Everything About Rental Agreements
All contracts in between a landlord and an occupant are "rental arrangements" according to Vermont's Residential Rental Agreements Act (RRAA). 9 V.S.A. § 4451( 8 ). The rental arrangement does not have to remain in writing. You and the proprietor have all the rights and commitments in the law although there is no written contract. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.
The RRAA requires that the tasks and rights of landlords and renters in the law are suggested (made a part of) all rental arrangements. Which ones are suggested in all rental contracts? See this list of rights and duties of renters and property managers. For more details on these rights and responsibilities, visit our Rights and Duties Explained page.
All of the contracts made by you and the property manager or suggested by the RRAA are called the "terms" of the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.
The RRAA secures you and requires you to do (or not do) some things. It likewise safeguards property owners and needs them to do (or not do) some things. The law is the same if you have actually a composed or verbal rental contract. 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 duties in the RRAA for what need to be in a rental contract.
The RRAA never utilizes the word "lease." Calling a residential rental agreement a "lease" does not have any unique legal meaning in Vermont. Other statutes (12 V.S.A. § 4851( ejectment), 10 V.S.A. § 6201( 5 )( mobile home parks)), the courts, subsidized housing property managers and housing do utilize the word "lease."
Rental contracts can be for an amount of time that is specified in the rental arrangement. For example, the arrangement could be 6 months or a year. During that time, all of the terms (including the quantity of lease) of the tenancy remain the same. Or a rental agreement can be "month-to-month." This means 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 guarantee that the terms can't be changed for a year. If you want the tenancy to be for a particular amount of time, you need to get the property manager to concur.
All of the rights and obligations of the RRAA belong to the arrangement even without being jotted down. 9 V.S.A. § 4453. Any additional terms may not be enforceable unless you and the proprietor have discussed them and agreed - and after that just as long as the RRAA does not forbid the arrangement. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.
If you have only a verbal contract, you may "concur" to something without understanding you have actually concurred. For instance, if you consent to no holes in the walls thinking that does not keep you from hanging pictures, the proprietor may charge you for fixing the holes from hanging your pictures.
When you are choosing to rent a home, you require to pay attention to what the proprietor states.
Because the RRAA sets out many rights and tasks of renters and proprietors, and because composed rental agreements can't change what remains in the RRAA, a composed rental arrangement tends to have more benefits for proprietors than for occupants.
Advantages for a property owner:
- The property owner might shorten the time length of advance notification required to end the occupancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4467( c), (e).
- The property owner could make the time length of advance notification you need to offer the property manager when you wish to leave longer. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d).
- A composed rental agreement could require you to pay your property manager's attorney's fees if a legal representative is utilized to implement any part of the arrangement or to evict you. (Note: If you harm the system or disturb your neighbors and your property owner evicts you because of it, the RRAA makes you responsible for the property owner's lawyer's charges. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( e).).
- A composed rental agreement can name the people who can reside in the unit, and keep you from letting somebody relocation in. - Note: It would be discrimination for a landlord to evict you for having a child. 9 V.S.A. § 4503( a).
- A proprietor can keep you from subleasing the location you rent, 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ), and can force out the person who subleases your location in an "expedited hearing." Expedited means quicker than typical. 12 V.S.A. § 4853b.
A composed rental contract might assist you as a renter since:
- It might guarantee that the lease will not alter up until a specific date. - It can limit the quantity your rent can go up.
- It can say the length of time you can live there.
- If it isn't composed in the agreement, the proprietor can't state you consented to it. Verbal arrangements outside the composed contract might not be enforceable. For example, a written agreement can state who must pay for heating fuel or electrical power.
Generally, a proprietor can not charge late fees.
A late charge is legal only if:
- The rental arrangement states a late charge will be charged for late rent, and
- The charge is only the sensible expense to the landlord because of the late payment. See Highgate Associates, Ltd. v. Merryfield, 157 Vt. 313 (1991 ). Reasonable costs to the proprietor suggests the property manager's real extra expenditure because of late rent, like additional expense in keeping the books, driving over to you, making telephone call, or composing you letters.
A late fee is illegal when:
- A flat charge of a specific quantity of cash if lease is paid after the lease day is usually not the landlord's sensible expense, and so is prohibited. - Your landlord can not provide you a rent "discount" for paying by a specific date. In one case, the Windham Superior Court held that rewards for early payments are the very same as charges and therefore, they are not legally legitimate. See Shapiro v. Cormier, Docket No. 220-5-12 Wmcv (Windham Super. Ct., Aug. 22, 2012). (If you require an available variation of this PDF file, we will supply it on your request. Please utilize our site feedback type to do so.)
A rental arrangement can include these terms:
- Only individuals named in the written rental agreement (and their small kids, even if they show up later on) can reside in the rental system. - Subleasing is enabled or not allowed. 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ).
- Smoking is not enabled.
- Pets are not allowed. But, if you need an animal since of your disability, see our Reasonable Accommodations page.
- A description of what spaces (living area, other areas) are consisted of.
- Rules about using common locations.
- Who is accountable for paying utility expenses.
- The duty to pay a set amount of lease, for a set period of time, even if the occupant decides to leave early. (The property owner has a duty to re-rent the place as soon as possible, but the renter may owe rent till somebody else leases it.)
You can consent to a change however you don't need to.
If you or the property manager wants to alter a term or condition in your rental arrangement, you can ask each other to agree. You or the proprietor can't alter the rights and obligations in the RRAA, however other parts of rental contracts can be altered. If the rental arrangement remains in composing, changes need to remain in writing.
Generally for things like family pets, improvements (redecorating or upgrading home appliances or fixtures) if one individual asks, and the other agrees, then that regard to the rental arrangement is altered. But if the proprietor desires something, and you don't want it, then you can disagree.
The examples below presume that the unit remains in good repair, and not being damaged by the renter:
- Two months after you move in the property manager states, "I want to take out the tub and put in a shower." You say, "No, I like the tub." The tub belongs to what you consented to rent, and you don't agree to change it. Landlord can't refurbish the bathroom. - Or, property manager states, "I am changing my mind. You can't have a pet." You do not need to consent to get rid of your animal.
- Or you state, "I don't like the gas stove in the apartment. I desire an electrical stove." Landlord doesn't need to accept a brand-new stove.
Note: There is a distinction between contracts to alter something and repairs required by law. The RRAA does not enable you or your family pet to trigger damage, 9 V.S.A. § 4456( a), (c), and the RRAA needs the proprietor 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 property manager might desire to end the occupancy if one of you desires a change and the other does not. If your rental arrangement is not for a certain time period, either of you could give advance notification to end the tenancy. 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 arrangement that says the rental arrangement was for a certain duration of time, for instance January 1 - December 31? If that time has ended, you may wonder if there is still a written rental contract, or exists no composed rental agreement?
It depends on what the composed contract says. If it specifies the dates and does not more address what occurs when it ends, the composed agreement ends, however the occupancy does not. That is due to the fact that when you move in with the agreement of a property owner, the property manager should send out a notice to end the tenancy, even if there is a written rental contract which ends. Simply put, the expiration of the agreement is not sufficient notice to end an occupancy.
A written rental agreement that expires on a particular date might consist of a clause that defines the length of the occupancy after that date has actually passed. It could state, for example, the occupancy continues from month to month. Or it might say if you don't leave, the occupancy continues for another year.
Whatever it says, if the proprietor wants you out, they have to give you a termination notification needed by the tenancy you have.
Discover more on our Rent Increases page.
A Vermont law that took impact on July 1, 2018, legalized ownership of as much as an ounce of marijuana and 2 mature and four immature plants. If you are a renter, or if you have a rental subsidy from a housing authority, or if you have some other type of federally assisted rental aid, take care. Your lease and program guidelines might still make it a violation of the rules for you to have marijuana or marijuana plants in your rental system. Your lease may likewise ban smoking cigarettes, consisting of smoking marijuana.
The brand-new Vermont law does not alter the terms of your lease. The new law does not alter the program guidelines for renters with federal rental help. If you are uncertain, inspect your lease or program rules or speak with your property owner or housing authority. You can likewise contact us for aid. Your info will be sent to Legal Services Vermont, which screens demands for aid for both Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont.
Print.
Housing. Discrimination/ Fair Housing. Housing Discrimination Does Happen in Vermont
Have You Been Discriminated Against? Disability Discrimination. Who is Protected?
Reasonable Accommodations and Modifications
Assistance Animals
Mortgages and Residential Or Commercial Property Taxes After a Catastrophe
COVID-19 Crisis, Mortgages and Foreclosures
Foreclosure Process
Foreclosure Mediation
Special Loans and Situations
Mortgage and Foreclosure Form Letters
More Help
Renter Rights After a Catastrophe
Vermont Law on Renting: The RRAA
What to Know Before You Rent
Everything About Rental Agreements
Rights and Duties Explained
Rent Increases
Bedbugs
Repair Problems
Guests, Roommates & Trespassers
Can the Landlord Enter My Unit?
Lockouts, Utility Shutoffs & Your Belongings
Housing Protections for Victims
Leaving
Down payment
Evictions
Notice to Terminate Tenancy
Court Process: General
Court Process: Eviction
Court Process: Suing Landlord
Court Process: Small Claims
Abandoned Rental or Residential Or Commercial Property
Rights of Tenants When a Property Manager remains in Foreclosure
Renter Credit/ Rebate
Subsidized Housing/ Subsidies
Health and wellness
Mobile Home Park Leases
Lot Rent Increases
Mobile Home Park Evictions
Selling Your Mobile Home
Abandoned Mobile Homes
When a Park is Sold or Closes
Links to Vermont law
V.S.A. implies Vermont Statutes Annotated. The number before V.S.A. is the title number. The number after § is the area number. You can utilize these links to look up Vermont laws pointed out on this page:
9 V.S.A.
. More Help
How We Can Help - Contact Us
Forms You Can Use
Help From Other Vermont Lawyers:
Ask legal concerns through Vermont's Free Legal Answers program. Vermont Bar Association lawyer recommendation. VT Association for Justice legal representative referral. Criminal Public Defenders
Legal Help for Active Military, Veterans & Their Families
Legal Problem in Another State
Quick Links
- Home. - How We Can Help - Contact Us. - Locations. - Legal Help Tool. - Legal Roadmaps. - VTCourtForms. - Other Forms You Can Use. - COVID Legal + Benefits Info. - Website + SMS Privacy. - Accessibility. - PDFs and Adobe Reader
Language Help
- American Sign Language. - العربية/ Arabic. - Bosanski/ Bosnian. - မ န မ စ/ Burmese. - دری/ Dari. - Español/ Spanish. - Français/ French. - Ikirundi/ Kirundi. - Kiswahili/ Swahili. - Mai-Mai/ Maay Maay. - 官話/ 官话/ Mandarin. - नेपाली/ Nepali. - پښتو/ Pashto. - Soomaali/ Somali. - українська мова/ Ukrainian. - Tiếng Việt/ Vietnamese. - Google Translate
About This Website
VTLawHelp.org is a joint project of Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont - Collaborating for Justice.
Funding from the Legal Services Corporation.
© 2025 Legal Services Vermont and Vermont Legal Aid. All Rights Reserved.
vacation-homes-network.com