We, at Efar, LLC believe that accurate, plain-English legal information and forms will help you solve many of your legal problems. However, this web-site is not designed to substitute for personalized advice from a knowledgeable attorney. If you feel that you need more information, or more detailed forms, consult an attorney that is licensed to practice in your state.

The rental agreement that a Tenant and Landlord sign is the contractual basis of their relationship. Taken together with the state and federal laws that everyone must follow, it sets out almost all the legal rules you must follow. The rental agreement is a practical document, full of crucial details, such as how long the tenant can occupy the property, and the amount of the rent, when and how much the rent can be increased, when the Landlord can enter the unit, and how he must notify of his entry.....the list is endless. 

Given the importance of all those details agreed upon in the rental agreement, there is no question that you do need to create effective and legal rental agreement to protect your rights. This web-site and our forms are designed to show you how, by providing clearly written, fair, and effective rental agreement forms, along with a clear explanation of each clause.

Our forms are accurate and up to date, based on current landlord-tenant laws.
In addition to showing you how to prepare a rental agreement, the form packages also cover key legal issues that landlords and tenants need to understand and include in the rental agreement, such as how to legally choose tenants and start a tenancy.

The form-packages provided by us include essential forms such as rental application (designed to help you choose the best tenant) and Landlord-Tenant Checklist (used to document the condition of the rental unit at the beginning AND at the end of the tenancy), will help you avoid legal problems with your tenant/landlord.

 These forms should not be used to rent out property that is subsidized by the government, such as the Section 8 Program of the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. You may need to use special, government created forms for that purpose.

How many tenants to allow? Two kinds of laws limit the number of people who can live in a rental unit.

State and local health and safety codes usually set maximum limits, based on the size of the unit, and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.

The federal government has it’s own set of rules; it establishes minimum limits on the number of tenants (Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S. Code Section 3601-3619, 3631). HUD (Department of Urban Housing and Urban Development) considers a limit of two persons per bedroom a reasonable occupancy standard - the size of the bedrooms is considered as well, and the federal test is known as “two per bedroom plus” standard.

The Fair Housing Act disallows illegal discrimination against families with children, but it also allows you to establish your own reasonable restrictions on the number of people in the rental unit. A landlord may prefer to limit the number of occupants to reduce the wear and tear of the unit, or to ensure a quiet, uncrowded environment for upscale tenants, but these reasons may not be considered a legitimate reason to decline renting to a family with children.

Figuring out whether your occupancy policy is legal is not always easy. If you have any questions, you may want to contact HUD’s Housing Discrimination Hotline

(800)669-9777.

New York landlords must comply with the “Unlawful Restrictions on Occupancy” law, commonly known as the “roommate” law (N.Y. RPL Section 235-f). The roommate law prohibits New York landlords from limiting occupancy of a rental unit to just the tenant named on the lease. It permits tenants to share their rental unit with their immediate family members, and, in many cases, with unrelated, nontenant occupants, too, as long as the tenant occupies the unit as a primary residence.

RENT CONTROL
In many states (California, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey and New York) have laws that limit the amount of rent a landlord can charge, and how much the rent can be increased. Many big cities in these states have enacted their own ordinances (rent stabilization). Rent control laws often control much more than just the rent - often certain eviction procedures are required by the ordinances. If you own or rent property in one of those states, you can obtain a copy of the ordinance and regulations interpreting it from the city manager’s office, or mayor’s office.