All About Rental Agreements

Rental agreements can be for a period of time that is specified in the rental agreement. For example, the agreement could be six months or a year. During that time, all of the terms (including the amount of rent) of the tenancy stay the same. Or a rental agreement can be “month-to-month.” This means the length of the tenancy or the amount of rent can be changed as long as you get the notice required by the RRAA.

As far as rental agreements go, calling it a lease doesn’t guarantee that the terms can’t be changed for a year. If you want the tenancy to be for a specific period of time, you have to get the landlord to agree.

All of the rights and obligations of the RRAA are part of the agreement even without being written down. 9 V.S.A. § 4453. Any additional terms may not be enforceable unless you and the landlord have talked about them and agreed — and then only as long as the RRAA does not prohibit the agreement. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.

If you have only a verbal agreement, you may “agree” to something without realizing you have agreed. For example, if you agree to no holes in the walls thinking that does not keep you from hanging pictures, the landlord may charge you for repairing the holes from hanging your pictures.

When you are deciding to rent an apartment, you need to pay close attention to what the landlord says.

Because the RRAA sets out many rights and duties of tenants and landlords, and because written rental agreements can’t change what is in the RRAA, a written rental agreement tends to have more advantages for landlords than for tenants.

Advantages for a landlord:

• The landlord could shorten the time length of advance notice required to end the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4467(c), (e).
• The landlord could make the time length of advance notice you need to give the landlord when you want to move out longer. 9 V.S.A. § 4456(d).
• A written rental agreement could require you to pay your landlord’s attorney’s fees if a lawyer is used to enforce any part of the agreement or to evict you. (Note: If you damage the unit or disturb your neighbors and your landlord evicts you because of it, the RRAA makes you responsible for the landlord’s attorney’s fees. 9 V.S.A. § 4456(e).)
• A written rental agreement can name the people who can live in the unit, and keep you from letting someone move in.
  • Note: It would be discrimination for a landlord to evict you for having a baby. 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 place in an “expedited hearing.” Expedited means faster than usual. 12 V.S.A. § 4853b.

A written rental agreement may help you as a tenant because:

• It may guarantee that the rent won’t change until a certain date.
• It can limit the amount your rent can go up.
• It can say the length of time you can live there.
• If it isn’t written in the agreement, the landlord can’t say you agreed to it. Verbal agreements outside the written agreement may not be enforceable. For example, a written agreement can say who must pay for heating fuel or electricity.

Generally, a landlord cannot charge late fees.

A late fee is legal only if:

• The rental agreement says a late fee will be charged for late rent, and

• The charge is only the reasonable cost to the landlord because of the late payment. See Highgate Associates, Ltd. v. Merryfield, 157 Vt. 313 (1991). Reasonable costs to the landlord means the landlord’s actual extra expense because of late rent, like extra cost in keeping the books, driving over to you, making phone calls, or writing you letters.

A late fee is not legal when:

• A flat charge of a certain amount of money if rent is paid after the rent day is usually not the landlord’s reasonable cost, and so is illegal.
• Your landlord cannot offer you a rent “discount” for paying by a particular date. In one case, the Windham Superior Court held that incentives for early payments are the same as penalties and thus, they are not legally valid. See Shapiro v. Cormier, Docket No. 220-5-12 Wmcv (Windham Super. Ct., Aug. 22, 2012). (If you need an accessible version of this PDF document, we will provide it on your request. Please use our website feedback form to do so.)

A rental agreement can include these terms:

• Only the people named in the written rental agreement (and their minor children, even if they arrive later) can live in the rental unit.
• Subleasing is allowed or not allowed. 9 V.S.A. § 4456b(a)(1).
• Smoking is not allowed.
• Pets are not allowed. But, if you need an animal because of your disability, see our Reasonable Accommodations page.
• A description of what spaces (living space, other areas) are included.
• Rules about using common areas.
• Who is responsible for paying utility bills.
• The responsibility to pay a set amount of rent, for a set period of time, even if the tenant decides to move out early. (The landlord has a duty to re-rent the place as soon as possible, but the tenant may owe rent until someone else rents it.)

You can agree to a change but you don’t have to.

If you or the landlord wants to change a term or condition in your rental agreement, you can ask each other to agree. You or the landlord can’t change the rights and obligations in the RRAA, but other parts of rental agreements can be changed. If the rental agreement is in writing, changes should be in writing.

Generally for things like pets, improvements (redecorating or upgrading appliances or fixtures) if one person asks, and the other agrees, then that term of the rental agreement is changed. But if the landlord wants something, and you don’t want it, then you can disagree.

The examples below assume that the unit is in good repair, and not being damaged by the tenant:

• Two months after you move in the landlord says, “I want to take out the bathtub and put in a shower.” You say, “No, I like the bathtub.” The bathtub is part of what you agreed to rent, and you don’t agree to change it. Landlord can’t renovate the bathroom.
• Or, landlord says, “I am changing my mind. You can’t have a pet.” You don’t have to agree to get rid of your pet.
• Or you say, “I don’t like the gas stove in the apartment. I want an electric stove.” Landlord doesn’t have to agree to a new stove.

Note: There is a difference between agreements to change something and repairs required by law. The RRAA does not allow 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 landlord may want to end the tenancy if one of you wants a change and the other doesn’t. If your rental agreement is not for a certain period of time, either of you could give advance notice to end the tenancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4456(d), 9 V.S.A § 4467(c)(e).

Do you have a written rental agreement that says the rental agreement was for a certain period of time, for example January 1 – December 31? If that time has expired, you may wonder if there is still a written rental agreement, or is there no written rental agreement?

It depends on what the written agreement says. If it states the dates and does not further address what happens when it expires, the written agreement ends, but the tenancy does not. That is because when you move in with the agreement of a landlord, the landlord must send a notice to end the tenancy, even if there is a written rental agreement which expires. In other words, the expiration of the agreement is not sufficient notice to end a tenancy.

A written rental agreement that expires on a certain date could include a clause that defines the length of the tenancy after that date has passed. It could say, for example, the tenancy continues from month to month. Or it could say if you don’t move out, the tenancy continues for another year. 

Whatever it says, if the landlord wants you out, they have to give you a termination notice required by the tenancy you have.

Learn more on our Rent Increases page.

A Vermont law that took effect on July 1, 2018, legalized possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and two 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 form of federally assisted rental subsidy, be careful. Your lease and program rules may still make it a violation of the rules for you to have marijuana or marijuana plants in your rental unit. Your lease may also ban smoking, including smoking marijuana.

The new Vermont law does not change the terms of your lease. The new law does not change the program rules for tenants with federal rental assistance. If you are unsure, check your lease or program rules or talk to your landlord or housing authority. You can also contact us for help. Your information will be sent to Legal Services Vermont, which screens requests for help for both Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont.