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50+ Month-to-Month Lease Agreement Templates

Before leasing a property, it is important to contact the person in charge to understand the requirements you are supposed to meet before you are legally allowed to rent the property. In addition, before leasing a property, it is required to examine the potential tenant.

Therefore, signing a month-to-month lease agreement is crucial because it allows either the tenant or the landlord to terminate or end an occupancy at any point of the lease agreement. This article will discuss a month-to-month lease agreement, how it works, and its importance to both the tenant and the landlord.

What is a Month-to-Month Lease Agreement?

 A month-to-month lease agreement is a document signed by both the tenant and the landlord upon renting a property.

However, the lease agreement can be terminated by either the landlord or the tenant at any time within the contracted period. If the landlord or the tenant wishes to terminate the lease agreement, they must provide a 30 days’ notice. The notice should be sent through authorized mail. Additionally, the notice should meet and comply with state law.

The notice should contain relevant information about the occupancy. For example, the document should provide details about the lease agreement, the amount needed for the deposit, and the date the property will be officially occupied. After an agreement is reached between the landlord and the tenant, both parties must sign the lease agreement to make it legal.

In case the landlord wants to implement a new rule or regulation for the tenants, for instance, increasing the rent, then it is required by state law that the landlord provides a detailed notice to the tenants in advance, and vice versa. However, the tenant can accept or deny the landlord’s newly implemented rules and regulations.


Commercial

Commercial Month to Month LA

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    Standard

    Standard Month to Month LA

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      How Does it Work?

      For a landlord trying to lease out a property or a tenant wanting to rent a property every month, it is crucial to grasp and understand how a monthly rental agreement works, as discussed below:

      Post your advertisement

      Creating an advertisement for your property will help you attract potential tenants. Most properties are leased out on an annual basis. Therefore, if you advertise that you rent your property monthly, you have a high chance of getting many clients. In addition, you can post your advertisement on social media or your website. 

      Run background check

      After advertising your property, you will start attracting the attention of potential occupants. However, before leasing out your property, it is vital to do a background check on the applicant. This will help you to know who the applicant is and if they are suitable for your property. As a landlord, you need tenants who comply with your rules and regulations and take care of your property.

      Show the property

      After running a background check on your applicants, there is a possibility that they will request to see the property. Therefore, you can set a day and time when the prospective occupant will visit and check out your property. Both the landlord and the potential occupant must come prepared.

      Before showing off your property to the prospective tenant, it is essential to ensure that your property is renovated, repaired, and cleaned before meeting with the applicant. Additionally, have all the paperwork ready.

      For the tenant, it is important to prepare several questions you can ask while the landlord shows you the property. These questions should help you understand if the property you are about to rent meets all your requirements. Additionally, it would be best to have your finances ready if you want to take the property.

      Draft the agreement

      After showing off your property to the prospective tenant, you should draft an agreement or a rental application for the potential occupant. After the applicant has filled it out, the landlord will have access to all the necessary details about the applicant. This will allow the landlord to gauge and examine the risk factor of the potential occupant.

      Negotiate the contract

      After examining the applicant and seeing that they meet and satisfy all your requirements for renting, the landlord and the applicant should set a meeting to negotiate the month-to-month lease agreement.

      During the negotiations, the major areas to be discussed include:

      • Both parties should agree on a suitable date for the applicant to occupy the property.
      • The landlord and the tenant should agree on the period when notice of contract termination should be handed in. However, the time agreed should follow the state’s law.
      • The tenant pays the security amount to protect the landlord from paying for the damages caused by the occupant.
      • Both parties should agree on the amount to be paid every month.
      • The tenant will be subjected to any extra charges or penalties if they fail to pay their rent on time or violate any rule set by the landlord.
      • Utility expenses should be divided between the landlord and the occupant.

      Execute the lease agreement

      After negotiating and reaching an agreement, the landlord and the tenant must fill out the lease agreement to make the process legal.

      Before signing the month-to-month lease agreement, the landlord should first provide two essential forms:

      • Move-in or move-out checklist – this document highlights the property’s condition before being occupied. The same document will be used to examine the property when the occupant vacates the property.
      • Lead-based paint disclosure – this form is used to inform the new tenants of the hazards of lead paint. This form is only used for buildings put up before 1978.

      Once both parties are satisfied with the condition of the agreement, they can sign the document to make the agreement legal and official.

      Month-to-Month Lease Agreement Template

      Preparing a month-to-month lease agreement form can be hectic, especially if you have several properties renting out. This is because a lease agreement form should contain all the necessary details to avoid legal and financial issues. Therefore, if you want to create a perfect month-to-month lease agreement form, you should check and try out our lease agreement template.

      Our template will allow you to easily design a perfect lease agreement form that meets all your demands:

      Alabama Month to Month LA

      Alaska Month to Month LA

      Arizona Month to Month LA

      Arkansas Month to Month LA

      California Month to Month LA

      Colorado Month to Month LA

      Connecticut Month to Month LA

      Delaware Month to Month LA

      Florida Month to Month LA

      Georgia Month to Month LA

      Hawaii Month to Month LA

      Idaho Month to Month LA

      Illinois Month to Month LA

      Indiana Month to Month LA

      Iowa Month to Month LA

      Kansas Month to Month LA

      Kentucky Month to Month LA

      Louisiana Month to Month LA

      Maine Month to Month LA

      Maryland Month to Month LA

      Massachusetts Month to Month LA

      Michigan Month to Month LA

      Minnesota Month to Month LA

      Mississippi Month to Month LA

      Missouri Month to Month LA

      Montana Month to Month LA

      Nebraska Month to Month LA

      Nevada Month to Month LA

      New Hampshire Month to Month LA

      New Jersey Month to Month LA

      New Mexico Month to Month LA

      New York Month to Month LA

      North Carolina Month to Month LA

      North Dakota Month to Month LA

      Ohio Month to Month LA

      Oklahoma Month to Month LA

      Oregon Month to Month LA

      Pennsylvania Month to Month LA

      Rhode Island Month to Month LA

      South Carolina Month to Month LA

      South Dakota Month to Month LA

      Tennessee Month to Month LA

      Texas Month to Month LA

      Utah Month to Month LA

      Vermont Month to Month LA

      Virginia Month to Month LA

      Washington D.C. Month to Month LA

      Washington Seattle Month to Month LA

      Washington Outside Seattle Month to Month LA

      West Virginia Month to Month LA

      Wisconsin Month to Month LA

        What to Include in a Lease Agreement

        Below are details that are mandatory when creating a lease agreement form:

        Date

        The lease agreement should have the exact date the agreement was requested and officially signed by the landlord and the tenant.

        Parties

        The lease agreement form should include the full details of the landlord and the occupant. In addition, the form should have the names and contact details of the landlord leasing their property and the tenant occupying it.

        Premises

        The month-to-month lease agreement form should accurately describe the property and its location. The lease agreements should contain the property’s street address; this includes the name of the building, building number, and the state or city code in which the property is located.

        Lease term

        The lease agreement should highlight the start date on which the lease agreement will be in effect. This marks the date the tenant occupies the property they have paid for. A month-to-month lease agreement offers flexibility to both the landlord and the tenant. This is because they can quickly terminate the agreement as long as it is within the month. However, advance notice is supposed to be provided to either party before the contract termination can be approved.

        Lease payments

        The lease agreement should document and indicate the exact amount the tenant is expected to pay every month. Additionally, the lease agreement should state the due date for the tenant to make their rent payments to the landlord.

        Late charges

        If the tenant fails to make their rent payments on time, the landlord can impose a penalty in terms of late charges. However, the landlord can ignore this option and allow the tenant to pay after a certain period (grace period).

        Insufficient funds

        It is usual for occupants to pay for their rent using checks. However, if the bank denies a check submitted to the landlord, the bank will then issue a fine or penalty to the landlord. In this case, if the tenant submitted a check with insufficient funds, the landlord may make the tenant pay the penalty issued by the bank.

        Security deposit

        Security deposits are crucial to any landlord as they provide insurance for any accidental or intentional damages the occupant may cause to the building. The deposit is usually paid once during the first month before the tenant occupies the property. If at the end of the contract, there are no damages caused to the property by the tenant, the landlord is obligated by state law to return the security deposit to the tenant.

        Defaults

        A landlord can take legal action against a tenant if the tenant goes against the lease agreement. This means the landlord deems the tenant unsuitable for residing on their property. The landlord’s legal action will be collecting any money the tenant owes. However, the landlord is required by law to provide a notice to the tenant before taking further action.

        Occupants

        The lease agreement should indicate the maximum number of tenants allowed to reside within the property. It is illegal to exceed the number without the landlord’s authorization.

        Sublease option

        The lease agreement should indicate that the occupant can act as the property landlord and rent the property to a sublease tenant. This should be a separate agreement from the original agreement. The landlord must approve a sublease agreement before the tenant can proceed with subleasing.

        Utilities and services

        The lease agreement should have a list of utilities and services to be paid to keep the property in a good state. Having a list of everything the landlord will be responsible for is essential. If a utility or service has not been labeled as the landlord’s responsibility, it is assumed the tenant’s responsibility to pay for it.

        Pets

        It is crucial to note that an occupant must pay a pet deposit whether they currently own or want to keep a pet. The deposit covers all the damages the pet might cause to the property while the tenant is staying there. In addition, according to the lease agreement, an occupant cannot have any pets within the property without the landlord’s consent.

        Abandonment

        Suppose a tenant is not present on the property for a certain number of days without any communication. Additionally, if the tenant fails to clear their rent and is absent from the building for a long time, in that case, the landlord can assume that the occupant has abandoned the property.

        Governing law

        The lease agreement should indicate the state and the laws that make the lease agreement legal.

        Noise

        The lease agreement should highlight that a tenant should not intentionally or unintentionally conduct loud activities or make unreasonably loud noises within the property. The loud noise may cause discomfort or inconvenience or disturb other occupants’ rights. Therefore, the landlord should delegate a period where things like furniture can be moved in and out of the premises. This will help minimize any unnecessary noise.

        Parking

        The lease agreement should show if an occupant has permission to park or not park their vehicle on the property’s parking lot. If the tenant is allowed to park their vehicle within the property, the lease agreement form should indicate the packing spot assigned to the occupant. Additionally, the agreement should document one tenant’s maximum number of cars allowed within the property.

        Balconies

        The lease agreement form should allow the tenant to choose if they want to use their balcony or not. If they use their balcony, they should state precisely what they will use it for, for example, hanging clothes or grilling.

        Additional terms and conditions

        Suppose there are any additional terms and conditions that either the landlord or the tenant would like to add. They should be discussed between the two parties and recorded in the lease agreement form under the additional terms and conditions section.

        Authorization

        The signatures of both the landlord and the tenant will be required to authorize and authenticate the month-to-month lease agreement form. This will show that the agreement reached was mutual, and there was consent from both parties.

        How to Terminate a Month-to-Month Lease Agreement

        To terminate a month-to-month lease agreement, the landlord or the tenant should provide notice in advance to the other party. Note that both the landlord and the tenant have the legal right to terminate the lease agreement whenever they want.

        Here are several steps through which you can end a lease agreement:

        Find the original lease

        The first step of terminating a lease agreement is locating and finding the original version of the lease agreement. The original copy was the one that was signed by the landlord and the tenant right before the tenant occupied the property. The main reason for finding the original copy of the lease agreement is to identify the exact date both parties signed the agreement.

        Write the termination notice

        Write a termination letter informing the other party that you want to end the contract. However, according to state law, the termination notice should be written and presented to the other party at least 30 days in advance. Once the termination process commences, the tenant must vacate the premises within the notice period. An additional 3 -5 days will be added to allow the tenant to remove all their items from the property.

        Send the notice to the appropriate party

        Usually, the termination notice should be delivered in person or through authorized mail with a return receipt. Regardless of how the notice was delivered to the other party, the notice should contain the official signature of the sender. Once the notice has been received, the tenant can begin evacuating the premises, and the landlord can put the property back on the market and advertise it.

        Required Termination Period

        A month-to-month lease agreement is a contract between a landlord and a tenant that can be terminated at any time, either by the landlord or the occupant. It is required by state law that before termination, either the landlord or the tenant should provide a termination notice to the other party, as shown in the table below.

        The termination notice should be presented to the other party for at least 30 days. After that, the notice can be delivered in person or sent through certified mail with a return receipt.

        StatesLaws
         Alabama§ 35-9A-441
         Alaska§ 34.03.290(b)
         Arizona§ 33-1375
         Arkansas§ 18-17-704
         California§ 1946
         Colorado§ 13-40-107
         Connecticut§ 47a-23
         DelawareTitle 25 Â§  5106
         Florida§ 83.57
        Georgia§ 44-7-7
         Hawaii§ 521-71
         Idaho§ 55-208
         Illinois735 ILCS 5/9-207
         Indiana§ 32-31-1-1
         Iowa§ 562A.34
         Kansas§ 58-2570
         Kentucky§ 383.695
         LouisianaCC 2728
         MaineTitle 14 § 6002
         Maryland§ 8-402
         Massachusetts§ 186-15B
         Michigan§ 554.134
         Minnesota§ 504B.135
         Mississippi§ 89-8-19
         Missouri§ 441.060
         Montana§ 70-24-441
         Nebraska§ 76-1437(2)
         NevadaNRS 40.251
        New Hampshire§ 540:11(2)
        New Jersey§ 2A:18-56
        New Mexico§ 47-8-37
         New York§ 232-b
         North Carolina§ 42-14
         North Dakota§ 47-16-07.2
         Ohio§ 5321.17
         Oklahoma§ 41-111
         Oregon§ 91.070
        Pennsylvania§ 250.501
         Rhode Island§ 34-18-37
        South Carolina§ 27-40-770
        South Dakota§ 43-32-13
        Tennessee§ 66-28-512
         Texas§ 91.001
         Utah§ 78B-6-802
         Vermont§ 4467
         Virginia§ 55.1-1253(A)
        Washington§ 59.18.200
        Washington D.C§ 42–3505.54(a)
        West Virginia  Â§ 37-6-5
        Wisconsin   Â§ 704.19
        WyomingNo statute

        Pros and Cons

        The following advantages and disadvantages of having a month-to-month lease agreement will help you better understand the contract:

        Pros

        For landlord:

        • Easy to eliminate occupants – landlords have the power to evacuate tenants or terminate the lease agreement. However, this should be done after a notice has been presented to the tenant in advance (30 days).
        • Increase rent – a landlord can raise the property’s rent whenever they want as long as the tenant is notified of this action. The tenant may agree to this or may decide to end the contract.

        For tenant:

        • Furnished properties – tenants can spend less on buying new furniture because most buildings leased on a month-to-month basis are usually fully furnished and equipped with whatever the tenant might need.
        • No expiry date – a month-to-month lease is usually considered short-term. However, the agreement can go long, especially if both parties remain satisfied.
        • Minimal obligation – tenants who are unsure if they will stay in the same apartment for long can opt for a month-to-month lease agreement. This way, the tenant can terminate the contract and move on at any time.
        • A good roommate option – with a month-to-month lease agreement, as a tenant, you can get a roommate with whom you will share the responsibility of paying rent and taking care of the property.  

        Cons

        For landlord:

        • More vacancies – a month-to-month lease agreement, tenants have the right to end the contract at any time, which leaves the landlord with more vacant units.
        • Less tenant screening – in most cases, landlords hurry to fill up the empty units on their property. Therefore, landlords take less time to examine their potential occupants.

        For tenant:

        • Less stability – the landlord has the power to end the contract at any time. As a result, this may affect the occupancy situation of the tenant.
        • Exaggerated rent costs – the landlord can increase the rent whenever they want or add additional charges like a late rent payment.

        Frequently Asked Questions

        Can the landlord change the term/raise the rent on a month-to-month lease?

        Yes. The landlord is within their right to increase the rent or change the terms in the lease agreement form. However, this has to be done once a notice has been presented to the tenant. The tenant has the right to reject the changes and can terminate the contract. However, if the tenant accepts the landlord’s changes, the changes will be in effect in the upcoming months.

        Can an eviction occur with a month-to-month lease?

        Yes. However, according to the law, an eviction must be carried out by the landlord. For example, suppose the tenant has been presented with notice, and they have not responded. In that case, the landlord can review the landlord-tenant laws, consult the tenant, send an eviction notice, or involve the relevant authorities.

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