Leases & Rental Agreements

by Ann O'Connell Attorney, Janet Portman Attorney

Overview

Create a solid, binding lease that complies with your state laws

If you rent out residential real estate, you need to create documents that are legally valid where your rental property is located. Every state has its own rules when it comes to what landlords must include in their leases, and one-size-fits-all forms simply cannot comply with every state’s laws. This book gives you a template and several 50-state law charts, which you can use to create a lease or monthly rental agreement that will work in your state. You’ll also get customizable versions of key rental forms you need, including:

• a fixed-term lease
• a month-to-month rental agreement
•  a rental application
•  tenant reference and credit check forms
• move-in and move-out letters, and
• a property inspection checklist.

The 16th edition is completely updated to reflect the latest landlord-tenant laws—find out what your state requires regarding security deposits, entry to rental property, disclosures, termination notices, and much more. This new edition also covers topics relevant to today’s landlords, such as the wisdom of asking for applicants’ criminal history, the issues to consider when asking for attorneys’ fees, and how to evaluate tenant screening reports.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781413332728
Publisher:	NOLO
Publication date:	07/29/2025
Edition description:	Twelfth Edition
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Ann O’Connell is a legal editor at Nolo specializing in landlord-tenant and real estate law. Before joining Nolo as an editor, Ann was a freelance writer for Nolo and other publications and law firms. She has passed the bar exams in California, Nevada, and Colorado, where she is both an active attorney and a real estate broker. Ann practiced civil litigation in California and Colorado, and had her own firm in Colorado. At her firm, she focused on real estate, landlord-tenant, and small business cases. Ann earned her B.A. from Boston College and her J.D. from UC Berkeley Law.

Janet Portman, an attorney and formerly Nolo’s Executive Editor, received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford and a law degree from Santa Clara University. She is an expert on landlord-tenant law and the coauthor of Every Tenant’s Legal Guide, Renters’ Rights, Every Landlord’s Legal Guide, and First-Time Landlord.

Table of Contents

Your Lease and Rental Documents Companion 1. Preparing a Lease or Rental Agreement 2. Choosing Tenants: Your Most Important Decision 3. Getting the Tenant Moved In 4. Changing or Ending a Tenancy Appendixes A. State Landlord-Tenant Law Charts B. How to Use the Downloadable Forms on the Nolo Website C. Form Index

Interviews

Every landlord should be buying Every Landlord’s Legal Guide, our big and expensive book that includes a lease and seventeen additional chapters on everything from discrimination to terminating a tenancy. But not every landlord will buy it! For those who want just a lease and that’s all, thank you very much, this little book is for them. The alternative is a stationery-store form that is guaranteed to not comply with your state’s law, setting the stage for legal problems down the road. Start things right with a legal lease.

Editorial Reviews

"On my scale of one to 10, this excellent book rates a solid 10." Robert Bruss, real estate attorney and nationally syndicated columnist

"A comprehensive look at state and federal laws governing landlord-tenant relations. Recommended..." Library Journal

From the Author: Every landlord should be buying Every Landlord’s Legal Guide, our big book that includes a lease and seventeen additional chapters on everything from discrimination to terminating a tenancy. But not every landlord will buy it! For those who want just a lease and that’s all, thank you very much, this little book is for them. The alternative is a stationery-store form that is guaranteed to not comply with your state’s law, setting the stage for legal problems down the road. Start things right with a legal lease.

From the Publisher