5 focal points the tenants should focus in a lease

1. What and what not included in the rental price

This will depend on the type of accommodation that you rent:

• For serviced apartments: usually the rental price will include the TV connection fee, wifi internet, tap water and 1-2 cleaning times a week
• For landed houses or personal houses, the rental price will solely be the renting cost, none above will be included and you need to pay them by yourselves
• For apartments in high rise condos, not only the above utilities fees you have to pay, but also the building management fee. This fee will be paid by square meters and varied based on distinctive building management boards. Commonly, it will be from 8,000 VND to 12,000VND for one square meter or for some luxuries areas like Golden Westlake, Water Mark, it could be up to 20,000VND for one square meter.
• For luxury serviced apartments, such as Somerset Westpoint Hanoi, Oakwood Residence Hanoi, Diamond Suites Westlake, the rental price, however, are always included all the utilities fees (water, internet, cable TV, drinking water, electricity limits), tax invoice and free access to their pool, gym, fitness center, free shuttle bus, even free breakfast…

The next thing that you need to focus on in the renting cost is the cost included tax or not and should be stated clearly in the contract.

If the tenant is a private identity, that means, he rents for himself, usually no need for tax so no tax incurred, and the rent should be stated that it is not included tax.

If the tenant is a legal identity, that means, a company, the rent should be written in VietNam Dong by mulitplying the USD and the selling exchange rate of Vietcombank at the time of calculation.

2. Rental Term

This should be based on real situation of the tenant. If you have a specified labor contract, you can be ensured to sign the accommodation leasing agreement at the same time length. In case you don’t know exactly how long you will stay in Hanoi, it will be better to solely sign a short-term contract, e.g, 3 month or 6 month, and you can extend longer based on your need.

3. Method of Rental Payment

In a leasing agreement, the frequency for paying the rent should be clearly stated, for example: once a month or once every three month,…

A small tip for you: when you pay every three month or every 6 month, you can ask for some priorities from the owner such as late check-in, furniture adds-in, or refurbishing.

4. Security Deposit

This is always a primary concern from both tenant and owner’s sides.

Before signing an agreement, the tenant may have secured a deposit to keep the rental property. So in the deposit agreement, you should mention clearly all the agreed terms between the tenant and the owner, such as rental price, lease term, check-in dates, owner’s agreed to-do-list before tenant’s move in,… This will protect the right of the tenant and avoid any debates at the time of drafting leasing agreement.

In the lease, the security deposit will be refunded to the tenant after he finish paying all outstanding bill and fulfilling any repairs or compensation if any after his tenancy. So, be ensured that the tenant will always get the deposit back if he doesn’t break the contract terms.

5. Termination of the Lease Contract

These are some common reasons that you can end the contract without losing the deposit, they are not only the Force Majeure, Diplomatic Clauses but also the unexpected things that caused the tenant unable to stay in the property. So a good real estate agent will protect your rights and mention this in the Contract.