The Contract to Lease is basically your Rental offer. Much like when buying a house, this contract is used to make your offer to rent a property. If the owner signs the contract, then it’s your rental contract, pending the completion of a Rental Lease.

If this article, we are going to review, and discuss step-by-step the Contract to Lease, as it is used in Florida.

First Section

The top section identifies the prospective tenant(s), Landlord or property owner, the rental property address and the earnest money deposit made to secure the property. The standard for a earnest money deposit for a Contract to Lease is half (1/2) of the monthly rental price. These funds are held in escrow until the owner accepts or declines the offer. If the owner declines the offer the funds are returned to prospective tenant(s), and if the Landlord accepts the offer and signs the contract, the funds are used as part of your security deposit and move-in costs.

Description of Property

In this section you want to describe the property you are renting.

How many bedrooms, bathrooms, and parking spaces.

If there there are any type(s) of vehicle prohibited, the owner will fill that section out. There are some Home Owner Associations and Communities that have vehicles restrictions. It better to know now, that find out later!

Pets – If you have any pets, this is where you secure their place in the home. Always describe your pet(s) to ensure they were included in the lease, and changes can not be made later.

Property use restriction – Are there any use restrictions on the property? Can you use this home as a home office, and can it only be used for residential use.

Property to be used by – How many tenant(s). Are there children, roommates, parents; basically who else is going to reside in the rental home.

On most residential leases, the purpose is solely “residential”, as this is the use of the property.

Terms

What are the terms of of the rental?

When you do want to commence the lease, for what period and how much. Total rent is the amount you will pay, per period. The period could be weekly, monthly, bi-annually, or annually. Normally, rent is collected monthly.

If you have a pet, what if any, is the pet deposit?

Advanced rent – Most landlords request First, Last and Security as the move-in funds, plus the security deposit.

The standard for a security deposit is one month’s rent, but all terms are negotiable, depending on the landlord. The check boxes describe who will hold the advanced rent, and security deposit, also if they will be held in an interest bearing account or not. Most landlords of residential properties, will not hold your funds in an interest bearing account, as there is plenty of paperwork and other administrative functions required to do so.

Expenses

Who is going to pay for what? As with most of this contract to lease, this section will be filled out by your real estate agent, as they will know, or will have already verbally negotiated this portion of the contract to lease. There are some variations on this section, depending if the rental home is a condo, townhouse, or single family house.

Preparation of Lease Agreement

This section articulates by when the lease will be established, and clarifies that the terms on the lease will supercede the terms written on this contract to lease.

Association Approval

In cases where an association approval is required, this section articulates the association application costs, and by when the prospective tenant will apply for approval.

This section also has a section for occupancy prior to association approval – which is not recommended.

Disclosures

Section 7-14 are disclosures. Make sure to read them carefully and ask your Real Estate agent if you have any questions. Most of these disclosures are fairly self explanatory.

Special Clauses

In this section articulate anything that was not covered in the rest of the Contract to Lease.

Examples are:

• Tenant agrees to pay for repairs under $100.
• Landlord agrees to allow tenant to install water filtration system at tenant’s expense.

There are wide variety of Special Clauses that can be inserted in this section. Make sure your Real Estate agent completes this section to ensure the terms are legal and binding.

Signature Section

As the first line states, this is not the lease, and is intended to be a legally binding contract.

If all the terms and information is correct on this contract, and you completely understand everything – then sign the contract to lease and your Real Estate agent will submit the form along with your rental application to the landlord or landlord’s representative.