Charlotte Rental Agreements - Charlotte Property Management Tips

Our Charlotte Property Management practice sees all types of leases when we take over management of a Charlotte rental home from an individual landlord or another Charlotte Property Management company. Often, an individual homeowner will simply download a lease from the internet and some of these forms can be sufficient for use in Charlotte. On the other hand, many of these forms simply do not address even the most basic landlord-tenant issues, let alone those issues specific to Mecklenburg County and North Carolina. Property Managers (or Real Estate Brokers who happen to manage a few properties) will typically use the Realtor Residential Rental Contract that contains all of the proper clauses for North Carolina. The mistakes we see when we get these forms is that they have been filled out incompletely or incorrectly.

As a Charlotte rental property owner, why do you care what lease is being used for your home? It is your primary means of protection for your investment. A poorly designed lease will not provide the protection or the leverage you should have as a property owner. Many leases contain clauses and fees that are in violation of North Carolina law and an educated tenant will be able to sue you for treble damages in these cases (illegal late fees and returned check fees are the most common). I've seen landlords in court for tenants who haven't paid for months end up owing the tenant money because of their lease!

The correct lease will address upfront all of the important details regarding the term of the lease, rent payment, late fees, eviction fees, pets, housing rules, security deposits, tenant and landlord obligations, right of entry, termination notice requirements, repair responsibilities, county or city specific ordinances, HOA rules, etc. For example, the standard NCAR rental agreement is six pages long, excluding the repair addendum and other addenda such as pets, pools, lead paint, bedbug, etc.

I'm not going to attempt to address all of the clauses that should go into a lease, but rather I'll discuss the most common errors here.

1. The lease form is not completely filled out. At a minimum make sure you're completing every line in whatever form you're using! It should include a start date, the monthly rent, the term of the lease (year, month-to-month, etc), the amount of the security deposit, the names of the occupants, late fees, eviction fees, etc.
2. The form isn't signed. Make sure all of your tenants over eighteen sign the lease and preferably initial each page.
3. There's no security deposit. OK, so this really isn't a problem with the lease form, but it is such a huge mistake I had to address it. ALWAYS GET A SECURITY DEPOSIT! Especially if you're renting to a friend, coworker or family member. There is simply no business rationale for not getting one. After you get it, you must deposit it in an escrow account held in a North Carolina bank (yes, even if this is your only rental home and you're renting to a friend).
4. The late fee and/or returned check fee exceed the maximum allowed under North Carolina law. The late fee cannot exceed 5% of the rent and the maximum returned check fee is $25. Additionally, the late fee cannot be assessed until the fifth day after it is due. 
5. There's no Right of Entry clause. You want to be able to legally get into the home when necessary. Make sure your lease allows this as long as you provide reasonable notice to the tenant (48 hours notice is certainly reasonable).
6. There's no Lead-Based Paint Addendum for a home built prior to 1978. This is a Federal law and the penalties can be substantial. You don't need to test the home, but you need to disclose that it hasn't been tested. See this link for more information - Lead Paint Blog
7. There's no move-in report or any other documentation regarding the condition of the home just prior to the tenant's occupancy. This isn't really a lease item, but it is such a common and huge error that I felt compelled to address it. If nothing else, take a lot of photos and/or a video of the home the day before the tenant moves in. Make sure to keep them in a safe place.
8. The lease doesn't waive the 10 day notice requirement for filing eviction. This tip alone is worth the time you've spent reading this blog. North Carolina law requires a landlord to provide written notice to a tenant ten days before filing eviction. If the notice doesn't meet specific criteria and contain specific wording, a magistrate may call it invalid and you'll have to start over (I've seen it happen!). Here's the tip - your lease can waive this requirement so you don't have to provide it! Simply add these words to your lease "Tenant agrees to waive the required 10 day notice period prior to filing for Summary Ejectment in the event of default by Tenant." Now you may simply file the eviction papers when the tenant defaults.
9. The lease doesn't have the proper addenda addressing neighborhood or property specific issues. I can't go into all of them here, but here are some common omissions - Housing Rules, Drug Free Housing, Bedbugs, Appliances, Repair, Charlotte Rental Ordinance, Pool or Hot Tub, Lawn Care, etc.

When you have a good landlord and a great tenant none of this may seem important. If things turn sour, however, the lease is the most important document you can have. Unfortunately for us, it is rare that someone will turn over a tenant-occupied home to Alarca for management when everything is going well. We typically will take over when the tenant is behind on the rent or the current Charlotte property management company isn't meeting the needs of the homeowner. It makes it much more difficult to quickly deal with a problem tenant when the lease isn't completed correctly or doesn't contain the proper clauses.

If you're a good landlord, you've performed the proper screening and your lease contains the proper clauses, you can significantly decrease the risk of a major financial and emotional headache. If it's too late, call a professional Charlotte Property Manager to help you out!