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The LeaseRooster blog
What we are learning about running rentals, plus product news from the LeaseRooster team.
Posts
101 posts-
Month-to-month vs fixed-term lease
The choice is not really about flexibility. It is about who carries the vacancy risk, what the notice periods do to your timeline, and whether your local rules treat the two the same way. Laws and rules -
Subletting: what landlords need to know
A sublet request is a decision about who lives in your unit and who you can collect from. In some states you cannot unreasonably refuse it, and in one of them silence counts as consent. Laws and rules -
How to write a lease termination letter
Four different letters go by this name and they are not interchangeable. Which one you need depends on who is ending the tenancy, why, and whether a term is still running. Laws and rules -
When a tenant breaks a lease early: a landlord's options
The lease says twelve months and the tenant is leaving in four. What you can recover is smaller than the remaining rent, it shrinks further if you sit on the unit, and one category of early departure is protected by statute. Laws and rules -
Key clauses every lease agreement needs
Most leases cover rent and the term and then go quiet on the things that actually cause disputes. Twelve clauses, what each one has to say, and the three that get written badly most often. Laws and rules -
Is an electronically signed lease legally binding?
Yes, under a federal statute that has been in force since 2000, with two conditions worth understanding and one important carve-out that catches landlords by surprise: some notices under a residential rental agreement are excluded. Laws and rules -
Is checking social media part of tenant screening?
Legal in most places, and still a bad trade. A public profile hands a landlord exactly the information they are not allowed to decide on, with none of the accuracy protections a real screening report carries. Laws and rules -
A tenant texts that they are leaving. Is that notice?
What counts as valid notice to end a tenancy, how long it has to be, why a fixed-term lease and a month-to-month work differently, and the five things a landlord should do the day a notice arrives. Laws and rules -
ACH vs card rent payments: what costs you less (and where Zelle and Venmo fit)
On a $2,000 rent, the published card rate costs about $58 and the published ACH rate costs $5. Here is how check, cash, Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, ACH, and card compare on fees, who pays, how fast the money arrives, and what record you are left with. Money -
Security deposit alternatives: surety bonds, insurance, and monthly fees
Deposit replacement products promise a lower move-in cost for the tenant and the same protection for you. Two states have written bonds directly into their deposit statutes. Here is how the products differ and the questions to ask before you accept one. Money -
A tenant breaks the lease early. Can you keep the deposit?
Not automatically, and not as a penalty. An early departure creates a claim for actual losses, which the deposit can be applied against once those losses exist and are documented. Here is the difference, and the duty that shapes the whole calculation. Laws and rules -
Both of you sign. Here is what to do when the tenant will not
Who signs a condition report, what a signature on one actually means, how it works with multiple tenants, whether a typed name counts, and the procedure that keeps the report useful when nobody signs it back. Laws and rules