Look out for terms regarding changes in a lease once signed, or a landlord’s power to make changes with/without giving the tenant any notice. Your landlord may attempt to modify your lease after signing, but there are some unspoken, implied terms that are still worth considering.
Landlords can change the terms of a lease after it is signed. However, they usually require a tenant’s approval in order to do so, and the tenant needs to sign the new lease. If landlords could change leases arbitrarily, then they could abuse this power to compel tenants to pay extraordinary fees they had not agreed to.
Things change, and there are instances where the landlord might modify a lease after signing. If a landlord wants to modify your lease while it is still effective, he or she may seek your consent for a proposed modification.
Landlords cannot modify an existing lease without first approaching the tenant and getting their consent. This kind of lease modification means that the landlord and the tenant have mutually agreed to modify some portion of the agreement that they signed. Neither the landlord nor tenant may make changes unilaterally to an existing lease regarding the length of time the rental is for, or any associated fees. What is significant is for both the landlord and tenant to sign a document that indicates the landlord and tenant plan to make specific changes to the existing lease.
How Leases Are Normally Changed
If the tenant and landlord agree on a change, then either (1) a new lease or lease agreement may be executed which includes the new terms, or (2) an existing lease or lease agreement may be amended. As long as both the tenant and the landlord agree, a lease can be amended and modified so as to better meet the needs of both parties.
Once you and your landlord have signed the lease, you cannot modify it unless both you and your landlord agree to the modification, and the modification is made in writing and signed by you both. Any changes made to the signed lease alters the agreement, so a signature is required from the tenant agreeing to a new version of the document.
This is not necessarily true: If an agreement is given by all parties who originally signed the lease, changes may be made during the remaining time in the agreement. If the tenant agrees to include certain changes, the two parties would have to sign a new lease to make sure that it is legally valid. A lease amendment gives some authority to the tenant is agreeing to or negotiating changes since they cannot go into effect if neither side agrees to and signs. The only way that you as the landlord can make changes in a current lease is if you wait until after your lease is up, or sign the lease addendum with your tenant.
Landlords Can Sometimes Make Changes
A landlord may make changes by notice, as long as there is a clause in the lease allowing for changes, and as long as that clause is enforced. If you suspect that a landlord has made changes to a lease past the time that you signed it, without your consent, or with unwarranted terms, you will only have some options. If the landlord is found guilty of violating lease terms, tenants can either refuse rent or move out before the end of the lease.
If the landlord subsequently attempts to evict the tenant because the renter’s violation of the renter’s pet-free policy is found, that is a tenant’s word against that of the landlord and signed lease. Of course, the lease might have other terms the tenant has to follow, but in terms of his or her rent, a landlord cannot modify a lease.
A lease may be amended, as long as the landlord is receptive to changes to terms proposed by the tenant. The landlord’s ability to vary tenancy terms depends on the degree of tenant co-operation, type of rental, terms of the tenant’s lease or lease, and nature of the changes.
Tenants Must Follow the Lease’s Terms
If terms are not followed, a tenancy may be considered null and void, which may lead to monetary penalties, eviction, and negative rental history for the tenant.
If a landlord serves a Notice to Modify Terms and Conditions and the tenant fails to comply once the Notice Period has expired, the landlord may issue a proper notice (either a Notice to Pay Rent or Quit or a Notice to Perform Covenants or Quit). When the fixed-term ends, a landlord can effect the change, either by entering into a new/renewal lease or, if the tenant is continuing month-to-month, by serving a 30-day notice of change in terms of tenancy.
In other words, the landlord needs to give notice of an impending change to the tenant long before the lease is due so that the tenant knows about the change before signing a new contract. Since the month-to-month lease is, essentially, a very short-term agreement that is renewed multiple times, the best approach is simply to have a new agreement signed at the time the changes are introduced. Watch for rental agreements that grant landlords the right to make unsubstantial changes throughout the life of the lease.
Leases Tend to Favor Landlords
In certain circumstances, leases actually do give landlords a way of ending a tenancy, as long as a void provision is exercisable by only the landlord or the exclusion of the right to secure tenancy. Because your rental agreement is a binding contract for the term of the one-month period, it is not possible for either you or the landlord to unilaterally determine whether there are going to be any changes, like rent increases or removal of guaranteed parking spaces.
Your landlord may strike the old language, but the new one, and sign and date the changes (he or she is likely to require that you sign the lease, too). Your tenants may want you to lower your rental payment, but also suggest that they extend the duration of their lease for an extra year.
Sometimes, proposed changes in a lease are so significant they require a whole new contract. As long as both the original signing parties are in agreement with the changes, a lease modification may take effect either as a supplement or in a newly-drafted lease.