A lease agreement states the relationship and requirements for a lessee and lessor. It describes a legal agreement in which you are given possession of an apartment or assets owned by the landlord or business in which to live or use for a specific length of time. Having a well documented lease agreement template before your lease is an important step.
Lease agreement and types
A lease agreement can take different forms and styles as there are different requirements under different jurisdictions. a lease agreement can be long or short, simple or complex. Enforcing a contract generally means asking a court for a judgment that would force one or both parties to do—or not do—what the contract specifies. Leases must be signed by both parties. They do not have to be witnessed
Although the fundamentals are the same for the lease arrangement, lease can be divided into two types from accounting perspectives: operating lease and capital lease. In an operating lease, the lessor transfers only the right to use the property to the lessee. At the end of the lease period, the lessee returns the property to the lessor. Since the lessee does not assume the risk of ownership, the lease expense is treated as an operating expense in the income statement and the lease does not affect the balance sheet. In a capital lease, the lessee assumes some of the risks of ownership and enjoys some of the benefits. Consequently, the lease, when signed, is recognized both as an asset and as a liability on the balance sheet. The firm gets to claim depreciation each year on the asset and also deducts the interest expense component of the lease payment each year.
There are various reasons for the company or the lessee to lease long term assets rather than buy them. For example, if the company are in the higher tax bracket, the tax benefits are greater to the lessor than the lessees, leases offer more flexibility in terms of adjusting to changes in technology and capacity needs. company may lease special equipments for some projects that may not last long.
Lease agreement template
When you formulate your lease agreement template, you are advised to have the include the lease property, lease duration, deposit, payments etc.
The first part of your lease agreement template is the details of leased Property: A lease should identify the property to be rented. Identification should include the street address and apartment number. lessee should inspect the specific apartment they are renting before they sign a lease. If, when you are ready to move in, the apartment you leased is not ready for occupancy, you may agree to take a different unit. However, you are not obligated to accept any apartment other than the one identified in the lease.
The second section of lease agreement template is lease duration: A lease should indicate the starting date and ending date of occupancy. Most leases are for 12 months. In some cases, a lease may be open-ended or month to month. Many leases are preprinted forms on which a landlord fills in the blanks and then both parties sign.
In your lease agreement template, you need to state whether a lease deposit is required. lease deposits usually are equal to one or two months of rent. They cannot be greater than two months of rent during the first year of the lease. Most leases specify that a deposit cannot be used as the last month of rent.
A lease agreement template should give instructions on the method of lease payment. the lease payment amount and method should be specified in the lease. Payment information includes the monthly rent amount, the total amount of the rent to be paid over the term of the lease
The last part of the lease agreement template is for property use and occupancy: Many leases agreement may indicates that the use of the apartment is limited to residential and specifies the number of people who may live there. This means it cannot be used for business nor to house more people than stated in the lease.