The Lease and Important Provisions

THE LEASE AND IMPORTANT PROVISIONS: 

   The importance of the lease cannot be overemphasized! Your basic rights and duties, as well as those of your landlord., will be found in the lease. Many people sign the lease without careful reading. Often the lease consists of a long form which the landlord will say is the "standard" form that everyone signs. Don't sign a lease until you have read, and feel you understand the lease. A lease is valid as soon as it is signed, and you usually cannot terminate the lease if you change your mind. See "Consequences for Terminating Without Excuse".

  You can modify a lease before signing. The law permits you to make almost any change in the terms of the lease, as long as the landlord agrees to the change. Don't be afraid to propose changes in the lease. Make the changes in ink and make sure that you  and the landlord initial the changes. DON'T  leave the manager's office without a copy of the final lease agreement. If you have a dispute with your landlord, you will find it difficult to rely on verbal promises that have not reduced in writing. Both you and landlord should sign and date all pages separate from the lease agreement. If you have agreements about pets, replacing the carpet, painting the walls, or who pays the utilities, such agreement should be stated clearly in writing. Texas Law requires a landlord to provide at least one residential tenant on a lease with a copy of the written lease within three days of the execution, or within three days of a tenant's written request for a copy of the lease. Failure of landlord to provide a copy of a lease to a tenant within the three requested days will prevent a landlord from enforcing a lease, except for non-payment of rent, which may still be enforced by the landlord. You may seek judicial relief from a landlord who fails to provide you with a copy of the lease, with the Justice of the Peace.