Standard Residential Lease

Make the written terms clear. Identify the parties, rental address, rent, due date, lawful fees, utilities and repair contacts. Review applicable federal lead information for most housing built before 1978. Clearly identify any permitted nonrefundable fee; do not assume a payment's label removes it from deposit protections. Give each signer the completed agreement and attachments.

Keep condition and deposit records. Retain payment history, dated photos, promised repairs and supporting costs for permitted deductions. Keep a forwarding address and a record of when possession ends and any new tenant takes occupancy. Ordinary wear is different from chargeable damage, and a deposit is not automatically a credit against the last month's rent.

Use the applicable accounting deadline. Review the sixty-day period after tenancy termination and the forty-five-day period after a subsequent tenant takes occupancy, using the shorter period. Check any contractor-repair extension and its notice conditions separately. Keep the written itemization, refund and delivery evidence; the state deposit provision describes the accounting duties.

Separate access from ending the tenancy. Explain routine entry consistently with the lease and quiet enjoyment, with emergencies handled separately. Monthly-tenancy endings generally require one full rental period's written notice; review the effective date and delivery requirements rather than treating it as an entry rule. Fixed-term renewals, breaches, repairs and protected early-ending situations need their own review. Keep notices and repair responses documented.

Map the recurring period before choosing an ending date. Record when each monthly rental period begins and ends, when rent is due and which terms continue from an earlier lease. Check the notice’s delivery date and proposed final date against the full-rental-period guidance above, the agreement and applicable protections. Use the actual calendar rather than treating a rental period as any fixed number of days. Retain notices and delivery records, then separately arrange keys, condition review, utility accounts and a forwarding address.

Give a rent proposal a clear starting period. Identify the proposed amount, first affected payment and delivery method. Read the lease’s rent, change and renewal provisions and the West Virginia rent-change guide before selecting the effective date. Allow advance written communication so the resident can consider the proposal. Review housing-program restrictions and prohibited retaliation or discrimination, then keep the proposal, response and any agreed amendment with the lease. Notice alone does not change rent already agreed for a fixed term.

Describe the room and shared facilities. Identify the private room, supplied furnishings, storage and parking, and list the common areas available to the resident. Confirm the signing parties and any permission needed under an existing lease. State the rent contribution, deposit, utility allocation and payment dates, including how shared bills are documented. Keep any separate roommate arrangement consistent with the landlord's lease, and retain condition records for the room, supplied items and relevant shared spaces.

Agree on household routines and private access. Discuss cleaning, guests, quiet hours, pets, shared supplies and repair contacts. Explain how maintenance or inspection access to the private room will be requested and scheduled consistently with the lease and applicable requirements, with emergencies addressed separately. Keep agreed rules and later changes in writing. If a resident leaves or stops contributing, preserve dates, payments and communications, then review the appropriate notice, possession, belongings and deposit process before changing access or financial responsibilities.