# What odd things have you seen in rental agreements/leases? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 24, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-have-you-seen-in-rental-agreements-leases/583045 "2011-05-24T18:41:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-have-you-seen-in-rental-agreements-leases/583045/21 "2011-05-25T06:05:17Z")
I once had a lease that specified in writting what I was allowed to put in the toilet (urine, feces, toilet tissue, & vomit only). Apparently the landlord had alot of trouble with past tenents clogging up the pipes with things like feminine products. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-have-you-seen-in-rental-agreements-leases/583045/22 "2011-05-25T07:48:02Z")
The only slightly odd one I’ve seen was a clause to not use the flat as a place of business, including working from home. Didn’t strike me as that odd, though the brothers who owned the house chuckled and exchanged glances as they pointed it out. When I started getting lots of nervous phone calls for ‘VIP massage services,’ I realised why they’d put in that clause… I love the parrot story - low rent _and_ a free parrot, what’s not to like? ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-have-you-seen-in-rental-agreements-leases/583045/23 "2011-05-25T18:37:41Z")
> [@Amasia](#): > > A friend of mine subleased an apartment in which toenail clipping was forbidden, except in the bathroom with the door closed. Apparently the other roommate was extremely bothered by that sound. I feel the same way. For some reason that sound is excruciating to me. Our landlord stipulated that if we were to have internal curtains\* over the windows they HAD to to match the exterior of the building. The exterior is a beige and brown. Our curtains were a deep burgundy. He said they didn’t match and we had to take them down. After caliming the missus down (a lawsuit would cost more than a new set of curtains) we went with a harvest gold. \*Apparently the owner HATES anyone having curtains as he thinks the horizontal blinds should be adequate. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-have-you-seen-in-rental-agreements-leases/583045/24 "2011-05-25T19:12:30Z")
This wasn’t a landlord or management company, but a potential roommate. A teacher at the local college was advertising for a roomie. The deal was that the roomie had to sleep in a room the size of a closet, was not allowed to use the kitchen, couldn’t have guests over, and had to help the teacher correct papers. Oh yeah, and had to pay 75% of the rent. Someone actually took him up on it. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-have-you-seen-in-rental-agreements-leases/583045/25 "2011-05-25T19:18:36Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > This wasn’t a landlord or management company, but a potential roommate. > > A teacher at the local college was advertising for a roomie. The deal was that the roomie had to sleep in a room the size of a closet, was not allowed to use the kitchen, couldn’t have guests over, and had to help the teacher correct papers. > > Oh yeah, and had to pay 75% of the rent. > > Someone actually took him up on it. Did they forbid them to attend Hogwarts? Because I know him. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-have-you-seen-in-rental-agreements-leases/583045/26 "2011-05-25T19:23:27Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > Did they forbid them to attend Hogwarts? Because I know him. You know the dude? Arrogant ass is what he was. I took a class that he taught. His typical MO was to put on a record for us to listen to and leave the classroom. ---
**Author:** ![OleOneEye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f14d63/32.png) [@OleOneEye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OleOneEye)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-have-you-seen-in-rental-agreements-leases/583045/27 "2011-05-25T20:32:16Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > But #10 was the kicker - you could not have any overnight visitors of the opposite sex that were not related to you. Nothing quite this bad, but at the last place I lived, the landlord told me I needed to introduce any overnight guests to management upon arrival. :dubious: I could almost understand this if I’d been renting a room in an owner-occupied house, but this was a regular apartment building. Anyone else seen a similar restriction? ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-have-you-seen-in-rental-agreements-leases/583045/28 "2011-05-26T13:55:26Z")
> [@OleOneEye](#): > > Nothing quite this bad, but at the last place I lived, the landlord told me I needed to introduce any overnight guests to management upon arrival. :dubious: > > I could almost understand this if I’d been renting a room in an owner-occupied house, but this was a regular apartment building. > > Anyone else seen a similar restriction? I had a friend who lived in a more structured boarding house type set-up. Your roommate was not necessarily of your choosing - each bedroom had its own lock. And any overnight guests who stayed longer than 1-2 nights had to pay a nightly staying fee. I stayed there when my parents were splitting up and needed a place to crash. The rent was cheap, and I slept on her back porch. ---
**Author:** ![DeepLiquid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deepliquid/32/14893_2.png) [@DeepLiquid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeepLiquid)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-have-you-seen-in-rental-agreements-leases/583045/29 "2011-05-26T14:58:48Z")
I rented an apartment with a lease requirement that said I had to own a working vacuum cleaner, must show the vacuum cleaner to the building owner for approval prior to moving in, must vacuum weekly, and must change the vacuum bags monthly. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-have-you-seen-in-rental-agreements-leases/583045/30 "2011-05-26T16:34:06Z")
We put a statement in the lease agreement with our tenent (owner occupied w/one tenant) that says he is aware that we are both smokers and agrees to hold us harmless for any health or other issues that may arise from it. This was mostly to keep him from whining about the smoke. ---
**Author:** ![NoiseBomb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/49beb7/32.png) [@NoiseBomb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoiseBomb)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-have-you-seen-in-rental-agreements-leases/583045/31 "2011-05-28T06:22:20Z")
> [@OleOneEye](#): > > Nothing quite this bad, but at the last place I lived, the landlord told me I needed to introduce any overnight guests to management upon arrival. :dubious: My Inner Troll sees all sorts of fun you could have with that one. “Hi, Management? Meet Guest! Please don’t knock on the door, as we will be FUCKING all night in my apartment.” Do this 3 or 4 nights each week with a different friend. Platonic ones are fine if they’re in on the gag. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-have-you-seen-in-rental-agreements-leases/583045/32 "2011-05-28T09:50:29Z")
In Spain, a rental agreement can be as short as > [@](#): > > Mr(s) Name Soandso (henceforth “the landlord”) establishes that (s)he is the owner of Suchandsuch location. (S)he is renting it to Mr(s) Name2 Thisandthat (henceforth “the occupant”) for a price of Thismuch/month, payable before the 5th of each month to bank account #### ### ## ###########. Terms and conditions are those set forth in the current Rental Law. > > Signed, > > Landlord-----------------------------------------------Occupant More commonly, they paraphrase a few paragraphs from the Rental Law; specifically, the ones which tend to lead to more disputes. There may also be a few details which differ from the law, such as a ban on pets or on noises between certain hours. It’s rare for them to get beyond 5 pages, and that’s typed double-space and with huge margins. In Scotland? Man, they seem to copy their whole freaking rental law, plus fire safety law (“no candles or other open fires”… uh… you do realize the flat comes with a gas fireplace and hob?), and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s also a few key judicial decisions thrown in for completeness’ sake. 30-40 pages, man! Mind you: unlike other people, Scottish property agents have absolutely no problem with prospective tenants reading the whole thing before signing it; they even encourage it and tell you to ask any questions. Kudos on them for that! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-have-you-seen-in-rental-agreements-leases/583045.md?page=1)