When the landlord and tenant sign the rental lease, they agree on following some rules and regulations. Both parties have to abide by the rules until the lease ends after a written time period. If the landlord rents a residential or commercial property for more than a few months, there are chances that something might change that prompts him to change the lease agreement rules.
As a landlord, he might want to do this to fulfill the business needs better. So, is it possible for the landlords to change the lease agreement after it is signed? Do you know how the landlord can make changes to the lease agreement legally?
The answer is “no.” A landlord cannot make any changes in the agreement mid-stream without considering the tenant’s view. If he tries to violate the lease terms forcibly, it can lead to serious legal issues. Therefore, landlords should try to avoid illegal ways.
However, that doesn’t imply that there are no options left at the landlord’s end to make the changes. He can follow the legal ways to make any required changes using a lease addendum signed by both landlord and tenant. Have a look at what options are on the table!
Ideally, in any lease, no single party can change essential terms such as rental payment, length of the lease period, or any fees unless there is a clause in the lease that gives one party the power to change a term on its own.
When both landlord and tenant sign a lease, the landlord can’t change its terms without considering the tenant’s opinion. The lease can be altered only when both parties sign another written agreement.
See also Can landlord show up unannounced?While the landlord can’t change terms in the middle of the lease, he can do so on the renewal. When the existing lease ends, the landlord can come up with new terms and conditions.
It is possible to change the lease terms in mid-stream only through a lease addendum; with this, a certain part of the contract is amended and signed by both parties. It will work only when the landlord and the tenant agree to make the changes in the agreement. It can be done for a part to be removed from the lease or add a new term.
In simple words, a lease addendum is actually a new contract stapled with the original lease to update the existing terms or add the new terms.
It can be made for any outlined term that the landlord or tenant wants to change in the original agreement. If either of the parties refuses to sign the contract, the amendments cannot be made.
For example, if the tenant was not allowed to have any pets, but the landlord agrees to it, or the landlord is old enough not to mow the grass now, you can add the amendments to the original lease through lease addendum.
In case of a month-to-month lease, the landlord may want to increase the rent, security deposit, or impart some other changes, and the tenant may also want to keep the pet or want another parking spot. In such a condition, both landlord and tenant must agree on the terms before signing the contract for the next month.
Writer and content creator interested in Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Jobs and landlord issues. I have a bachelor’s degree in Communication from the Andrés Bello Catholic University, VE, and I also studied at Chatham University, USA. In this blog I write and collect information of interest around agreements, property and mortgage.