All agreements between a property owner and a tenant are "rental contracts" according to Vermont's Residential Rental Agreements Act (RRAA). 9 V.S.A. § 4451( 8 ). The rental contract does not need to remain in writing. You and the property manager have all the rights and commitments in the law even though there is no written agreement. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.
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The RRAA requires that the tasks and rights of property managers and renters in the law are suggested (made a part of) all rental arrangements. Which ones are suggested in all rental arrangements? See this list of rights and duties of tenants and proprietors. For more details on these rights and responsibilities, visit our Rights and Duties Explained page.

All of the agreements made by you and the proprietor or implied by the RRAA are called the "terms" of the occupancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.

The RRAA protects you and requires you to do (or not do) some things. It also secures proprietors and requires them to do (or not do) some things. The law is the same if you have a written or spoken rental agreement. 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 tasks in the RRAA for what must remain in a rental agreement.

The RRAA never utilizes the word "lease." Calling a property rental arrangement a "lease" does not have any unique legal significance 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 authorities do utilize the word "lease."

Rental arrangements can be for a time period that is defined in the rental contract. For instance, the arrangement might be six months or a year. During that time, all of the terms (including the quantity of rent) of the tenancy stay the exact same. Or a rental contract can be "month-to-month." This suggests the length of the tenancy or the amount of rent can be changed as long as you get the notice needed by the RRAA.

As far as rental contracts go, calling it a lease does not ensure that the terms can't be changed for a year. If you desire the occupancy to be for a specific time period, you have to get the landlord to concur.

All of the rights and responsibilities of the RRAA become part of the agreement even without being documented. 9 V.S.A. § 4453. Any additional terms may not be enforceable unless you and the property owner have actually talked about them and concurred - and then just as long as the RRAA does not forbid the arrangement. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.

If you have only a verbal agreement, you may "concur" to something without understanding you have actually agreed. For example, if you accept no holes in the walls believing that does not keep you from hanging photos, the property manager might charge you for repairing the holes from hanging your photos.

When you are choosing to rent a home, you need to pay attention to what the property manager states.

Because the RRAA sets out lots of rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords, and since composed rental agreements can't change what is in the RRAA, a written rental arrangement tends to have more advantages for landlords than for occupants.

Advantages for a property owner:

- The proprietor might reduce the time length of advance notice needed to end the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4467( c), (e).

• The proprietor might make the time length of advance notice you need to offer the proprietor when you wish to move out longer. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d).
• A composed rental contract could need you to pay your property owner's attorney's fees if a legal representative is utilized to implement any part of the agreement or to evict you. (Note: If you damage the system or interrupt your neighbors and your property manager evicts you because of it, the RRAA makes you accountable for the property manager's lawyer's charges. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( e).).
• A composed rental agreement can name individuals who can reside in the unit, and keep you from letting somebody relocation in. - Note: It would be discrimination for a property owner to evict you for having an infant. 9 V.S.A. § 4503( a).
• A landlord can keep you from subleasing the place you rent, 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ), and can evict the person who subleases your location in an "expedited hearing." Expedited methods quicker than typical. 12 V.S.A. § 4853b.
  
  A composed rental contract might assist you as a tenant because:
  
  - It may guarantee that the lease will not alter till a specific date.
• It can limit the quantity your lease can go up.
• It can state the length of time you can live there.
• If it isn't written in the agreement, the landlord can't state you concurred to it. Verbal contracts outside the written arrangement may not be enforceable. For example, a written arrangement can say who need to spend for heating fuel or electricity.
  
  Generally, a property owner can not charge late fees.
  
  A late charge is legal just if:
  
  - The rental arrangement states a late charge will be charged for late lease, and
  
  - The charge is just the reasonable expense to the proprietor since of the late payment. See Highgate Associates, Ltd. v. Merryfield, 157 Vt. 313 (1991 ). Reasonable expenses to the proprietor implies the landlord's actual extra cost since of late rent, like extra cost in keeping the books, over to you, making telephone call, or writing you letters.
  
  A late fee is not legal when:
  
  - A flat charge of a certain quantity of cash if rent is paid after the rent day is normally not the proprietor's sensible cost, and so is unlawful.
• Your property owner can not offer you a lease "discount" for paying by a particular date. In one case, the Windham Superior Court held that incentives for early payments are the exact same as penalties 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 accessible variation of this PDF document, we will supply it on your request. Please use our site feedback form to do so.)
  
  A rental agreement can include these terms:
  
  - Only the people called in the composed rental arrangement (and their small children, even if they show up later on) can live in the rental.
• Subleasing is enabled or not allowed. 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ).
• Smoking is not allowed.
• Pets are not permitted. But, if you require an animal since of your impairment, see our Reasonable Accommodations page.
• A description of what areas (living space, other areas) are included.
• Rules about using common areas.
• Who is accountable for paying energy bills.
• The responsibility to pay a set quantity of rent, for a set amount of time, even if the renter chooses to leave early. (The property manager has a responsibility to re-rent the place as quickly as possible, but the renter may owe lease until another person leases it.)
  
  You can consent to a modification however you do not need to.
  
  If you or the proprietor wishes to alter a term or condition in your rental agreement, you can ask each other to concur. You or the property manager can't change the rights and commitments in the RRAA, but other parts of rental contracts can be changed. If the rental contract remains in writing, changes must be in writing.
  
  Generally for things like animals, improvements (redecorating or upgrading appliances or components) if one individual asks, and the other agrees, then that regard to the rental contract is changed. But if the proprietor wants something, and you do not desire it, then you can disagree.
  
  The examples below presume that the unit is in good repair work, and not being harmed by the renter:
  
  - Two months after you relocate the property manager states, "I wish to take out the bath tub and put in a shower." You say, "No, I like the tub." The tub belongs to what you accepted rent, and you don't consent to alter it. Landlord can't remodel the bathroom.
• Or, proprietor states, "I am altering my mind. You can't have an animal." You do not need to accept eliminate your animal.
• Or you state, "I do not like the gas stove in the apartment. I desire an electric range." Landlord doesn't need to agree to a new stove.
  
  Note: There is a distinction between arrangements to change something and repair work required by law. The RRAA does not enable you or your pet to cause damage, 9 V.S.A. § 4456( a), (c), and the RRAA requires the landlord 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 proprietor might want to end the occupancy if among you wants a modification and the other does not. If your rental agreement is not for a certain time period, either of you could provide advance notice 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 written rental arrangement that states the rental arrangement was for a specific amount of time, for instance January 1 - December 31? If that time has expired, you may question if there is still a written rental agreement, or is there no written rental arrangement?
  
  It depends on what the composed contract says. If it specifies the dates and does not more address what happens when it ends, the written agreement ends, but the occupancy does not. That is because when you move in with the contract of a proprietor, the property manager needs to send a notice to end the occupancy, even if there is a composed rental agreement which expires. In other words, the expiration of the agreement is not enough notification to end an occupancy.
  
  A composed rental contract that ends on a certain date could include a stipulation that specifies the length of the tenancy after that date has actually passed. It could say, for instance, the tenancy continues from month to month. Or it might say if you do not move out, the occupancy continues for another year.
  
  Whatever it says, if the property manager desires you out, they need to offer you a termination notice required by the tenancy you have.
  
  Learn more on our Rent Increases page.
  
  A Vermont law that took result on July 1, 2018, legalized belongings of up to an ounce of cannabis and 2 fully grown and 4 immature plants. If you are an occupant, or if you have a rental aid from a housing authority, or if you have some other form of federally helped rental subsidy, be cautious. Your lease and program guidelines may still make it an infraction of the rules for you to have marijuana or marijuana plants in your rental system. Your lease may likewise ban smoking cigarettes, including cigarette smoking cannabis.
  
  The brand-new Vermont law does not change the terms of your lease. The new law does not change the program guidelines for tenants with federal rental support. If you are not sure, check your lease or program guidelines or speak to your proprietor or housing authority. You can also contact us for aid. Your details will be sent out to Legal Services Vermont, which screens requests for assistance for both Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont.
  
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