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All agreements 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 be in writing. You and the proprietor have all the rights and responsibilities in the law even though there is no written arrangement. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.

The RRAA needs that the duties and rights of property owners and occupants in the law are indicated (made a part of) all rental contracts. Which ones are implied in all rental agreements? See this list of rights and tasks of renters and property owners. To learn more on these rights and duties, visit our Rights and Duties Explained page.
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All of the agreements made by you and the property owner or indicated by the RRAA are called the "terms" of the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.

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

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

The RRAA never utilizes the word "lease." Calling a property 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 property owners and housing authorities do utilize the word "lease."

Rental arrangements can be for a time period that is defined in the rental arrangement. For example, the contract could be 6 months or a year. During that time, all of the terms (including the amount of rent) of the tenancy remain the very same. Or a rental agreement can be "month-to-month." This suggests the length of the tenancy or the amount of rent can be changed as long as you get the notification required by the RRAA.

As far as rental arrangements go, calling it a lease doesn't guarantee that the terms can't be altered for a year. If you want the tenancy to be for a specific amount of time, you have to get the proprietor to concur.

All of the rights and obligations of the RRAA become part of the agreement even without being documented. 9 V.S.A. § 4453. Any additional terms may not be enforceable unless you and the landlord have actually discussed them and concurred - and then just as long as the RRAA does not prohibit the agreement. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.

If you have just a verbal agreement, you might "concur" to something without realizing you have actually agreed. For example, if you concur to no holes in the walls thinking that does not keep you from hanging photos, the property manager might charge you for fixing the holes from hanging your pictures.

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

Because the RRAA sets out lots of rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords, and due to the fact that written rental contracts can't change what is in the RRAA, a composed rental agreement tends to have more benefits for property owners than for renters.

Advantages for a proprietor:

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

• The property owner might make the time length of advance notice you need to offer the landlord when you want to move out longer. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d).
• A written rental arrangement could need you to pay your landlord's lawyer's fees if a legal representative is used to implement any part of the agreement or to evict you. (Note: If you damage the unit or disrupt your next-door neighbors and your property owner evicts you because of it, the RRAA makes you responsible for the property owner's lawyer's fees. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( e).).
• A composed rental contract can call individuals who can reside in the system, and keep you from letting someone move in. - Note: It would be discrimination for a landlord to evict you for having a baby. 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 evict the individual who subleases your place in an "expedited hearing." Expedited ways much faster than typical. 12 V.S.A. § 4853b.
  
  A written rental arrangement might help you as a tenant because:
  
  - It might ensure that the rent won't alter up until a specific date.
• It can limit the amount your lease can go up.
• It can state the length of time you can live there.
• If it isn't written in the arrangement, the proprietor can't say you accepted it. Verbal contracts outside the written agreement may not be enforceable. For instance, a written arrangement can state who need to spend for heating fuel or electricity.
  
  Generally, a landlord can not charge late charges.
  
  A late charge is legal just if:
  
  - The rental arrangement states a late fee will be charged for late rent, and
  
  - The charge is only the affordable expense to the property owner because of the late payment. See Highgate Associates, Ltd. v. Merryfield, 157 Vt. 313 (1991 ). Reasonable expenses to the property manager means the proprietor's real extra expense due to the fact that of late lease, like extra cost in keeping the books, driving over to you, making phone calls, or composing you letters.
  
  A late charge is illegal when:
  
  - A flat charge of a specific amount of cash if lease is paid after the rent day is typically not the property manager's reasonable expense, therefore is prohibited.
• Your landlord can not offer 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 same as penalties and thus, they are not legally valid. See Shapiro v. Cormier, Docket No. 220-5-12 Wmcv (Windham Super. Ct., Aug. 22, 2012). (If you require an available version of this PDF file, we will supply it on your demand. Please utilize our site feedback type to do so.)
  
  A rental contract can include these terms:
  
  - Only individuals called in the written rental agreement (and their minor children, even if they arrive later) can live in the rental.
• Subleasing is permitted or not allowed. 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ).
• Smoking is not permitted.
• Pets are not allowed. But, if you require an animal because of your special needs, see our Reasonable Accommodations page.
• A description of what spaces (living area, other areas) are consisted of.
• Rules about utilizing typical locations.
• Who is accountable for paying utility costs.
• The responsibility to pay a set quantity of lease, for a set amount of time, even if the occupant decides to vacate early. (The property owner has a task to re-rent the place as soon as possible, but the occupant might owe rent up until somebody else leases it.)
  
  You can concur to a change but you do not have to.
  
  If you or the landlord wishes to alter a term or condition in your rental arrangement, you can ask each other to concur. You or the proprietor can't alter the rights and responsibilities in the RRAA, however other parts of rental arrangements can be altered. If the rental arrangement remains in composing, changes ought to remain in writing.
  
  Generally for things like animals, enhancements (refurnishing or updating devices or fixtures) if one individual asks, and the other agrees, then that regard to the rental contract is changed. But if the proprietor wants something, and you don't want it, then you can disagree.
  
  The examples below presume that the system is in excellent repair, and not being damaged by the renter:
  
  - Two months after you relocate the property owner states, "I wish to get the bathtub and put in a shower." You state, "No, I like the tub." The bath tub becomes part of what you accepted rent, and you do not concur to alter it. Landlord can't renovate the restroom.
• Or, property owner says, "I am altering my mind. You can't have an animal." You don't have to accept eliminate your family pet.
• Or you state, "I do not like the gas stove in the house. I want an electrical range." Landlord does not need to consent to a brand-new range.
  
  Note: There is a difference between agreements to change something and repairs required by law. The RRAA does not permit you or your pet to cause 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 landlord might wish to end the tenancy if one of you desires a change and the other does not. If your rental arrangement is not for a particular time period, either of you could give advance notification to end the occupancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d), 9 V.S.A § 4467( c)( e).
  
  Staying longer than a composed arrangement
  
  Do you have a composed rental agreement that states the rental agreement was for a specific time period, for example January 1 - December 31? If that time has ended, you may wonder if there is still a written rental agreement, or is there no written rental arrangement?
  
  It depends on what the composed arrangement says. If it specifies the dates and does not additional address what takes place when it expires, the written arrangement ends, but the tenancy does not. That is because when you relocate with the agreement of a property owner, the property owner needs to send out a notice to end the tenancy, even if there is a written rental contract which ends. To put it simply, the expiration of the arrangement is not adequate notification to end an occupancy.
  
  A written that ends on a particular date might include a provision that defines the length of the occupancy after that date has passed. It might say, for example, the tenancy 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 desires you out, they have to provide you a termination notice needed by the occupancy you have.
  
  Find out more on our Rent Increases page.
  
  A Vermont law that took result on July 1, 2018, legalized possession of approximately an ounce of marijuana and 2 mature and 4 immature plants. If you are an occupant, or if you have a rental subsidy from a housing authority, or if you have some other type of federally assisted rental subsidy, beware. Your lease and program rules might still make it an offense of the guidelines for you to have marijuana or cannabis plants in your rental. Your lease may likewise prohibit cigarette smoking, consisting of cigarette smoking marijuana.
  
  The new Vermont law does not change the regards to your lease. The brand-new law does not change the program rules for occupants with federal rental assistance. If you are unsure, examine your lease or program guidelines or talk with your proprietor or housing authority. You can likewise call us for assistance. Your info will be sent out to Legal Services Vermont, which screens demands for assistance for both Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont.
  
  Print.

Housing. Discrimination/ Fair Housing. Housing Discrimination Does Happen in Vermont


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