All contracts between a landlord and an occupant are “rental contracts” according to Vermont’s Residential Rental Agreements Act (RRAA). 9 V.S.A. § 4451( 8 ). The rental contract does not need to remain in composing. You and the proprietor have all the rights and obligations in the law despite the fact that there is no written agreement. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.

The RRAA requires that the responsibilities and rights of property managers and tenants in the law are implied (made a part of) all rental agreements. Which ones are suggested in all rental arrangements? See this list of rights and tasks of tenants and property owners. For additional information on these rights and tasks, visit our Rights and Duties Explained page.

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

The RRAA safeguards you and needs you to do (or not do) some things. It also secures property owners and needs them to do (or not do) some things. The law is the same if you have a composed or verbal rental agreement. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.

Any part of a rental contract that tries to get around the RRAA isn’t legal. 9 V.S.A. § 4454. See the list of rights and tasks in the RRAA for what need to be in a rental arrangement.

The RRAA never ever uses the word “lease.” Calling a domestic rental agreement a “lease” does not have any special legal meaning 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 use the word “lease.”

Rental contracts can be for a time period that is defined in the rental contract. For instance, the contract could be six months or a year. During that time, all of the terms (including the amount of rent) of the occupancy remain the very same. Or a rental contract can be “month-to-month.” This indicates the length of the tenancy or the amount of lease can be altered as long as you get the notification needed by the RRAA.

As far as rental arrangements go, calling it a lease does not guarantee that the terms can’t be changed for a year. If you desire the occupancy to be for a particular time period, you have to get the landlord to concur.

All of the rights and obligations of the RRAA are part of the contract even without being written down. 9 V.S.A. § 4453. Any additional terms may not be enforceable unless you and the proprietor have discussed them and agreed - and then only as long as the RRAA does not prohibit the agreement. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.

If you have just a spoken arrangement, you might “agree” to something without understanding you have concurred. For example, if you agree to no holes in the walls thinking that does not keep you from hanging pictures, the proprietor might charge you for repairing the holes from hanging your images.

When you are deciding to lease an apartment, you require to pay attention to what the property manager says.

Because the RRAA sets out many rights and tasks of renters and property owners, and because written rental agreements can’t alter what remains in the RRAA, a written rental arrangement tends to have more benefits for property managers than for renters.

Advantages for a property manager:

- The property owner could reduce the time length of advance notification required to end the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4467( c), (e).

• The landlord might make the time length of advance notice you need to give the landlord when you want to leave longer. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d).
• A composed rental contract could require you to pay your proprietor’s attorney’s costs if an attorney is used to implement any part of the agreement or to evict you. (Note: If you harm the unit or disrupt your neighbors and your property manager evicts you since of it, the RRAA makes you accountable for the property owner’s lawyer’s charges. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( e).).
• A composed rental arrangement can name the people who can reside in the unit, and keep you from letting somebody move in. - Note: It would be discrimination for a property owner to evict you for having a baby. 9 V.S.A. § 4503( a).
• A property owner can keep you from subleasing the location you rent, 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ), and can kick out the individual who subleases your location in an “expedited hearing.” Expedited methods quicker than typical. 12 V.S.A. § 4853b.
  
  A written rental contract may assist you as a renter due to the fact that:
  
  - It might ensure that the lease will not alter until a certain date.
• It can limit the amount your lease can .
• It can state the length of time you can live there.
• If it isn’t written in the arrangement, the proprietor can’t state you agreed to it. Verbal contracts outside the composed contract may not be enforceable. For example, a written arrangement can say who should spend for heating fuel or electrical power.
  
  Generally, a property owner can not charge late costs.
  
  A late fee is legal only if:
  
  - The rental arrangement says a late fee will be charged for late rent, and
  
  - The charge is just the reasonable expense to the proprietor due to the fact that of the late payment. See Highgate Associates, Ltd. v. Merryfield, 157 Vt. 313 (1991 ). Reasonable costs to the proprietor indicates the landlord’s actual extra cost since of late lease, like additional expense in keeping the books, driving over to you, making telephone call, or composing you letters.
  
  A late fee is not legal when:
  
  - A flat charge of a certain quantity of cash if lease is paid after the rent day is usually not the property owner’s reasonable cost, and so is unlawful.
• Your property manager can not provide you a rent “discount” for paying by a specific date. In one case, the Windham Superior Court held that rewards for early payments are the very same as penalties and thus, they are not lawfully valid. See Shapiro v. Cormier, Docket No. 220-5-12 Wmcv (Windham Super. Ct., Aug. 22, 2012). (If you require an available variation of this PDF document, we will offer it on your request. Please use our website feedback kind to do so.)
  
  A rental agreement can consist of these terms:
  
  - Only the individuals called in the composed rental contract (and their minor kids, even if they arrive later on) can live in the rental unit.
• Subleasing is allowed or not allowed. 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ).
• Smoking is not allowed.
• Pets are not permitted. But, if you need an animal since of your disability, see our Reasonable Accommodations page.
• A description of what spaces (home, other locations) are included.
• Rules about using typical areas.
• Who is accountable for paying energy bills.
• The obligation to pay a set amount of lease, for a set time period, even if the renter chooses to vacate early. (The property owner has a task to re-rent the location as soon as possible, however the occupant may owe lease till another person rents it.)
  
  You can accept a modification however you do not need to.
  
  If you or the property manager wishes to alter a term or condition in your rental arrangement, you can ask each other to agree. You or the property owner can’t alter the rights and obligations in the RRAA, however other parts of rental contracts can be altered. If the rental arrangement is in writing, modifications must remain in writing.
  
  Generally for things like pets, improvements (refurnishing or updating home appliances or components) if one person asks, and the other agrees, then that regard to the rental agreement is changed. But if the landlord desires something, and you do not want it, then you can disagree.
  
  The examples below assume that the unit is in excellent repair work, and not being harmed by the tenant:
  
  - Two months after you move in the property manager says, “I desire to get the tub and put in a shower.” You say, “No, I like the bathtub.” The tub becomes part of what you consented to lease, and you do not accept change it. Landlord can’t remodel the bathroom.
• Or, landlord states, “I am changing my mind. You can’t have an animal.” You do not need to concur to get rid of your family pet.
• Or you say, “I don’t like the gas stove in the apartment. I want an electric range.” Landlord doesn’t need to concur to a new range.
  
  Note: There is a distinction in between agreements to change something and repair work required by law. The RRAA does not allow you or your pet to trigger damage, 9 V.S.A. § 4456( a), ©, and the RRAA needs the proprietor to keep the unit safe and clean, 9 V.S.A. § 4458. See our page about Repair Problems and Tenant’s Right to Repair.
  
  You or the property manager might wish to end the tenancy if one of you desires a change and the other doesn’t. If your rental arrangement is not for a specific time period, either of you could give advance notification to end the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d), 9 V.S.A § 4467( c)( e).
  
  Staying longer than a composed arrangement
  
  Do you have a written rental agreement that says the rental contract was for a particular time period, for instance January 1 - December 31? If that time has ended, you may question if there is still a composed rental agreement, or is there no composed rental agreement?
  
  It depends upon what the composed contract states. If it specifies the dates and does not more address what happens when it ends, the composed arrangement ends, but the occupancy does not. That is due to the fact that when you relocate with the contract of a landlord, the property manager needs to send out a notice to end the tenancy, even if there is a written rental arrangement which ends. In other words, the expiration of the agreement is not sufficient notice to end an occupancy.
  
  A composed rental arrangement that expires on a specific date might include a provision that specifies the length of the tenancy after that date has passed. It might say, for instance, the occupancy continues from month to month. Or it might state if you don’t leave, the tenancy continues for another year.
  
  Whatever it says, if the property manager desires you out, they have to offer you a termination notice required by the tenancy you have.
  
  Find out more on our Rent Increases page.
  
  A Vermont law that worked on July 1, 2018, legislated ownership of approximately an ounce of cannabis and 2 fully grown and 4 immature plants. If you are a renter, or if you have a rental subsidy from a housing authority, or if you have some other type of federally assisted rental subsidy, take care. Your lease and program guidelines might still make it an offense of the guidelines for you to have cannabis or cannabis plants in your rental. Your lease might likewise prohibit smoking cigarettes, consisting of smoking marijuana.
  
  The new Vermont law does not change the regards to your lease. The brand-new law does not change the program guidelines for occupants with federal rental support. If you are unsure, examine your lease or program rules or talk with your property manager or housing authority. You can also call us for aid. Your info will be sent to Legal Services Vermont, which evaluates requests for help for both Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont.
  
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