Free Lease Amendment

A Lease Amendment is a written document that details changes or modifications to the terms of a previously executed Lease Agreement.

A lease agreement is a contract where the owner of residential property (the landlord) agrees to lease or rent the property to a person or persons (the tenant) in exchange for an agreed-upon amount of money.

Table of Contents

• What is a Lease Amendment?
• When Do I Need an Amendment to a Lease Agreement?
• Consequences of Not Using a Lease Amendment Form
• Lease Amendment Sample

What is a Lease Amendment?

Sometimes, circumstances in life change and the agreements we are a party to need to change.

If a landlord and tenant agree to a change in an original lease agreement, a lease amendment is a great way to document the new parts of the contract without affecting the rest of the lease agreement.

Here are some basic terms to include in a lease amendment:

• Landlord: The name and address of the party who owns the property
• Tenant: The name and address of each tenant leasing the property
• Property: The address and details of the property leased
• Lease Agreement: The name and date of the original agreement
• Amended Sections: The specific sections of the agreement changed and how they are changed.
• Other Terms: A statement that the other terms and conditions of the lease agreement are unchanged and remain in full force and effect
• Counterparts: Allows amendment execution in counterparts if the parties are not in the same location
• Governing Law: The state whose laws will govern the amendment
• Signatures: All the parties should sign the amendment

Check the original lease agreement to see if you can amend the contract and how to amend the document.

You sometimes might refer to the amendment as a:

• Amendment to Lease Agreement
• Lease Addendum
• Addendum to Lease Agreement
• Lease Modification Agreement
• Lease Amending Agreement
• Lease Renewal Agreement
• Lease Extension

A lease agreement can have multiple amendments. Be sure to number each amendment in sequential order.

When Do I Need an Amendment to a Lease Agreement?

There are many instances where a landlord or tenant might want to change some terms of an original lease agreement.

Here are some examples of changes that landlords and tenants can make with a lease amendment:

• Renewing or extending the length of the lease
• Increasing or decreasing the monthly rent
• Allowing a pet
• Swapping or substituting tenants
• Adding a guarantor
• Adding a parking space or storage unit to the leased premises
• Requiring the tenant to get renter’s insurance
• Allowing the tenant to construct specific improvements
• Deleting a particular sentence or restriction

All parties to a lease agreement must agree to any changes documented in a lease amendment. The parties’ signatures on a lease amendment attest to this agreement.

Consequences of Not Using a Lease Amendment Form

A lease amendment is a handy way to make changes that are not complicated and that you can document in a paragraph or two.

If you do not use a lease amendment, you may be stuck with terms to your lease that are unfavorable or are not what you and the other party want.

Or, you will have to go through the time and expense of drafting a new lease agreement, which may leave you subject to the renegotiation of specific provisions that you were not anticipating.

Here is a chart of possible consequences a Lease Amendment could help prevent:

Lease Amendment Sample

Below you can find what a lease amendment typically looks like:

Lease Amendment

lease amendment