I would like to rent my home for a few months and would like to know how to get a lease form. I think you can buy these at bookstores and other places but I want to make sure it is legally binding for Kansas. I would prefer not to pay a lawyer unless it is fairly inexpensive. What are the guidelines.
You could check with your local realty board or call a realtor and ask them the best way to do this. They might even do it for you for a minimal fee.
Please email me privately, and I'll send you my KS rental form. I have used it for years with no problems. I work for an attorney, and he even used it when he bought his daughter a house in Lawrence.
There are lots of places on the internet where you can download a legal form for a small fee, like this: http://www.ilrg.com/forms/lease-res/us/ks
And here's a free one from KS in PDF format:
http://www.da.ks.gov/forms/default.asp
www.da.ks.gov/fm/dfm/forms/DA-46RealEstateLeaseAgreement.pdf
Just read it carefully and make sure it says what you want. Pretty much anything can be legally binding if both parties read it, agree to have it be binding, and sign it.
Best of luck!
You might check at Office Max or Office Depot - they used to carry some legal forms you could purchase (like when selling your home yourself). They may have lease agreements.
You could also call the housing authority in your county to see if there are any specific restrictions. I rented out my house a few years back, and I simply typed up a simple lease that included both parties' names, the dates of the lease, the rental price, what that price included and did not include, and what the tenants could and could not do to the property (paint ok, nail holes ok, etc.)
Since I was renting to friends, I wasn't overly concerned about legal issues, but if you're renting to strangers, you'll want to include things about what will happen if the tenant breaks the lease and moves out early, a security deposit for damages, and other "what if" scenarios. You might even be able to call an apartment complex and ask for a copy of one of their leases to copy and get ideas.
We have rental property, and a couple of years ago, I bought a residential lease package on the internet for $14.95. It is specifically for the state of KS.
www.nupplegal.com/ksrental.html
If you haven't already, you can find the KS Landlord Tenant Act in pdf form if you google it.
My father has rental property and he uses a rental company to deal w/ all the leasing issues. They find the renters, have the leased signed, collect any late fees etc...
