Lease Addendum Regarding: Fill & Download for Free

You should carefully read the addendum. It should make reference to the lease, and have language stating that it modifies or otherwise adds to, the original lease. Obviously, here there is a conflict between the original document and the addendum. If the addendum clearly states that it modifies or adds to the original lease, is signed and dated by both parties, and post-dating the original, and if the parties contemplated that the pets clause would be modified by the addedum, then a strong argument would be possible that the lease addendum has superseded the original in that regard. Per contract law, the addendum must have all the elements of a contract, but must further clearly indicate that it adds to, or otherwise modifies, the original.

Which renter's insurance policies cover pet damage liability in California?I would agree with Ingrid Halvorsen’s post at least in part. Generally, pet damage to a home or apartment is not intended to be covered under a Renters Insurance Policy.I’m more interested in coverage for possible damage to a rental home, not personal injury. Most of the advice I can find is about medical payments for dog bites and large dogs or “banned” breeds, but I’m thinking about getting a cat, so that’s not relevant.Though the details of the question are a bit veiled, it seems you are concerned about damage a cat might cause to the apartment/home over time.There are a number of exclusions under the typical Renters Policy that can come into play regarding this type of pet damage to an apartment/home that you might rent.In addition, some companies will put a specific “animal/pet exclusion” on renters insurance policy because of this exposure and others related to liability hazards.For those reasons, it is common for landlords to include a “Pet Addendum” to the lease for the property. An example of that type of lease addendum is below:AnimalHumaneSociety .org - Sample Pet AgreementThose types of addendums also lead to the tenant paying a higher monthly rent and may also require a larger security deposit, because experience has shown that the responsibility falls on the tenant directly for this type of damage to the property.The exclusion language in an HO-4 Rental Insurance contract that can be pertinent to this type of loss includes:Property Damage - to property rented to, occupied or used by or in the care of the insured. (see above)Property Damage - which is “expected or intended” by an insuredContractual Liability - which relates to the use of the insured location (this exclusion would apply to a “Pet Addendum or Agreement” the tenant might enter into as mentioned above).State and individual company’s insurance policies can vary. It is important that you check with your specific agent and company.It can be reasonably suggested however that Renters Insurance does not intend to cover a continuous and repeated type of pet loss like you are seeking.Thanks for the A2A. Best regards.

If three of you sign the lease and there is an eviction, even if you no longer live there, all three will be named in an eviction suit.Your lease probably contains a phrase something like “Individually And Severally”, regarding responsibility for it.If not, that is of little matter, it’s the way contracts work and a lease is a contract, though a pretty specialized one.What it means is that if there is an eviction suit and a judgment against the three of you, each of you is responsible for the entire judgment amount and will have it show on your credit record, affect your credit score, and turn up on tenant screening and credit reports for at least seven years.I’m in Texas, where a judgment is good for 10 years, renewable for a second 10, but I think tenant screening reports stop reporting it after seven years. Not sure about that.Say there’s a $1500 judgment. You make a $500 payment on it.The effect of that is that all three of you now owe $1,000, not that the remaining two still owe $1,000. You reduced the total, but there is no “Your Share” to pay off.The thing to do is take the problem to your landlord and talk about it.If you find another roommate and slip her in without your landlord’s prior approval, the three of you could be evicted for THAT, regardless of how well the rent is getting paid.That bootleg roommate would suffer no long-term effects from an eviction (those would be on your back), other than being moved out against her will along with everyone else.Find another roommate, tell the landlord that you want out of the lease, to be replaced by a new roommate, and your two present roommates can’t make the rent just by themselves.Unless you’ve been bad tenants that the landlord would rather have gone, he will usually work with you.That means that the replacement roommate will need to complete the same rental application and be approved off the same tenant screening report that was used for you three before the lease was signed originally.If the new roommate is approved, everyone who signed the original lease, including the landlord, will need to sign a lease addendum, removing you as a tenant.Then another lease addendum will need to be signed by all original signers of the lease (except you) and the new roommate, to add her to the lease.OR, the landlord may choose the cleaner path of an addendum (signed by all original signers) voiding the current lease, and writing a whole new lease with the new roommate instead of you.Until you get removed from the lease, though, anything that happens to your two roommates also happens to you, even if all three of you agree that you can leave and you do it.