All agreements in between a proprietor and a renter are "rental contracts" according to Vermont's Residential Rental Agreements Act (RRAA). 9 V.S.A. § 4451( 8 ). The rental agreement does not have to remain in writing. You and the landlord have all the rights and obligations in the law although there is no written contract. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.
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The RRAA requires that the responsibilities and rights of landlords and renters in the law are implied (made a part of) all rental arrangements. Which ones are implied in all rental agreements? See this list of rights and tasks of occupants and landlords. For more details on these rights and duties, visit our Rights and Duties Explained page.

All of the contracts made by you and the proprietor or suggested 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 safeguards property owners and requires them to do (or not do) some things. The law is the exact same if you have a written or spoken rental arrangement. 9 V.S.A. § 4453.

Any part of a rental arrangement that tries to get around the RRAA isn't legal. 9 V.S.A. § 4454. See the list of rights and responsibilities in the RRAA for what must remain in a rental arrangement.

The RRAA never ever utilizes the word "lease." Calling a residential rental contract a "lease" does not have any special 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 use the word "lease."

Rental agreements can be for a time period that is specified in the rental arrangement. For instance, the agreement might be six months or a year. During that time, all of the terms (including the quantity of lease) of the occupancy stay the same. Or a rental contract can be "month-to-month." This indicates the length of the occupancy or the quantity of lease can be changed as long as you get the notification required by the RRAA.

As far as rental arrangements go, calling it a lease doesn't guarantee that the terms can't be changed for a year. If you want the occupancy to be for a particular amount of time, you need to get the property owner to concur.

All of the rights and responsibilities of the RRAA are part of the agreement even without being documented. 9 V.S.A. § 4453. Any additional terms might not be enforceable unless you and the property owner have actually spoken about them and agreed - and then only as long as the RRAA does not restrict the contract. 9 V.S.A. § 4454.

If you have just a verbal arrangement, you may "concur" to something without understanding you have agreed. For example, if you agree to no holes in the walls thinking that does not keep you from hanging images, the proprietor might charge you for fixing the holes from hanging your images.

When you are deciding to rent a house, you need to pay very close attention to what the proprietor states.

Because the RRAA sets out lots of rights and duties of occupants and property owners, and since written rental contracts can't alter what is in the RRAA, a written rental arrangement tends to have more advantages for landlords than for tenants.

Advantages for a landlord:

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

• The proprietor could make the time length of advance notice you need to provide the proprietor when you want to vacate longer. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d).
• A composed rental contract could require you to pay your proprietor's lawyer's costs if an attorney is utilized to enforce any part of the contract or to evict you. (Note: If you harm the unit or disrupt your next-door neighbors and your property owner evicts you since of it, the RRAA makes you responsible for the proprietor's lawyer's charges. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( e).).
• A composed rental contract can name individuals who can reside in the system, and keep you from letting someone move in. - Note: It would be discrimination for a property owner to evict you for having a baby. 9 V.S.A. § 4503( a).
• A landlord can keep you from subleasing the place you lease, 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ), and can kick out the individual who subleases your place in an "expedited hearing." Expedited ways quicker than usual. 12 V.S.A. § 4853b.
  
  A composed rental agreement may assist you as an occupant since:
  
  - It might guarantee that the rent won't change until a certain date.
• It can restrict the amount your lease can increase.
• It can state the length of time you can live there.
• If it isn't composed in the arrangement, the proprietor can't say you agreed to it. Verbal contracts outside the composed agreement may not be enforceable. For instance, a written agreement can say who need to spend for heating fuel or electrical power.
  
  Generally, a landlord can not charge late charges.
  
  A late cost is legal just if:
  
  - The rental agreement states a late charge will be charged for late rent, and
  
  - The charge is only the affordable expense to the proprietor because of the late payment. See Highgate Associates, Ltd. v. Merryfield, 157 Vt. 313 (1991 ). Reasonable expenses to the property manager means the property owner's real additional expenditure due to the fact that of late rent, like additional cost in keeping the books, driving over to you, making call, or writing you letters.
  
  A late charge is not legal when:
  
  - A flat charge of a specific amount of money if lease is paid after the rent day is typically not the property owner's sensible cost, and so is illegal.
• Your landlord can not provide you a rent "discount rate" for paying by a specific date. In one case, the Windham Superior Court held that rewards for early payments are the exact same as charges and thus, they are not lawfully valid. See Shapiro v. Cormier, Docket No. 220-5-12 Wmcv (Windham Super. Ct., Aug. 22, 2012). (If you require an available variation of this PDF document, we will supply it on your request. Please use our site feedback form to do so.)
  
  A rental arrangement can consist of these terms:
  
  - Only individuals named in the composed rental agreement (and their small kids, even if they show up later on) can live in the rental unit.
• Subleasing is allowed or not enabled. 9 V.S.A. § 4456b( a)( 1 ).
• Smoking is not enabled.
• Pets are not enabled. But, if you require an animal because of your special needs, see our Reasonable Accommodations page.
• A description of what areas (home, other locations) are included.
• Rules about using typical locations.
• Who is accountable for paying energy costs.
• The responsibility to pay a set quantity of lease, for a set of time, even if the occupant chooses to vacate early. (The property owner has a responsibility to re-rent the place as quickly as possible, but the renter may owe lease up until someone else rents it.)
  
  You can accept a change but you don't need to.
  
  If you or the property owner wishes to alter a term or condition in your rental arrangement, you can ask each other to agree. You or the proprietor can't change the rights and responsibilities in the RRAA, but other parts of rental agreements can be changed. If the rental agreement is in writing, modifications need to be in writing.
  
  Generally for things like pets, improvements (remodeling or upgrading devices or components) if one individual asks, and the other concurs, then that regard to the rental arrangement is changed. But if the landlord desires something, and you don't want it, then you can disagree.
  
  The examples listed below assume that the system remains in great repair work, and not being harmed by the occupant:
  
  - Two months after you move in the proprietor says, "I want to take out the tub and put in a shower." You state, "No, I like the tub." The bath tub belongs to what you consented to lease, and you don't accept change it. Landlord can't renovate the restroom.
• Or, landlord states, "I am changing my mind. You can't have a family pet." You don't need to accept get rid of your pet.
• Or you state, "I do not like the gas range in the home. I want an electrical stove." Landlord does not need to consent to a new range.
  
  Note: There is a distinction between agreements to alter something and repair work needed by law. The RRAA does not permit you or your pet to trigger damage, 9 V.S.A. § 4456( a), (c), and the RRAA requires the landlord to keep the system safe and tidy, 9 V.S.A. § 4458. See our page about Repair Problems and Tenant's Right to Repair.
  
  You or the property owner might want to end the occupancy if among you desires a change and the other doesn't. If your rental contract is not for a particular amount of time, either of you might give advance notice to end the occupancy. 9 V.S.A. § 4456( d), 9 V.S.A § 4467( c)( e).
  
  Staying longer than a composed contract
  
  Do you have a written rental contract that states the rental agreement was for a particular period of time, for example January 1 - December 31? If that time has ended, you may wonder if there is still a written rental arrangement, or is there no composed rental contract?
  
  It depends upon what the composed arrangement states. If it states the dates and does not more address what happens when it expires, the written contract ends, but the tenancy does not. That is since when you relocate with the contract of a landlord, the proprietor should send out a notification to end the occupancy, even if there is a composed rental agreement which expires. Simply put, the expiration of the agreement is not enough notification to end an occupancy.
  
  A composed rental arrangement that ends on a particular date might include a stipulation that defines the length of the occupancy after that date has passed. It might state, for instance, the occupancy continues from month to month. Or it might state if you do not move out, the occupancy continues for another year.
  
  Whatever it states, if the landlord wants you out, they have to offer you a termination notification required by the tenancy you have.
  
  Find out more on our Rent Increases page.
  
  A Vermont law that took result on July 1, 2018, legalized belongings of approximately an ounce of cannabis and 2 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 type of federally helped rental aid, beware. Your lease and program rules may still make it an infraction of the rules for you to have marijuana or marijuana plants in your rental system. Your lease may also prohibit cigarette smoking, consisting of smoking cigarettes cannabis.
  
  The new Vermont law does not change the terms of your lease. The brand-new law does not change the program guidelines for occupants with federal rental assistance. If you are not sure, examine your lease or program rules or speak to your property owner or housing authority. You can also contact us for aid. Your details will be sent to Legal Services Vermont, which screens demands for help for both Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont.
  
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