You have signed a lease agreement with your tenant and you want to change it during the course of the lease. A lease amendment is used to change an existing lease agreement between a tenant and a landlord by adding or deleting terms or changing existing terms. To avoid risking your interests, it is recommended that you sign an amendment to set in stone the contractual changes you have agreed to with your Tenant. An amendment allows the parties to change the terms without having to sign a new lease agreement. Both the landlord and the tenant must agree to the amendment. It is usually used in the following cases: bringing in a new roommate, increasing the payment date or the amount of rent, extending the end date of the lease, changing the rent payment date.
There are specific changes to your property or tenants that require a lease amendment. These include, but are not limited to:
➤ You are a landlord who wants to make specific changes to an existing lease
➤ You are a tenant, and you wish to propose specific changes to your lease agreement to your landlord
➤ You want to make changes to your existing lease agreement, and you want to formalize the agreement
➤ You want to change specific terms of your lease agreement and you would like to have legal protection with a written agreement
The Lease Amendment is a convenient tool for landlords and tenants because it allows both parties to easily document an agreement to change the original terms of the lease. It allows you to change specific terms while leaving the rest of the lease intact and in effect. When creating your amendment, you will want to include information such as the names of the landlord(s) and tenant(s); the effective date of the original lease; the date of the amendment; the address and nature of the leased property; the provisions of the original lease that are being amended; and how they are being amended.
What should a lease amendment contain?
Unlike the lease agreement itself, the amendment does not require any particular form. You can submit it as a document written on plain paper. However, in order for it to be valid, it must contain certain mandatory information. In particular, you must :
➤ Indicate all the parties to the contract, i.e. you, but also the tenant(s) concerned
➤ Make reference to the lease contract and in particular to its date of signature and to the parties involved
➤ Mention the complete address of the accommodation concerned
➤ Specify the effective date of the amendment
The drafting of an amendment to the lease contract cannot be improvised. Once it has been drafted, all that remains is for all parties to sign it, and they must respect its content.
What are the main reasons for an amendment?
Drawn up by mutual agreement and signed by both parties, the amendment can revise the rent, change the destination of the premises, or authorize subletting.
The lease amendment for rent increase
The lease for residential use can be supplemented by an amendment, in particular to increase the rent. The amendment of the lease to increase the rent is possible when the contract is renewed. It occurs when the lessor wishes to adjust the rent in the case of an undervaluation compared to the market rates. The rent can also be increased following an increase that has been the subject of a rider. This occurs when the landlord makes improvements to the unit.
The lease amendment for extension
A lease does not automatically end when the contract expires. At the end of the lease, either the lessor gives notice with or without an offer to renew, or the tenant gives notice or requests renewal of the lease. If no notice or request for renewal has been given, the commercial lease continues by tacit renewal for an indefinite term. In order to prevent the landlord from terminating the lease, we recommend that you sign an extension to your lease to ensure that you will be able to remain in your rental for the desired period
A lease amendment for a new or additional tenant
A lease addendum for an additional tenant is a document showing an agreement between the landlord and the tenant(s) to incorporate a new tenant into a residential lease.
When is a lease amendment not required?
The departure of one of the co-tenants not replaced
If you rent your property to co-tenants via a co-tenancy lease with a solidarity clause, one co-tenant may wish to leave the property. In practice, if one of the co-tenants leaves and is not replaced, you do not need to sign an amendment. The lease continues with the other tenants.
Buying an occupied property
There is no need to redo a lease or make a rider when you buy an occupied property. The lease is automatically transferred to the buyer without any particular formality. You simply have to inform the tenant of the change of owner to recover the rents.
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