A lease, frequently referred to as a rental agreement, is an agreement between a landlord and a tenant to provide the tenant with the power to use and dwell in the rental property for a certain period of time. When a tenant gives the right to use and live in the same rental property to a subtenant, the rental agreement is very often called a sublease.

A rental agreement can be an unwritten agreement, or it can be in writing. If the rental agreement is of tenure of over one year, the state of California needs that it is put in writing. The downside of an unwritten rental agreement is that there may be future misunderstandings over terms of the contract, and possible problems for enforcement of these terms between the landlord and the tenant. At the end of the rental agreement period, use and possession of rental premises must be returned to the landlord. Other than the usual responsibilities, a rental agreement requires that the tenant pay the landlord a fixed amount of money each month which has been arrived at mutually; this sum is called rent.

You can easily download California 's rental agreement from agents and attorneys over the Internet. Each rental form can then be changed and customized in a word processing software like MS Word. Any word processor can do the job of inputting and varying the standard form. Rental agreement, eviction notice form, extension agreement and other associated forms are all incorporated in the available full kit. The rental agreement download has to be recent and must stick to all related laws.