder if there is still a written rental arrangement, or exists no composed rental arrangement?


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


A composed rental agreement that ends on a particular date could consist of a clause that defines the length of the occupancy after that date has actually passed. It could state, for instance, the occupancy continues from month to month. Or it could say if you don't move out, the tenancy continues for another year.


Whatever it states, if the property manager wants you out, they need to provide you a termination notice needed by the occupancy you have.


Learn more on our Rent Increases page.


A Vermont law that took result on July 1, 2018, legalized belongings of approximately an ounce of marijuana and two fully grown and 4 immature plants. If you are a renter, or if you have a rental aid from a housing authority, or if you have some other type of federally helped rental subsidy, beware. Your lease and program rules may still make it an offense of the rules for you to have cannabis or marijuana plants in your rental unit. Your lease may likewise ban cigarette smoking, consisting of smoking cigarettes marijuana.


The new Vermont law does not alter the terms of your lease. The brand-new law does not change the program guidelines for renters with federal rental assistance. If you are unsure, examine your lease or program rules or talk to your property manager or housing authority. You can likewise contact us for assistance. Your info will be sent to Legal Services Vermont, which screens demands for help for both Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont.


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Housing.
Discrimination/ Fair Housing.
Housing Discrimination Does Happen in Vermont



Have You Been Discriminated Against?
Disability Discrimination.
Who is Protected?



Reasonable Accommodations and Modifications



Assistance Animals


Mortgages and Residential Or Commercial Property Taxes After a Disaster



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 Disaster



Vermont Law on Renting: The RRAA



What to Know Before You Rent



All 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 Unit or Residential Or Commercial Property



Rights of Tenants When a Property Manager is 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. implies Vermont Statutes Annotated. The number before V.S.A. is the title number. The number after § is the section number. You can use these links to look up Vermont laws discussed on this page:


9 V.S.A.


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