Understand your rental agreement
The lease is the document that will materialize your entire tenure of a dwelling. This legal document, also known as the rental lease, contains a set of clauses and articles that govern the relationship between the landlord, also called the landlord, and the tenant, also called the lessee. This article introduces you to everything you need to know about the lease to be able to revise certain unfair terms if necessary.
The duration of a lease
A rental lease must specify a specific period that will define your tenure of the dwelling concerned. The duration of a lease is predetermined according to the type of lease signed. Indeed, in the case of bare rental, that is to say without furniture, the duration of a contract is freely fixed and can also be indeterminate. This term of the lease must be indicated in the contract.
With regard to so-called "furnished" rental, the principle of fixing duration is the same as for a bare rental. The right to lease the furnished is the same as that of the empty housing and meets the same articles of law.
What are the mandatory details of a lease?
The rental agreement is strictly regulated by law and some mentions are obligatory under penalty of nullity of the legal act, while others are considered unfair terms and can not be taken into consideration. First, the rental lease must include all notions relating to the identity of the lessor and the lessee (names and addresses). The contract must also stipulate the essential information to designate the rented property. In addition, the rental lease must mention essential elements such as the monthly rent attached to the housing, as well as its annual revisions. Similarly, the amount of the deposit as well as the final use of the property between professional, personal or mixed use must be mentioned. Lastly, the duration of the lease must be expressly specified, as must the terms and conditions related to the notice, its duration and its specificity.
A rental lease may contain in certain cases unfair terms that have absolutely no legal value. For example, it is possible to denounce a clause specifying that the rent can be deducted directly from your salary or to notify conditions related to religious, political or trade union convictions. These clauses must be simply ignored or denounced, as the clauses of any lease must respect the tenant's fundamental rights.
Under what conditions break a lease?
Even if a term is attached to a lease, it is of course possible to terminate this contract before the end under specific conditions. These conditions will be specified in a section of the lease which will be called "notice". In this article, you will find the terms and conditions that will allow you to report to your owner your decision to leave the house. From the moment you send a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt to your landlord stating your desire to leave your home, you will be required to respect a period of notice. The duration to be respected is mentioned in the lease and generally gives the number of months during which the payment of the rent will remain at your expense.
For its part, the owner can not break the lease until the expiration of it and only by respecting a specific notice. In addition, the owner can only break the lease in specific cases such as the vacant sale of housing (respecting the right of first refusal of the tenant) or recovery for housing. The landlord will also have the right to terminate the lease in the event of non-compliance with the commitments provided for in the latter and in accordance with a procedure clearly stated and signed by both parties when drafting the lease.