Leasing Your Home: Important Tips

If you own a second home or condo at the Lake, leasing it to renters may be a great way to earn supplemental income to help offset your second mortgage payment. While there are several benefits to leasing your home, however, there are also several potential drawbacks.

Before leasing your home, it's important to draft a solid lease agreement with the help of an attorney at the Lake of the Ozarks. If properly created, your lease agreement should help protect you and your property if and when issues arise at a later date. O'Donnell Law Center is here to offer a few important considerations for those of you thinking about renting out your second home.


Things To Consider Before Renting Your Home

The lease agreement is a legal contract between you and your renter. Here are some typical components of a standard lease agreement.

Length Of Lease
Before drafting your lease agreement, it's important to decide how long you wish to have your home occupied. One year is a common term for a lease agreement, but this term can range from six months to two years or more. 

Related to length of lease term are things such as what happens if or when:
  • The lease is up
  • The renter leaves the home before the lease is up
  • The renter wishes to stay on a month-to-month contract after the lease expires

Rent Details
Rent amount is another crucial component. This section of the agreement spells out how much your renter will owe you every month, what day of the month the rent is owed to you, and what happens if your renter is late on his/her payments.

Lease Regulations
As the owner of your home, you probably have specific requirements for how your renter is allowed to treat your property, such as:
  • What types of modifications the renter is allowed to make to the home
  • How many guests are allowed to spend the night
  • If there is a limit as to how many nights in a row a guest may stay in the home
  • What size / number of pets they are allowed to have.
Deposits and Fees
This section of your lease agreement is where you describe what fees your renter will be responsible for beyond the rental amount. For example, you may wish to require a security deposit, an additional deposit if pets are involved, and fees for late or returned payments.

Other Considerations
With the above components carefully detailed, your lease agreement will be off to a solid start. But there are many, many other important components that must be considered.  Here are just a few of them:
  • Who will be responsible for paying the utility bills
  • Who will be responsible for making any necessary repairs
  • Whether or not you require renter's insurance
  • Whether or not you (the owner) will be able to enter the property in emergency situations and how to handle scheduled maintenance

O'Donnell Law Center Can Help Draft Your Agreement!

If you are thinking about leasing your home, contact our law firm at the Lake of the Ozarks for help drafting a solid lease agreement. Our attorney will be here for you along every step of the process, from drafting the agreement to enforcing the contract if necessary. Contact O'Donnell Law Center at the Lake of the Ozarks for more information!


Call the most trusted law firm at the Lake of the Ozarks to get started today:
(573) 552-0317
We Carry Your Burden ~ You Carry On With Life.

Disclaimer: No attorney-client relationship is created by the publication of this blog.


The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely on advertising.


Phone: (573) 552-0317

O'Donnell Law Center, LLC
1026 Palisades Blvd. Suite 3
Osage Beach, MO  65065

(Located on the McDonald's Side of the Building)

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