Having a written lease with tenants is very important. By spending a bit of time before a tenant moves in to draft a lease agreement, the landlord can save  a lot time and resources later on when the tenants do not comply with the agreement. At the same time, as the tenant, you want to be sure you understand what your rights and responsibilities are under the lease.

You should carefully review the lease before you sign it. You should negotiate any terms that you do not feel comfortable with or know that you cannot fulfill. You are renting a home or commercial space, you should treat it like your own.

If you find that the place is not safe or the landlord is actively failing to make necessary repairs, you should not feel like you have no options. You should immediately inform the landlord in writing of any issues and put in writing any repair requests. This way, you will have a record of when and what was requested from the landlord instead of simply relying on oral requests. There are many more issues that arise between landlords and tenants, and we have the experience to navigate.