What's Hidden in Your Lease Is Still Your Responsibility

The Fine Print They Didn't Find

Alex thought he had done everything right. He spent nearly four hours reading his lease before signing it. He skimmed the pages about rent, looked over the pet policy, and initialed every required form. He felt confident, until a few months later when management sent an email to notify him that he had violated a lease rule. He wasn't storing boxes in the furnace closet or using the bottom drawer of his oven for pots and pans. His infraction was that he had installed dark curtains in his sliding glass door instead of white-backed window coverings. Although, this didn't seem like an obvious lease violation, it was actually in his lease. It's just that it wasn't with the larger list of Rules & Requirements, it was in the middle of a paragraph about balconies. It seemed that additional requirements were tucked inside separate disclosures and attachments as they came up and the landlord never updated the lease to organize them in an easy-to-find place. Alex hadn't ignored the lease, he simply didn't know where to look and now it will cost him a $150 fine and new curtains.

Why Important Rules Get Lost

Many renters expect leases to be organized by topic. Unfortunately, that is not how many leases are written. Most landlords start with a basic template and then add on to it as they go. Sometimes they put a rule under an existing clause, but sometimes they just add a new section. LeaseWisely has reviewed thousands of leases and knows that important information is often spread throughout agreements and reformats it for you. In one lease example, a renter looking to understand their move-out carpet-care responsibilities has to review four different sections:

• The Rental Agreement parts 5 (pg 2) and 15 (pg 5)
• The Rules and Regulations Addendum Rules #1 (pg 10) and #24 (pg 11)
• The Replacement, Repair, and Cleaning Addendum (Pg 20)
• Lease Section C: Furniture & Premises (pg24)

It's only in the middle of the last section you find this statement: "The carpet must be professionally steam cleaned. Resident must present a receipt for professional carpet cleaning upon move-out; failure to do so represents consent by Resident to have Landlord contract for professional carpet cleaning to be paid for by Resident". Imagine missing this and now you're on the hook for over $300! The rules may not be intentionally hidden, but they are definitely your responsibility.

LeaseWisely Organizes Your Lease Around How You Actually Live

LeaseWisely approaches leases differently. Instead of asking renters to remember where every rule appears, LeaseWisely "reads" the entire lease package and organizes the information into practical categories. The LeaseWisely platform acts a centralized repository of your lease information and instead of wondering, "Where did I read that?", simply search for a word like parking or insurance to immediately find the information that applies. Our search functionality connects you to the location within LeaseWisely and, also the specific citation of the lease. LeaseWisely transforms a document written for lawyers into information organized for everyday life.

The Bottom Line

Renters ignoring their lease, leases are hard to read. Unfortunately, you are still responsible for every page you sign, whether the rule appears on page two or inside a required disclosure. LeaseWisely helps ensure those details are no longer buried by organizing your lease into the information you actually need, when you need it.