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All contracts between a proprietor and an occupant are "rental contracts" according to Vermont's Residential Rental Agreements Act (RRAA). 9 V.S.A. § 4451( 8 ). The rental agreement does not need to remain in composing. You and the proprietor have all the rights and obligations in the law even though there is no written arrangement. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.

The RRAA needs that the duties and rights of landlords and occupants in the law are indicated (made a part of) all rental arrangements. Which ones are implied in all rental contracts? See this list of rights and duties of occupants and landlords. To learn more on these rights and responsibilities, visit our Rights and Duties Explained page.

All of the agreements made by you and the property manager or implied by the RRAA are called the "terms" of the occupancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.

The RRAA secures you and requires you to do (or not do) some things. It likewise protects proprietors and requires them to do (or not do) some things. The law is the same if you have actually a composed or verbal rental contract. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.

Any part of a rental contract that tries to navigate the RRAA isn't legal. 9 V.S.A. § 4454. See the list of rights and responsibilities in the RRAA for what need to remain in a rental contract.

The RRAA never uses the word "lease." Calling a domestic rental contract a "lease" does not have any unique legal significance in Vermont. Other statutes (12 V.S.A. § 4851( ejectment), 10 V.S.A. § 6201( 5 )( mobile home parks)), the courts, subsidized housing proprietors and housing authorities do utilize the word "lease."

Rental arrangements can be for a period of time that is specified in the rental contract. For instance, the agreement could be 6 months or a year. During that time, all of the terms (consisting of the quantity of rent) of the tenancy remain the very same. Or a rental contract can be "month-to-month." This implies the length of the occupancy or the quantity of lease can be altered as long as you get the notification required by the RRAA.

As far as rental agreements go, calling it a lease does not ensure that the terms can't be altered for a year. If you desire the tenancy to be for a particular time period, you need to get the proprietor to agree.

All of the rights and commitments of the RRAA belong to the agreement even without being jotted down. 9 V.S.A. § 4453. Any additional terms may not be enforceable unless you and the property manager have actually discussed them and concurred - and then just as long as the RRAA does not forbid the agreement. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.

If you have only a spoken arrangement, you might "agree" to something without recognizing you have agreed. For example, if you consent to no holes in the walls believing that does not keep you from hanging images, the property owner might charge you for fixing the holes from hanging your pictures.

When you are choosing to rent an apartment or condo, you require to pay attention to what the property owner states.

Because the RRAA sets out numerous rights and responsibilities of renters and landlords, and since written rental agreements can't alter what remains in the RRAA, a composed rental agreement tends to have more benefits for landlords than for renters.

Advantages for a proprietor:

- The proprietor might shorten the time length of advance notice required to end the occupancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4467( c), (e).

• The landlord might make the time length of advance notice you require to offer the property owner when you want to vacate longer. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d).
• A written rental agreement might need you to pay your property owner's lawyer's fees if a legal representative is utilized to impose any part of the contract or to evict you. (Note: If you harm the system or disrupt your neighbors and your landlord evicts you since of it, the RRAA makes you responsible for the property owner's attorney's charges. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( e).).
• A composed rental contract can call individuals who can live in the unit, and keep you from letting someone relocation in. - Note: It would be discrimination for a landlord to evict you for having an infant. 9 V.S.A. § 4503( a).
• A property owner can keep you from subleasing the place you lease, 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ), and can force out the person who subleases your location in an "expedited hearing." Expedited means faster than typical. 12 V.S.A. § 4853b.
  
  A composed rental arrangement may assist you as an occupant since:
  
  - It may that the rent will not change until a particular date.
• It can restrict the quantity your lease can go up.
• It can state the length of time you can live there.
• If it isn't written in the contract, the proprietor can't state you concurred to it. Verbal contracts outside the composed contract may not be enforceable. For instance, a written agreement can state who must spend for heating fuel or electrical power.
  
  Generally, a property manager can not charge late charges.
  
  A late charge is legal just if:
  
  - The rental agreement states a late fee will be charged for late rent, and
  
  - The charge is only the reasonable cost to the landlord because of the late payment. See Highgate Associates, Ltd. v. Merryfield, 157 Vt. 313 (1991 ). Reasonable costs to the property owner implies the property owner's real additional cost because of late lease, like additional cost in keeping the books, driving over to you, making call, or writing you letters.
  
  A late charge is illegal when:
  
  - A flat charge of a certain amount of cash if lease is paid after the rent day is typically not the proprietor's affordable cost, and so is prohibited.
• Your property manager can not provide you a rent "discount rate" for paying by a particular date. In one case, the Windham Superior Court held that rewards for early payments are the exact same as charges and hence, they are not legally legitimate. See Shapiro v. Cormier, Docket No. 220-5-12 Wmcv (Windham Super. Ct., Aug. 22, 2012). (If you require an accessible variation of this PDF file, we will offer it on your demand. Please utilize our site feedback kind to do so.)
  
  A rental agreement can consist of these terms:
  
  - Only the people called in the written rental arrangement (and their small kids, even if they get here later on) can live in the rental.
• Subleasing is allowed or not allowed. 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ).
• Smoking is not enabled.
• Pets are not allowed. But, if you require an animal since of your special needs, see our Reasonable Accommodations page.
• A description of what areas (living area, other locations) are included.
• Rules about using typical areas.
• Who is accountable for paying energy bills.
• The responsibility to pay a set amount of lease, for a set duration of time, even if the occupant decides to vacate early. (The property manager has a responsibility to re-rent the place as soon as possible, however the occupant may owe rent until someone else leases it.)
  
  You can accept a change however you don't have to.
  
  If you or the landlord wishes to change a term or condition in your rental contract, you can ask each other to agree. You or the property owner can't alter the rights and commitments in the RRAA, however other parts of rental arrangements can be altered. If the rental arrangement remains in composing, modifications should remain in composing.
  
  Generally for things like family pets, enhancements (remodeling or upgrading appliances or components) if a single person asks, and the other agrees, then that term of the rental arrangement is changed. But if the landlord desires something, and you do not desire it, then you can disagree.
  
  The examples listed below presume that the unit is in excellent repair, and not being harmed by the occupant:
  
  - Two months after you move in the proprietor says, "I wish to take out the bathtub and put in a shower." You say, "No, I like the bathtub." The bath tub becomes part of what you accepted lease, and you do not accept alter it. Landlord can't refurbish the bathroom.
• Or, landlord says, "I am altering my mind. You can't have a pet." You don't have to agree to get rid of your animal.
• Or you say, "I do not like the gas range in the house. I want an electrical stove." Landlord doesn't have to agree to a brand-new range.
  
  Note: There is a difference in between agreements to alter something and repair work required by law. The RRAA does not permit you or your pet to trigger damage, 9 V.S.A. § 4456( a), (c), and the RRAA needs the property manager to keep the unit safe and tidy, 9 V.S.A. § 4458. See our page about Repair Problems and Tenant's Right to Repair.
  
  You or the property owner might wish to end the occupancy if among you wants a modification and the other doesn't. If your rental agreement is not for a particular time period, either of you might offer advance notice to end the occupancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d), 9 V.S.A § 4467( c)( e).
  
  Staying longer than a composed agreement
  
  Do you have a composed rental agreement that states the rental agreement was for a certain amount of time, for example January 1 - December 31? If that time has expired, you may wonder if there is still a composed rental contract, or exists no written rental contract?
  
  It depends upon what the composed agreement states. If it states the dates and does not more address what occurs when it ends, the written contract ends, but the tenancy does not. That is since when you relocate with the contract of a property owner, the landlord needs to send out a notice to end the occupancy, even if there is a composed rental arrangement which ends. Simply put, the expiration of the arrangement is not adequate notice to end an occupancy.
  
  A written rental contract that expires on a particular date could include a provision that specifies the length of the tenancy after that date has actually passed. It might say, for instance, the occupancy continues from month to month. Or it might say if you do not move out, the tenancy continues for another year.
  
  Whatever it states, if the landlord wants you out, they need to provide you a termination notice needed by the tenancy you have.
  
  Discover more on our Rent Increases page.
  
  A Vermont law that took impact on July 1, 2018, legalized possession of as much as an ounce of cannabis and 2 mature and four immature plants. If you are a tenant, or if you have a rental aid from a housing authority, or if you have some other kind of federally helped rental aid, take care. Your lease and program guidelines may still make it an offense of the guidelines for you to have marijuana or cannabis plants in your rental system. Your lease may also prohibit smoking, including smoking cigarettes marijuana.
  
  The brand-new Vermont law does not change the terms of your lease. The brand-new law does not alter the program guidelines for renters with federal rental help. If you are uncertain, inspect your lease or program guidelines or speak with your proprietor or housing authority. You can likewise contact us for help. Your information will be sent out to Legal Services Vermont, which screens requests for aid for both Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont.
  
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