Rental / Lease Agreement Drafting & Review

Overview

A rent agreement is the first thing people reach for when something goes wrong between a landlord and a tenant, and it is often the first time they notice what it does not say. Eleven-month agreements are common across Indian cities, and most are filled in from a template found online with the names and the rent changed. The trouble is that a template knows nothing about your arrangement.

A good lease agreement states the rent and the yearly increase, the security deposit and the conditions for returning it, the lock-in period, the notice period, who pays maintenance and utilities, which repairs fall on whom, whether subletting is allowed and what happens to the deposit if the flat is damaged. It also describes the property clearly and lists the fixtures that come with it. A lease of more than a year generally has to be registered under the Registration Act, which is why eleven-month agreements are so popular, and stamp duty varies by state.

We draft lease and rent agreements for landlords and tenants, and we review ones you have been given. If you are the tenant, we look for unreasonable lock-ins, vague deposit deductions and one-sided eviction terms. If you are the landlord, we check that you are covered for non-payment, damage and overstaying. Police verification and society or RWA requirements are worth keeping in mind too, and we point them out where they apply.