One Year Lease - Prepaid

[Raonull]

Is there a form lease you could recommend to use for this type of lease in California?  We want to make sure we have all our bases covered.  Our ad for this property included that we want NO SMOKERS.  Is that enforceable and can we legally put this into the lease?  Thank you for your antiicpated prompt response.    Holly     ---- Followup To - Hello, Due to the declining health of my mother-in-law and her recent move to a nursing facility , my husband's family home of 35 years is being put on the market as a lease property for the first time.  We have a very interested party(husband, wife, and 2 children) and are presented with a situation unique to us.  They have excellent credit and references.  They have been in California for 2 years, having come from FL for business relocation.  They have asked us for a small reduction in the monthly lease amount($4,000.00) if they pay us in full for the one year lease.  While this sounds like a dream come true, what could the downfall for this be?  I know that we legally are each liable for the one year term anyway, so is there any harm in this arrangement?

[Skene]

- Assuming state and local law allow you to do this, there is no risk from a management point of view.  However, there may be local or state restrictions on the pre-payment of rent.  This needs to be checked out BEFORE you accept the advance payment.  For example, in California you can accept 12 months of pre-paid rent, but not five months.  

Make sure that your rental agreement is clear that rental payments have been made through(DATE) and that the monthly payments of(X) will commence as of(DATE).  Since the next payment will be in month 13, and leases are generally 1 year and then revert month to month, you may want to consider now what you will do with the monthly rental amount as of month 13.  

Remember that you still need a good lease with all of the normal clauses.  Just because you do not have to worry about rental payments for the first 12 months doesn't mean that you should ignore them in months 13 and beyond.  Also, you need to make sure that the rental funds are properly budgeted so that your expenses can be paid.  Be sure to plan for the payment of any property debt you have now, or will have in the future, property insurance and property taxes.  Remember you won't be getting another rental payment for a full year!  Spend your income wisely!  

[Fonsie]

The California Apartment Association, the San Francisco Apartment Association and the Small Property Owners of San Francisco all have lease forms available and non-smoking agreements.  If you are a member or a non-member, you can probably purchase one or both(however you will pay a higher price as a non-member).  In addtion, many rental companies, will sell you a lease form.  You can also go on line and do a search for lease forms for California.  A Google search will provide good results.  You might also try YAHOO.  

However some of what you need is custom and will not be found in any standarized agreement.  You should hire an attorney to make sure this is done correctly.  It will be worth the money as if you end up with a dispute you will have a big problem.

Good luck!