A strong lease can provide protection and direction to both New Jersey landlords and tenants. It’s important to have a new and renewal lease process in place. Here are some property management tips that we use at Realty Solutions when we’re drafting leases and renewals.
Preparing Your Initial Lease
It’s best to use a standard lease form and insert property specific information (terms) like the home’s address, the rental amount and the deposit amount, as well as the names of tenants and any children. Our process is to draft the lease in Microsoft Word, save it as a PDF, and send it to our potential tenants through our database DocuSign process. Then, we wait for signatures and checks.
Collecting Secure Funds for Deposit and Rent
We require a 48-hour turnaround time. We also always insist on money orders or certified checks for the first month’s rent and the security deposit. Never take a personal check from the tenants for those items. You don’t want your introduction to a newly moved in tenant to be a bounced check.
Managing the Lease Renewal Process
Whether or not to offer lease renewal is up to the landlord. If you have a standard lease, it probably requires a 60-day notice for a lease renewal or a lease termination. We recommend you track it at 75 days to give yourself a little extra time. If you have a standard form, renewals can be a one-page letter indicating any change in rent or other small changes. If you have significant changes, send a whole new lease
for review and signature. This is an excellent time to review and address all the details of the contract between you and your tenant. Make sure you are getting the most out of your property.
These are a few things we do with our leases to make our work more efficient and accurate. If you have any questions, please contact us at Realty Solutions in Southern Jersey, and we’d be happy to help you.
