Before signing the Apartment Rental Agreement, the tenant needs to fully understand the information in the contract to ensure their rights and avoid possible disputes in the future.
1. Verify the landlord
When reviewing the lease, make sure you have all the information about the landlord (usually party A). If you have extra time, double-check the landlord’s legal documents to prove the home is theirs. In this case, you should ask the landlord politely and tactfully, surely they will be happy to tell you all the information as well as their ownership papers about the house.
You should ask the landlord to show your citizenship, certificate of ownership, property tax slip or a copy of registration to confirm the real status of the lessor of the apartment as the owner or as a second owner. If you are a second owner, ask for a contract with the main landlord, find out if there is an agreement that prohibits subletting.
2. Apartment rent
In the apartment rental contract, it is necessary to clarify the following questions: When will the rent be paid? How long is the lease term (preferably full date)? How to pay the rent for the apartment? If renting for a long time, can I negotiate to reduce the rent?
One more note is that the amount in the apartment rental contract must be converted into the Vietnamese Dong currency. If the contract uses foreign currency, the rental contract is no longer valid before the law. This causes loss of interests of the parties if there is a dispute or risk in the future.
3. Deposit
In the current market, landlords only accept tenants for a long-term period of more than 1 year. In order to rent a house, tenants must put down a deposit (usually 1 to 2 months rent) to the owner for a long-term lease.
Sometimes some landlords will cause trouble and use all sorts of excuses not to pay a tenant’s security deposit. Therefore, in the contract, it is necessary to clarify issues such as: How much is the deposit? When can I stop renting the apartment and get my deposit refunded?
4. Other costs
It is also important to note that the rent includes other costs such as management fees, parking fees, etc. Otherwise, who is responsible for paying this amount. This needs the agreement of both parties before signing and should be clearly stated in the rental contract to avoid unnecessary conflicts between the two parties.
5. Lease Termination Time
The terms related to the termination of the lease are one of the issues that many tenants overlook and do not pay close attention to.
The rental period has not expired, but how much notice do I need to notify if I don’t want to rent it anymore? Is there an agreement on liability for breach of contract (early termination of lease)? How long does it take to get the deposit refund (if any)? On the other hand, when the landlord takes back the house, it will have to give advance notice to the tenant within a certain period of time, in addition, there must be a clear regulation of compensation when terminating the contract ahead of time.
6. Household appliances
In the apartment rental contract, you must carefully verify the current status of the apartment as well as the assets and furniture inside. The apartment rental contract should be accompanied by a contract verifying the status of the apartment handed over. In case the apartment is damaged or lost, you have the right to claim compensation from the tenant as agreed in the rental contract.
What furniture and equipment does the landlord provide, and how is their use? For current devices that are not good, you should take pictures as evidence to avoid trouble later.
In addition to the above 6 points to note, apartment tenants also need to find out if the landlord has any special limit requirements? For example, are pets allowed?
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