Preparing to Use Your New TSSA Rental Agreement

by Kristy Spurr, TSSA Executive Director

One of the most important benefits of membership in TSSA is the right to use the renowned TSSA Rental Agreement. Having a basic understanding of the contract’s terms, as well as the decisions you as the business owner must make, is a great place to start. With this blog, we will focus on Page 1 of the lease, which includes all the items that are not simply defaults (in other words, things that will need to be filled in at the time of rental or decided in advance.) 

The TSSA Rental Agreement is a lease contract between you and the tenant outlining all fees and responsibilities. The agreement informs the tenant of your policies and protects you from damages, lack of payment, or other circumstance that may arise. If this is your first time using the printed TSSA Rental Agreement (or e-Lease if using electronically), this guide will help you get started. For a more detailed look at the terms of the lease you can read this blog or watch this short video. 
 
The first section, Tenant Information, collects the contact information for the tenant. The customer will need to identify who should have access to enter the unit and who should be notified in case of emergency.  That can be the same person or two different people. It’s important to note that the emergency contact (unless named as having access rights) is not authorized to enter the unit unless there is legal reason for such. Additionally, anyone listed as authorized to enter the unit may be given account information. If the person listed as authorized to enter does not have a key, facility staff may assist by cutting the lock. It’s helpful to explain these things to the tenant during the lease process. In either case, neither the person with access rights nor the emergency contact have a financial responsibility. This falls solely on the tenant listed.  

TSSA recommends that only one person or business be listed on Line 1. Spouses or significant others can be listed as having access rights. That way, you are only obligated to deal with one tenant, who makes all decisions regarding the contract.  

 

Paragraph 2 asks the important question about military service. (Special rules apply to foreclosures and evictions of military personnel because of the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, so you need this answer.) Form ADD-4 may be used as an addendum for lease agreements with service members.  

This paragraph also explains the tenant’s obligation to keep information updated. If the tenant moves or is unreachable, the burden is on them to make you aware of current contact information so that any communication you send reaches them. 
 


Paragraph 3 is the space commitment. The minimum lease term is the minimum number of months the tenant is obligated to the terms of the contract. Most members use a default of one month, but you can use a longer minimum if your customer agrees to it. After that initial period, the tenant leases from you on a month-to-month basis. The obligation to pay rent stays in place until the tenant provides a 10-day move-out notice as outlined in paragraph 9 of the lease. 

You can use forms ADD-10 or ADD-11 if the tenant is storing a vehicle, boat, or RV, in addition to renting the unit. Or, TSSA does offer a rental agreement specifically designed for storage of vehicle, boat, trailer or RV when the tenant is renting a parking space or enclosure rather than a regular self-storage unit.  If your facility offers exclusively boat and RV storage, you’ll want to consider using the Vehicle, Boat and Trailer Rental Agreement.  

 

Paragraph 4 details the rental rates, late fees, and all charges for non-compliance. While the rental rate may change based on the unit size (if you offer a variety of unit sizes or amenities), the remainder of the fees are generally the same for all tenants.  Checking to see what neighboring facilities are specifying for each of these charges is usually a good place to start. Things like charges for the newspaper ads you must run in the event of a foreclosure requires a little research on your part, as you’ll want to cover your costs. Only fees outlined in the contract and accepted as terms by the tenant may be charged, so it’s always better to have these dollar amounts filled in, even if you don’t intend to charge them on a regular basis. There is not a guideline on setting these rates, but we can help you understand each line item so you can make an informed decision. 

A. This is the dollar amount the tenant is expected to pay in rent each month until the tenant notifies you of move-out and vacates the space. 

B. What date is the rent due? Some facilities have all customers pay rent on the 1st of the month while others use the anniversary date of the tenant’s move-in and collect rent throughout the month. The 1st of the month is the most common due date. Be sure to check your management software for your options on rental due dates. 

C. This is the date and the amount charged if the rent is not received. You will need to decide if you will give a grace period and then choose either a date or number of days. For instance, on the 5th of the month a late fee will apply, or 4 days after the 1st a late fee will apply. If you are using the e-Lease, it may be helpful to see what your management software offers as default process for late fees. Some require a specific day of the month and some use a sequential number of days before a late fee kicks in. 

D. In the same format as above, complete this if you will charge a second late fee if rent remains unpaid. 

When determining what fee, if any, to charge for E through O you will have to decide what pass-through costs may apply—staff time, and other required resources, etc. PLEASE NOTE: You do not have to apply a fee to these specific line items, but if you choose not to, you cannot charge the tenant later for these specifics.  If you never intend to charge a fee for an item, you should indicate $0 as to not have any empty blanks on the agreement.



Paragraph 5, Payments and Notices, allows you to indicate what payment methods—cash, check, or credit card—you will or will not accept.  Please note that you can change the method of acceptable payment in the future after giving notice to the tenant. 



Paragraph 6, Special Provisions, allows you to add any pertinent facility rules that may not be addressed in the lease. This may be guidelines for parking, notice of a required lock type, gate access rules, etc. 



If you have a lengthy list of rules, you will want to consider using an addendum, indicating that rules addendum in Paragraph 7. 

Paragraph 7 is the place you’ll indicate any addendum you use on an ongoing basis.  If you generate a particular addendum with every lease, you can have this hard-coded into your e-Lease so this remains checked and ensures your facility manager has communicated this to your tenant. Some software programs will require the addendum to be sent to the tenant separately from the lease. In any case, if any addendum is checked on the lease, the tenant is signing off that they have received and agreed to the terms, so you need to provide the tenant those documents.



Signature block—To e-sign or not? 
Lastly, the signature block completes the agreement between the lessee and the lessor. If you are using the e-Lease you will need to understand how your management software processes the electronic signature. Some will have a fully integrated system with a digital signature option and others will generate a PDF that may require the tenant to insert a signature and send back to you for completion. 




If you have further questions on setting up your new TSSA Rental Agreement, please contact us at 512-374-9089 or elease@txssa.org. 

Additional Resources:

Blog: Lease Essentials 

Video: Rental Agreement Overview   

Additional Forms and Addenda (Requires Membership Log In)

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