What is a lease?
A lease is an agreement (contract) to rent a home.
- If a lease lasts for less than one year, it does not have to be in writing.
- If a lease is for more than a year, it must be in writing.
- If it lasts for more than a year and it's not in writing, you will not be able to get a court to help you if your landlord breaks his or her promises.
Should my lease be in writing?
It depends. Decide which is right for you.
- An oral lease is just as binding as a written lease if the lease is less than a year.
- If your lease is for more than a year it will not be binding if it is not in writing.
A lease lets your landlord get rent from you. It lets you live in your home.
If your lease is in writing, there is a record of what you and your landlord agreed to. This can avoid problems later.
There can be problems with a written lease
- In Wyoming a lease can say something different from the law.
- This means that leases can take away your legal rights.
- Tenants sometimes don't know what their legal rights are and sign them away without knowing it.
- To keep from doing this it is a good idea to have a lawyer read your lease and explain it. That way you know what you're getting into before you sign it. You'll also know if you want to suggest changes.
Signing a lease if you're under 18 years old
If you sign a lease when you're under 18 you can break the lease if you want.
- To break the lease, you must tell your landlord 30 days before you move out.
- If you break the lease, you must pay rent for the time you lived there.
- You must give up the apartment.
- You don't have to pay any future rent.
If you sign the lease before your 18th birthday, you can still get out of the lease after you turn 18.
- To do this, you have to break the lease fairly soon after turning 18.
- If you don't you will have to pay all the rent you would have paid if you stayed for the whole lease time.
Signing a lease with your roommates
If you sign a lease with roommates be careful. You will have to pay if they don't. The landlord can demand rent money from one of you or all of you.
Ask for your own lease covering the amount of your rent only. That way you won't have to worry about paying if your roommate doesn't.
Changes to your lease
You and your landlord can agree to change a written lease. Any changes should be put in writing and signed by both of you. If you write changes on your old lease you both should put your initials by the new stuff.
If you don't put changes in writing and a dispute arises, you might have trouble proving that your landlord agreed to something different.
After you sign your lease
Get a copy of your signed lease. Keep it in a safe place that's easy to locate. Keep the lease and any new agreements together.
