Rights and Duties Explained

• Rent is usually due on the first of the month.
• You and the landlord could agree to pay rent by the week. 9 V.S.A. §§ 4467(c)(2), (e) and (h).
• You and the landlord could agree on the day of the month or week when rent is regularly due. When you are making a rental agreement, you may want to ask for a different day than the first because you receive your monthly income after the first day of the month.
• Once you and the landlord have agreed on the rent day, the landlord does not need to send you a bill every week or month.
• The whole rent is due on the agreed rent day. If you don’t pay the whole rent at once, you are in violation of your tenant responsibilities and it could be grounds for eviction. If your landlord agrees to take a partial payments, get the agreement in writing.

Important tips about paying rent

You and your landlord must agree on the time and place for paying your rent. Your landlord could want a check in the mail, or deposited into the landlord’s bank account, or might want to come by on rent day. 9 V.S.A. §§ 4455.

Make sure your landlord gives you a name to make the rent check out to and an address to mail the rent to.

Make sure you have a way to prove that you paid the rent

• Best: A personal check made out to the landlord. That way your bank will have a record of when the rent check was cashed.
• Next best: A money order that has a copy or stub for you to keep. It is hard to get the records from the money order company that a money order was cashed, but it is possible.
• Written receipt from landlord. It should include the date and the amount paid. You should get a receipt at the time you give the landlord the rent and so that means paying your rent in person. If your landlord is hard to find or bad about giving receipts, use a check or money order to pay the rent.
• Keep records of all rent payments so you can prove that you paid the rent.

What if I don’t pay my rent on time?

• If you are late with rent, it is a violation of your rental agreement. Your landlord can give you 30 days’ advance notice of eviction. 9 V.S.A. § 4467(b). Usually, a landlord will only end your tenancy for this violation if you are repeatedly late paying your rent.
• If you do not pay rent at all, your landlord can give you 14 days’ advance notice of eviction for non-payment of rent. The law gives you the right to pay up all the rent owed during the 14 days, and if you do, the eviction notice isn’t effective anymore. 9 V.S.A. § 4467(a).
• If you repeatedly pay late, your landlord could give you a bad reference the next time you are trying to get an apartment.

What if I want to pay up, but I have questions about the amount?

• Ask the landlord to show you a record of all the rent payments.
• Check your own record of rent payments.
• Ask the landlord to agree that your record is right.
• If the landlord doesn’t agree with you:
  • Pay what the landlord wants but with the payment put in writing that you disagree.
  • Or, don’t pay, put the rent you owe in a savings account, and let the landlord take you to court. In court you can prove that you paid and counterclaim that the landlord misrepresented the amount you owed. If the landlord misrepresented, that is a violation of the Consumer Protection Act. [See Claims against landlord.]

You must not damage any part of the unit. Do not remove any fixtures or mechanical systems. 9 V.S.A. § 4456 (a). You can’t take apart the smoke or carbon monoxide detectors. Do not do anything that makes the unit violate health or building regulations.

You must keep the unit in decent and clean condition

• Your unit rental should be clear of clutter so that it does not become a fire hazard.
• You must take your trash out of the unit, and must not store it on the porch or outside. Insects and rodents are attracted to stored trash and stored recycling.
• These obligations are also part of the occupant’s responsibilities under the Rental Housing Health Code.

Do not harm the unit beyond normal wear and tear

You must not damage the floors, walls, windows, doors, sinks, toilets, plumbing, electrical outlets, light fixtures or carpets.

You must not let your pets or guests cause damage. There is a difference between damage and normal wear and tear.

Examples of things that normally wear out:

• The mechanism inside a toilet tank
• Washers in faucets
• Floor finishes wearing down
• Carpets showing foot traffic
• Paint on walls showing where fingers have been, or the paint fades, or sometimes chips

Examples of things that can be considered damage:

• Holes in anything (walls, floors, doors, windows, screens)
• Things taken apart, or pieces removed (light fixtures, appliances, door locks)
• Food spills or other stains not cleaned up in or on appliances, bathtubs, floors, windowsills, carpets or walls
• Holes burned in anything
• Chips or dents in floors, walls, appliances, sinks, bathtubs
• Broken windows or torn screens
• Bedbugs or other insect infestation that you caused in your unit

Maintain heat, water, electric

You must keep on the utilities you agreed to pay for in the rental agreement.

• If you agreed to pay for heat, you must make sure there is heat so pipes don’t freeze.
• If you did not do something you agreed to in the rental agreement and there is damage to the unit because of it, you have violated the rental agreement and may be evicted or charged money. 9 V.S.A. § 4456(a).
• If something happens, and you know the heat or electricity will be shut off, it is better to notify the landlord before something is shut off, so the landlord can prevent the damage. The landlord can charge you for what you agreed to pay in the rental agreement and for any damages caused by your failure to do what you agreed. The landlord can also evict you.

Notify the landlord if you cause damage

If you, a guest or a pet causes any damage to the unit, notify the landlord promptly so that the landlord can make repairs. For some things you may want to do the repairs yourself. Only do that if the repair can be done by a person who does not need a plumber’s or electrician’s license. Don’t repair a furnace or a fuel hook-up yourself. Don’t do it if the repair requires a permit from the town. You could be financially responsible if your repair damages the unit, or a neighbor’s unit, or costs the landlord a fine for not following all applicable laws and regulations.

If a person gets in your unit without your permission and causes damage, file a police report and notify your landlord. Your landlord’s insurance may cover the cost of repairs for damage caused by a criminal act. If you do not report the incident, your landlord may try to hold you responsible for the damage.

You have an obligation not to disturb other tenants and the right to not be disturbed by other tenants. 9 V.S.A. § 4456(b).

Because the Residential Rental Agreements Act (RRAA) says that disturbing other tenants is a violation of every tenant’s obligations, if another tenant repeatedly disturbs you, you should let the landlord know. If the other tenant can’t keep from disturbing neighbors, the landlord should take steps to evict the tenant.

• Note: The RRAA protects you from being evicted for reporting the disturbance to the landlord. 9 V.S.A. § 4465(a)(2).
• Don’t disturb other tenants. 9 V.S.A. § 4456(b). You must try not to disturb your neighbors. Many written rental agreements include quiet hours, but even without a written agreement, it is a good idea to be reasonably quiet between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. If you share entry halls, do not leave your belongings in the hall. Enter quietly at night. If you share a wall, be careful of the volume of your child, TV, stereo or pet.

Both state and federal law require almost all landlords to make reasonable accommodations so that a disabled person can use and enjoy their rental unit — including public and common areas — the same as a non-disabled person. 9 V.S.A. § 4503(9), (10).

If you have a disability and it is physically hard for you to use your rented unit, you can ask your landlord to make physical changes to your unit. Learn more on our Reasonable Accommodations page.