As a landlord, my lease is perhaps the most important document I use. It is the legal agreement between me and my tenant. An attachment to that lease, and therefore a part of that legal agreement is a set of house rules. The house rules are just what you think they are. Rules you will live by while you live in our house.
Basic House Rules
Some of the house rules are pretty basic. Things you would expect to find. Such as:
- No illegal drugs
- Keep your unit clean
- Take the trash out regularly
- The lockout procedure
- Notifying us if you plan to be away for longer than two weeks.
Some Basic House Rules That You Need To Spell Out
With some of the house rules, I am amazed that there has to be a rule. You would think this stuff would be common sense, but oh no, you need to spell it out for some. Things like:
- Every month you will pay your rent first, then utilities, then other bills.
- Even if bad things happen to you or your roommates, your rent is still due on the first of every month.
- You are responsible for getting your rent to me on time.
- You must lock your doors to prevent crime.
- We are not responsible for utility outage due to storms.
Rules We Added Over The Years
When we first started out in this business, we had developed what we thought was a pretty good set of house rules. Boy, were we mistaken. It seems like every year we have to add a new clause or rule because we have experienced something new and unexpected. Who would have thought that we would have to add rules like:
- Don’t put things down the drains – any drain!
- No couch surfing – look up couchsurfing.com
- No candles inside. …read more