Rules that You and the Landlord Agree To in the Lease or Tenancy Agreement

The lease or tenancy agreement is a contract between you and your landlord. The items that you and your landlord agree to in the contract are called the terms of the contract.

As stated in the previous section, the law incorporates some terms into the contract whether you included them or not. The law, however, does not cover all the possible matters that a landlord and tenant might agree to in a tenancy agreement. There are items that are not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act which you and your landlord can make an agreement about.

For example, although the Act states how a security deposit will be held and returned, it does not indicate whether there will be a security deposit charged, nor responsibility for repairs. These are some of the terms that you and your landlord can agree to yourselves. Once agreed upon, you and the landlord must conduct your relationship according to these rules, unless you both agree to change the rules.

Once the contract is completed, both you and the landlord are legally bound by the contract. This means that if one of you breaks a rule that is set out in the contract, there is a risk that the other will take some action to end the contract or to recover compensation.

May 2005