The first thing is the length of time that is involved in the agreement. This is often referred to as the lease. This time will range from either a six month lease to a twelve month lease. The longer leases tend to have a slightly lower amount on the monthly rent and are as a result a little more of a smart choice.

The deposit that is being asked for will be important to make sure that it is considered carefully. Several property owners and management companies will ask for this and will not return it to you in the end. This is something that has to be looked at closely in an effort to make sure that the deposit is able to be returned at the end of the lease.

Ask the person in question about the penalty for breaking the lease early. There are often hidden fees that are associated with the breaking of a lease and this will as a result lead to a lot of people not making the decision to want to break the lease. The most common penalty is that of you losing your security deposit.

Ask about the ability to rearrange or even decorate the rental space. There are again several places that have a tough policy about this and will not be open to you taking the time to do this. The possibility of you losing your security deposit will be great depending on the person you are dealing with and the exact nature of the changes that were made to the space.

Now that you know a few of these tips and tricks, you are in a position that you are able to see the results come from you taking the time to rent a spot from one of the many places that are able to be rented from. If you need you can always call a rental referral agency to help you with the finding of a home that you will be happy that you went and rented.

One of the most practical uses of a conservationary land trust is to protect water resources, ranchland, farm land and cultural or national historically significant sites from being exploited, misused, damaged or destroyed. These land trusts can vary in their oversight, protecting anything from archeological sites to scenic corridors.

One of the most important types of conservationary land trusts is to provide protection for areas that are in recovery from environmental damage. One such land trust of this type is the Mt. St. Helens Conservation and recovery area. This land trust provides researchers an opportunity to see how the land surrounding the volcano has recovered naturally and get a better understanding of how the planet repairs itself after a catastrophic event such as mega eruption such as the one which took place in 1980.

Conservation land trusts have been around a long time, but with the rise in popularity of all things environmental they are becoming more commonly place. They provide for the protection of the land while still allowing it to be used for enjoyable and significant purposes such as research, education, and recreation. Without conservation land trust there would be no enforceable way to protect the lands in question while still leaving them open to the public. The only other option would be to close them off as private land and then we would all miss out on what they have to offer.

For the purposes of this piece we will be discussing the latter of these two. This is often referred to as “ownership trust” and in the United States the version of such most commonly in use is the “Illinois type” which states that in order for the trust to be valid, the trustee must have in place not only the intention and ability to develop or for any other means utilize the land, but also must have a minor duty to perform in service to the actual owner (the beneficiary) such as to deed the land and its possession, up to and including all reasonable profits and improvement thereunto, to the beneficiary after a prescribed period of time. This type of trust comes from England, specifically the law of trust as regarded by the Statute of Uses, which was found to be valid by the English courts not long after the king enacted it. The opinion of the court was, however, that the statute can only be considered true and thus the trust valid if there is some action taken on the part of the trustee other than merely the holding of the land on behalf of the beneficiary and that the holding itself may not be in any direct cause to the commission of or indirect support of any illegal act.

The earliest accounts of land trust being in use can be found as far back as Roman times. During the age of King Henry VIII one of the greatest advantages of being a full citizen was the ability to own land. The only problem was that any able bodies, virile man who was a land holder had to serve in the military for a period of time. In order to get around this people would often use a land trust, thus being able to hide their true ownership of the land and not have to serve in the armies.

In more modern time the first real usage of land trust to any extent was in the early 1900s in Chicago. In this case, city leaders who were legally barred from voting on any projects which they would have the benefit of having approval authority over were able to use land trust to hide their true ownership of large amounts of land in the downtown and center city areas. These were of course prime pieces of real estate and were in high demand due to the booming popularity of building sky scrapers at the time.

These are only two examples of how ownership land trust has been used over the course of history. Land trust in itself is not a complex mechanism, but the practical application of it can at times be highly intricate and open to the interpretation of the prevailing judiciary at the time.

The presentation and layout of the Tenancy Agreement should be as clear as possible. In this connection, the goal of the draftsman is to organise the text so that it is reader friendly. Proper use of fonts, size of text, white spacing and paragraphings go a long way to ensure that the Tenancy Agreement is coherent and not intimidating to the reader.

In some cases, the draftsman uses Schedules in the Tenancy Agreement so as to keep the important details in a separate page. These details would enable the parties to know the important terms which bind them. What are some of the details that are usually kept separate in the Schedules?

1. Name of parties
2. Addresses of the parties
3. Address of Demised Premises
4. Type of demised premises eg. whether it is residential or commercial
5. Permitted use of the demised premises
6. Date of the Tenancy Agreement
7. Date of Commencement of the Tenancy
8. Date of Expiry of the Tenancy
9. Rental and frequency of payment of rental
10. Option to renew
11. Rental Deposit payable
12. Security Deposit payable
13. Fixtures and Fittings included eg. cabinets, bedroom furniture, electrical appliances etc.

An additional advantage of using Schedules is that it allows the draftsman to create a master Tenancy Agreement which only need an amendment of the details in the Schedules as and when a new tenancy agreement needs to be drafted. This saves the draftsman from having to draw up a new agreement everytime a need arises.

The apartment lease form has to be executed by both parties and advisably, be witnessed. Some jurisdictions require the lease to be stamped whilst some would require that it be lodged with the land office concerned. Different states and countries have different laws regarding various aspects or finer details of the leasing process.

The apartment lease form needs to be as detailed as possible to ensure that there are no ambiguities in establishing the rights and obligations of the parties to the agreement. It should include a proper identity of the lessor and the lessee and their contact information. Next, the apartment to be occupied must also be sufficiently identified and if furnitures and fittings are part of the deal, the inventories should also be listed.

An apartment lease would be void if it does not state the date of commencement of the lease and the duration of the lease. Good drafting practice would also expect a provision to state what happens upon expiry of the lease – whether there be an automatic extension of lease or not.

Provisions on the lease payable and the deposits upfront should also be indicated. Deposits include utility deposits and security deposits. Most apartment lease forms would indicate that the deposits may not be used to set off rentals payable until and unless there is a breach and termination of the lease.

Landlords or Lessors also need to be mindful to incorporate the Deed of Mutual Covenants into the lease agreement to ensure that their tenants or lessees observe and abide with the terms indicated in the Deed of Mutual Covenants. Many lessors make the mistake of not incorporating the terms of the Deed of Mutual Covenants resulting in the lessors being liable for the misdeeds of their lessees.

Whilst the minimum number of years required for a lease is 3, there is a maximum number of years for which a lease may be so granted. Where the lease is for the whole of any alienated land, the maximum number of years allowed is 99 years. If the lease relates to part of a land only, then the maximum number of years for which a lease may be granted is 30 years.

Every lease must be granted by an instrument in Form 15A. For tenancies, however, the Tenancy Agreement – duly executed and stamped suffices to show the intention and agreement between the Landlord and the Tenant.

Sometimes, parties may prefer to enter into Tenancy Agreements so that shorter terms are created which allows renegotiation of terms such as rental chargeable on a periodic basis. At the same time, the parties need not go through the hassles of having to register a lease should they prefer a longer term. On the other hand, Lease Agreements give the parties a certainty of their long term commitment with one another. The lessor knows that he will be expecting a steady flow of lease income for a long term and likewise, the lessee knows how much he needs to pay for the long term and is thus, able to plan his cashflow accordingly.

What many people do not realize is that by utilizing a lease-to-own purchase, they can afford their dream home though it may initially look beyond their means. By using this facility, there are some benefits that you can enjoy, one of which is that it gives you time to repair your credit.

Most of the lease-to-own companies will work with you notwithstanding your imperfect credit. During the course of the lease-to-own period which usully runs between 2 to 3 years, the company will work with you to help repair, rebuild and re-establish your credit. Through this method, it is envisaged that by the time the term is complete, your credit would have been in a much better standing to qualify for mortgages.

Using lease-to-own also allows you to start home ownership with less down payment. If raising 10% down payment beyond your means, you can look at lease-to-own homes where the usual rates are between 3% to 5% for down payments.

Lease-to-own homes also allow you to lock into the purchase price of today as the price of the house will not fluctuate but rather, is tied down to the lease-to-own purchase agreement.

Legal Title
In the Deed system, the legal title on the estate passes upon the act of parties. In the Torrens system, the legal title passes upon the act of the State i.e. when the relevant authorities make an endorsement indicated the transfer of legal title.

Title
In the Deed system, the title to the land is manifested through the chain of deeds. In the Torrens system, the Issue Document of Title (also commonly known as the Land Grant) provides the record of the ownership.

Convenience
In the Deed system, a potential buyer for the piece of land would have to sieve through various sale and purchase agreements and deeds to satisfy himself that the vendor is the current owner. In the Torrens system, a search at the registry would indicate the ownership.

Adverse Possession
The doctrine of adverse possession is recognised in the Deed system. Not so in the Torrens system.

Security
As security for lending and similar transactions, the owner mortgages and conveys the land to the mortgageee. In the Torrens system, the title continues to be vested in the owner. The register merely shows that the title has been pledged (charged) to the chargee.

Just like any other business, it is important that such property owners ensure that they protect their interests by entering into a good and solid leasing agreement with their tenants. Drafting a leasing agreement is not as simple a task as writing a letter. Various terms and conditions have to be drawn up to protect the interests of both parties. A trip to the solicitors’ office may be necessary.

Nowadays, there are ready-made lease agreements or lease forms which are available for free for everyone’s use. There are thousands of lease forms available online but make sure that you insert all the specific details and amend them where necessary. Some wonder where can one find such ready-made leasing agreements or leasing forms. Just search the net.

When in doubt, there is nothing better than to seek your solicitor’s advice.

There are four main pieces of legislation governing land matters in Malaysia namely, the National Land Code (Penang and Melaka Titles) Act 1963, the National Land Code 1965, the Sarawak Land Code and the Sabah Land Ordinance. By reason of the codifying of the law pertaining to land matters, the application of doctrines of equity relating to English land tenure is not permitted. Section 6 of the Civil Law Act 1956 prohibits the usage of English land law and rules of equity relating to the same in Malaysia but equitable principles which do not conflict with the general framework of the Torrens system may be applicable.