Making Sense of Your Lease
Reading over a lease can be nerve racking. You have to
scrutinize every clause in order to make sure you will be
comfortable in your apartment, but how can you do that when it
seems like it’s written in another language?! According to the
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Office of Residential
Services, leases are written in another language… or at least
a language of another century. “Leases were developed in
medieval Britain and some of the language used in them dates
from that time, much to the confusion and mystification of
modern tenants.”
In order to make leases easier to understand, WPI redefined many
of the potentially confusing terms.
ARREARS: Overdue rent
ASSIGN: Transfer the unexpired portion of a lease to a new tenant
CAUSE OF ACTION: Specific situation that may become the basis
for a lawsuit
CIVIL: A non-criminal legal matter. Housing disputes are
generally handled in civil courts
COVENANT: Promise. Independent covenant: You must perform your
obligation even if the other party does not. Dependent covenant:
You carry out your obligation on the condition that the other
party fulfills its obligation
DEFAULT: To forfeit or lose by omission; to fail to perform a
legal obligation
DEMISED PREMISES: The place being rented
DETAINER: Withholding another’s property against his or her will
DISPOSSESS: Remove a person from land; the legal action brought
for nonpayment of rent
DISTRAINT (proceed by distress): The landlord takes your
personal property to force you to pay or eventually sells it to
get his or her money
EJECTMENT: Physical or legal eviction from land
EMURE: To take effect
ENJOYMENT: Possession or occupation of land. Quiet enjoyment:
freedom from invasion of privacy by landlord
EVICTION: Depriving a person of possession of occupancy.
Constructive eviction: not actually removing a tenant but making
it impossible for him or her to remain because of the
conditions, such as serious deterioration
GOODS AND CHATTELS: Personal property
INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS: To free from any responsibility or
liability
INURE: Take effect
LEASE: A type of legal agreement establishing a landlord-tenant
relationship
LESSEE: Tenant
LESSOR: Landlord
LIABILITY: Responsibility, loss; a negative element
NOTICE TO QUIT: Notification from the landlord to tenant
ordering tenant off the property, usually after thirty days from
the first day of the rental period
NOTICE TO VACATE: Notification from the tenant to the landlord
stating the tenant’s intention to leave the property, usually
after thirty days from the first day of the rental period
PARTIES TO A LEASE: Those who agree to abide by the provisions
of a lease; typically you as a tenant, any roommates, and the
landlord
POSSESSION: Lawful occupation and use of the land, subject to
protections of “quiet enjoyment”
REPLEVIN: Legal action to recover property that was unlawfully
seized
SUBLET: Agreeing to permit someone to use a rented property for
a term less that the full term of the lease, and to be paid for
that permission
SUMMARY PROCEEDING (to recover possession): Eviction. It is
called “summary proceeding” because it is a swift and simple
procedure for the landlord
TENANT AT SUFFERANCE: A tenant who has remained in a unit after
a lease or tenancy at will agreement has expired or was
terminated
TENANT WITHOUT A LEASE: A tenant with the landlord’s consent to
occupy a premises without a lease
TENANT WITH A LEASE: A tenant with a contract that allows for a
certain length of occupancy at a set rent
TERM OF LEASE: The length of time that a lease shall be in
effect; duration of obligation
WAIVER: Relinquishment of a right, agreeing to give up something
to which you are entitled
WARRANTY OF HABITABILITY: Promise that the property is safe and
usable for residential use.
Hopefully these definitions will help you make it through the
reading of your lease. If you still feel like you don’t
understand the terms of your lease, don’t feel like you can’t
ask questions. This is YOUR lease for YOUR apartment, so don’t
sign anything you don’t completely understand.
