Tenants And Landlords Resource Guide - Michigan State University, College Of Law (Page 5 of 39) in pdf

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Creating and Terminating Tenancies and Understanding the Lease

THE TENANCY

Q1 What are the types of tenancies? ....................................................................................5

Q2 Are there advantages and disadvantages to the different types of tenancies? ...............6

THE LEASE

Q1 Are there advantages to a written lease? ........................................................................6

Q2 What provisions should be included in the lease? .........................................................7

Q3 What provisions are prohibited by law from being included in the lease? ....................7

Q4 What if the lease contains a provision that is prohibited by law or is missing the

required disclosure language? ..............................................................................................8

Q5 What other provisions can be included in the lease? .....................................................8

Q6 How can a lease be terminated? .....................................................................................8

Q7 What are the termination rights for senior citizens or persons incapable of

independent living? ..............................................................................................................9

Q8 What does “joint and several liability” mean? ...............................................................9

Q9 Can a landlord raise the rent once the lease has started? ...............................................9

The Security Deposit

COLLECTING THE SECURITY DEPOSIT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TENANCY

Q1 Is there a limit on the amount that a landlord may collect as a security deposit? ........10

Q2 What exactly is considered a security deposit? ............................................................10

Q3 Is there a difference between a fee and a deposit? .......................................................10

Q4 Once collected, what must the landlord do with the security deposit? ........................10

Q5 Whose money is it anyway?.........................................................................................11

Q6 What rights and responsibilities does the landlord have with regard to the tenant’s

security deposit?.................................................................................................................11

Q7 What is the point of the inventory checklist? ...............................................................11

Q8 Is it important to properly complete the inventory checklist? .....................................11

RECOVERING THE SECURITY DEPOSIT AT THE END OF THE TENANCY

Q1 What must the TENANT do at the end of the lease? ...................................................12

Q2 What must the LANDLORD do at the end of the lease? .............................................12

Q3 What must the tenant do when he or she receives the itemized list of damages? ........12

Q4 What must the landlord do once he or she receives notice of the tenant’s dispute of

the itemized list of damages? .............................................................................................12

Q5 Who must file the suit—the landlord or the tenant—for the security deposit? ...........12

Subleasing

Q1 Does the landlord have to agree to the sublease?.........................................................13

Q2 If the tenant is to sublease, what exactly can be subleased? ........................................14

Q3 What duties does the original tenant have when subleasing? ......................................14

Q4 What about the security deposit? .................................................................................14

Q5 What if the subtenant stops paying rent? .....................................................................14

Q6 Can the original tenant be released from the obligations under the lease? ..................15

Eviction Proceedings

STARTING THE EVICTION PROCESS BEFORE GOING TO COURT

Q1 What lawful reason(s) must be given to evict a tenant? ..............................................16

Q2 If one roommate moves out and stops paying rent, can the other tenant(s) be evicted?16

Q3 What is proper notice of eviction and how important is it? .........................................17

Q4 How much notice must be given to the tenant before the landlord may file suit? .......17

Tenants And Landlords Resource Guide - Michigan State University, College Of Law Page 5

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