The Lease

Once you have accepted an apartment you will generally be required to sign a lease and pay a deposit.
A lease or rental agreement sets out the rules landlords and tenants agree to follow in their rental relationship. It is a legal contract as well as a practical document full of crucial business details, such as how long the tenant can occupy the property and the amount of rent due each month. Whether the lease or rental agreement is as short as one page or longer than five, typed or handwritten, it needs to cover the basic terms of tenancy. A lease obligates both you and the landlord for a set period of time, usually a year. The landlord cannot raise the rent or change other terms until the lease runs out, unless the lease itself provides for modifications or the tenant agrees in writing to the changes. In addition, you cannot usually be asked by the landlord to vacate unless you fail to pay the rent or violate another important term of the lease or state or local law. At the end of the lease term, you can either decline to renew it or negotiate to sign a new lease with the same or different terms.