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Leases & Notices

6 tools, 8 guides

Writing the lease, renewing it, ending it, entering the property, and every notice that has to be served before a court will look at you.

A tenancy runs on paper: the lease and its addenda at the start, extensions and renewals in the middle, and a notice of some kind at the end. This section holds the documents in that order, and the guides explain which document a situation actually calls for — a notice to vacate and an eviction notice are not the same instrument, and the wrong one restarts the clock.

Notice periods, entry rules and eviction steps differ by state and sometimes by city. Where a page gives a period, it names the statute it read and the date it read it; where a template asks for a period, it leaves the blank for your own state's number.

Engraving of an open lease binder with a fountain pen and brass corner protector
The binder a tenancy runs from — the lease, its addenda, and the notices that follow.

Tools

Leases

Pet addendum template

The approved pet, deposit, pet rent and house rules, signed with the lease.

Guides

How to write a lease agreement

The clauses a self-managed landlord writes, in the order they belong.

12 min

What is a lease agreement?

What the document does, who it binds, and when it stops binding them.

6 min

Lease vs rental agreement

Fixed term against month-to-month, and which one your market wants.

6 min

Month-to-month lease

Flexibility, notice periods, and the rent premium that pays for both.

7 min

Lease renewal guide

Renew, convert or let it roll — and the letter for each.

7 min

How to file an eviction notice

The filing sequence, what the clerk needs, and what voids a filing.

10 min

Types of eviction notices

Pay-or-quit, cure-or-quit, unconditional quit — and when each applies.

8 min

Landlord right of entry

Notice you must give, hours you may enter, and emergencies that waive it.

7 min