What is an addendum to a lease?
Landlords are sticklers for lease agreements and terms.
Once a contract is agreed and signed, it can feel like a tremendous job to change or modify any part of it.
But there are cases where certain conditions may necessitate an addition or modification to the terms of a contract.
In such cases, an addendum to the lease agreement is often appropriate and should serve the purpose.
The next logical question is: what is an addendum to a lease?
Here, we’ll break downthe meaning of a lease addendum, how it differs from a contract amendment, and how to write an addendum to a contract.
What is a lease addendum?
Addendum is a Latin word meaning “something added.”
An addendum to a lease is a document added to a contract between a landlord and tenant.
It usually contains new or extra information not initially present in the original agreement.
Primarily, an addendum signifies that the owner of the lease agreement is modifying the contract by adding new information to the original terms.
An addendum doesn’t equal a change in the existing agreement terms but rather the addition of new information.
Why are lease addendums important?
An addendum to a lease is necessary if you already have a solid lease contract but realize the original agreement isn’t comprehensive enough to cover all the terms you want the tenant to abide by while using your property.
Through a lease addendum, you can update the terms in the agreement to include new conditions for your property’s use.
For example, you may add new conditions in the addendum regarding developments like updates for rent payments or security deposit amount, tenancy extension, and landlord-tenant law disclosure.
When can I use a lease addendum?
Understandingwhat an addendum to a lease is should give you a good idea of when and how to use it. You can use a lease addendum when:
- Creating or modifying rules regarding pet keeping
- Adding a new cosigner or tenant to the existing lease
- Attending to a special request
- Authorizing tenants to conduct previously prohibited activities
Several other situations may necessitate using a lease addendum, but you should be mindful of how you implement it.
Sometimes, a contract amendment may be more appropriate than an addendum.
Addendum vs. amendment: What are the differences?
You’ll have two choices when modifying a contract.
You may attach an addendum or amend the terms. It’s easy to confuse an addendum to a lease agreement with a contract amendment.
But while you may use them for similar effects, they differ fundamentally.
A lease addendum involves adding new terms to a contract.
You’re not altering the existing conditions in the agreement; instead, you’re appending extra information to them.
On the other hand, an amendment involves adjusting the terms of a contract.
This process may take the shape of correction, elimination, or other alterations.
The main difference between an addendum and an amendment is that for the former, you’ll only add new items without touching the existing ones in the contract.
And for the latter, you’ll alter the existing conditions without adding new ones.
How to write an addendum to a lease
To write a lease addendum, you must first clarify what you want to add to the existing contract and determine the ideal way to convey this information as clearly as possible.
Primarily, an addendum should contain the following:
- A title
- The lease start date
- The date of the addendum
- Rental property address
- Name of the parties involved as they appear in the original contract
- Signatures of the involved parties
Alternatively, you may use a lease addendum form or sample. A template streamlines the process and ensures the appropriate addition of necessary information.
Plus, there are several template types available. For example, you can get a pet addendum to lease template or one that states new conditions for hosting guests and so on.
What does an addendum look like?
By now, you should have a good idea of what a lease addendum sample looks like.
Primarily, an addendum to a lease contains any new terms, conditions, or information you want to add to a lease agreement.
An addendum must be detailed, containing the name of all parties involved, the date, title, signature of the parties, and all other important information, as listed above.
The appropriate structure for an addendum should be the title first, then the date, followed by the addendum details with the parties’ names.
It should end with the signatures at the bottom of the document.
Instead of worrying about what a lease addendum example looks like, you can use lease addendum forms. These templates take care of the heavy lifting for you.
You’ll only need to fill in the designated spaces with the details of the additional terms.
Check out Pandadoc’s addendum to lease agreement template
Now that you know what an addendum to a lease is, consider creating one when there’s a need to add to the terms of a lease agreement with your tenants.
Understandably, you may not have the time to draft one from scratch.
Create a PandaDoc account and sign in to find sample addenda to lease agreements and access our lease addendum templates.
Plus, PandaDoc gets your lease addendum signed faster, thanks to eSigning features and end-to-end integration with third-party apps where necessary.