We prepare the lease, have the tenants sign it and then we countersign it. Until all parties sign a lease, have received an executed copy and the security deposit is paid, the agreement is not legally binding.
We use a proprietary lease agreement that is a compilation of the most widely used leases in California and adapted to our specific business. Our lease is constantly being updated as new laws and regulations affect how we are able to do business. We send our lease to our attorney annually for review to be sure our lease is legal and enforceable.
We include additional lease clauses specific to our managed properties. These terms/clauses/addenda are included to assist us in managing your property to our company standard. The inclusion/addition of these help us maintain the excellent track record of low late payments, evictions, maintenance costs and several other key performance factors.
Once the lease is executed, we collect all the funds included in the lease due at the time of execution.
If the tenant does not provide us notice to end the lease, we will coordinate a lease renewal. We always attempt to increase the rent if the market will support it. If the tenant does not agree to a rental increase we discuss the option to remain in the property at the same rate for another term. This is a cost benefit decision we make for you. If the tenant does agree to renew the lease we will draft an addendum to the current lease with the new terms.
If a tenant decides not to renew the lease, we will let you know and begin marketing the property for rent. Before we begin marketing the property for rent we review the condition of the property and provide you a list of any needed repairs or improvements in order to successfully lease the property to a new tenant. We normally start marketing 15 to 30 days before the tenants move out.
If the tenants provide us notice to terminate the lease early. We will notify you and make the necessary arrangements to market the property for rent to secure a new lease as close to the tenant’s termination date as possible.
There are specific terms for a tenant who terminates their lease early. They are required to continue to pay the rent for as long as it takes to find a new tenant under the same terms. We make every effort to re-rent the property quickly to minimize costs for everyone.
If a tenant does not want to enter into a lease extension, we will allow the tenants to stay on a month-to-month basis. The rent increase will typically be higher for a month-to-month than it would for a lease extension. We do not want to lose tenants and create vacancy so we attempt to be flexible and allow a tenant to live in the home under the terms they are most comfortable.
