All agreements between a proprietor and a tenant are "rental arrangements" according to Vermont's Residential Rental Agreements Act (RRAA). 9 V.S.A. § 4451( 8 ). The rental contract does not need to remain in writing. You and the landlord have all the rights and commitments in the law despite the fact that there is no written arrangement. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.

The RRAA requires that the duties and rights of proprietors and occupants in the law are indicated (made a part of) all rental contracts. Which ones are indicated in all rental arrangements? See this list of rights and tasks of tenants and property managers. For more info on these rights and responsibilities, visit our Rights and Duties Explained page.

All of the contracts 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 safeguards you and needs you to do (or not do) some things. It also secures property managers and requires them to do (or not do) some things. The law is the very same if you have a composed or spoken rental arrangement. 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 must be in a rental arrangement.

The RRAA never ever utilizes the word "lease." Calling a domestic rental agreement 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 contracts can be for a time period that is defined in the rental arrangement. For example, the agreement might be 6 months or a year. During that time, all of the terms (including the amount of rent) of the occupancy stay the same. Or a rental agreement can be "month-to-month." This implies 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 contracts go, calling it a lease does not ensure that the terms can't be changed for a year. If you want the tenancy to be for a particular period of time, you need to get the proprietor to concur.

All of the rights and commitments of the RRAA become part of the agreement even without being jotted down. 9 V.S.A. § 4453. Any additional terms might not be enforceable unless you and the landlord have spoken about them and agreed - and after that only as long as the RRAA does not forbid the arrangement. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.

If you have just a verbal agreement, you may "agree" to something without recognizing you have concurred. For instance, if you accept no holes in the walls thinking that does not keep you from hanging photos, the proprietor may charge you for repairing the holes from hanging your pictures.

When you are deciding to rent an apartment, you need to pay attention to what the proprietor states.

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

Advantages for a property owner:

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

• The property manager might make the time length of advance notification you require to give the property owner when you wish to leave longer. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d).
• A written rental contract could require you to pay your property manager's attorney's costs if a lawyer is used to enforce any part of the arrangement or to evict you. (Note: If you damage the system or interrupt your neighbors and your landlord evicts you since of it, the RRAA makes you responsible for the property owner's attorney's costs. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( e).).
• A written rental arrangement can call the people who can live in the system, and keep you from letting someone move in. - Note: It would be discrimination for a proprietor to evict you for having an infant. 9 V.S.A. § 4503( a).
• A landlord can keep you from subleasing the place you rent, 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ), and can evict the person who subleases your location in an "expedited hearing." Expedited means quicker than usual. 12 V.S.A. § 4853b.
  
  A composed rental contract might help you as a renter because:
  
  - It may guarantee that the lease will not alter till a certain date.
• It can limit the amount your lease can increase.
• It can state the length of time you can live there.
• If it isn't written in the contract, the proprietor can't say you agreed to it. Verbal arrangements outside the written contract may not be enforceable. For example, a written arrangement can say who should 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 sensible cost 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 indicates the property owner's actual additional expenditure due to the fact that of late lease, like additional expense in keeping the books, driving over to you, making telephone call, or writing you letters.
  
  A late fee is illegal when:
  
  - A flat charge of a particular quantity of cash if lease is paid after the lease day is normally not the landlord's affordable cost, therefore is prohibited.
• Your property owner can not use you a rent "discount" for paying by a particular date. In one case, the Windham Superior Court held that incentives for early payments are the exact same as penalties and thus, they are not lawfully legitimate. See Shapiro v. Cormier, Docket No. 220-5-12 Wmcv (Windham Super. Ct., Aug. 22, 2012). (If you require an accessible version of this PDF document, we will supply it on your demand. Please use our site feedback kind to do so.)
  
  A rental contract can include these terms:
  
  - Only individuals called in the written rental agreement (and their minor kids, even if they show up later) can live in the rental system.
• Subleasing is enabled or not permitted. 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ).
• Smoking is not enabled.
• Pets are not permitted. But, if you require an animal because of your disability, see our Reasonable Accommodations page.
• A description of what areas (home, other areas) are included.
• Rules about using typical locations.
• Who is responsible for paying energy expenses.
• The obligation to pay a set quantity of lease, for a set time period, even if the occupant decides to move out early. (The property owner has a responsibility to re-rent the location as soon as possible, however the renter may owe rent till another person leases it.)
  
  You can accept a modification but you don't need to.
  
  If you or the property manager desires to alter a term or condition in your rental agreement, you can ask each other to concur. You or the property manager can't change the rights and commitments in the RRAA, but other parts of rental arrangements can be changed. If the rental agreement is in composing, modifications ought to remain in composing.
  
  Generally for things like pets, improvements (remodeling or upgrading home or components) if one person asks, and the other agrees, then that regard to the rental contract is changed. But if the landlord desires something, and you don't desire it, then you can disagree.
  
  The examples listed below presume that the unit is in excellent repair, and not being harmed by the renter:
  
  - Two months after you move in the landlord says, "I wish to take out the bath tub and put in a shower." You say, "No, I like the tub." The bathtub becomes part of what you accepted rent, and you don't accept alter it. Landlord can't renovate the bathroom.
• Or, landlord states, "I am altering my mind. You can't have a pet." You don't need to accept eliminate your family pet.
• Or you say, "I do not like the gas range in the apartment or condo. I want an electric range." Landlord doesn't need to agree to a brand-new range.
  
  Note: There is a difference in between contracts to change something and repair work required by law. The RRAA does not permit you or your family pet to trigger damage, 9 V.S.A. § 4456( a), (c), and the RRAA requires the property owner 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 proprietor might wish to end the occupancy if one of you desires a modification and the other does not. If your rental arrangement is not for a certain time period, either of you could provide 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 contract that says the rental arrangement was for a certain amount of time, for instance January 1 - December 31? If that time has expired, you may question if there is still a composed rental agreement, or exists no composed rental agreement?
  
  It depends on what the composed arrangement says. If it states the dates and does not additional address what happens when it expires, the written agreement ends, however the tenancy does not. That is because when you move in with the arrangement of a proprietor, the property manager must send a notice to end the occupancy, even if there is a written rental agreement which ends. To put it simply, the expiration of the arrangement is not adequate notification to end an occupancy.
  
  A composed rental contract that expires on a particular date might consist of a clause that specifies the length of the tenancy after that date has actually passed. It could state, for example, the tenancy continues from month to month. Or it could state if you don't vacate, the tenancy continues for another year.
  
  Whatever it states, if the property manager wants you out, they have to provide you a termination notice required by the occupancy you have.
  
  Learn more on our Rent Increases page.
  
  A Vermont law that took impact on July 1, 2018, legalized possession of up to an ounce of cannabis and two mature and four immature plants. If you are an occupant, or if you have a rental aid from a housing authority, or if you have some other type of federally helped rental subsidy, take care. Your lease and program guidelines might still make it an offense of the rules for you to have cannabis or cannabis plants in your rental unit. Your lease might likewise ban smoking cigarettes, consisting of smoking marijuana.
  
  The brand-new Vermont law does not change the terms of your lease. The new law does not change the program guidelines for occupants with federal rental help. If you are uncertain, check your lease or program guidelines or speak with your property manager or housing authority. You can likewise call us for aid. Your information will be sent out to Legal Services Vermont, which screens requests for assistance for both Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont.
  
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