That chat with my landlord changed how I look at rental agreements

I was talking to my landlord Steve last week about renewing my lease near Whyte Ave. He casually mentioned that a lot of tenants don't realize the standard lease form has optional clauses you can actually negotiate. I thought I was locked into everything on that paper, like the no-pets rule and the 60-day notice to move out. He said most people just sign without reading the fine print on maintenance responsibilities or subletting rules. It hit me that I've been treating these contracts like they're set in stone when they're really just starting points. Now I'm wondering if I can ask him to drop the pet ban for my cat without messing up our relationship. Has anyone else tried negotiating a clause on their Alberta lease and actually got it changed?

2 comments

2 Comments

lee7332d ago

Oh wow, that's wild! I had almost the same thing happen with my old landlord near Mill Woods, I asked about changing the guest policy and he was totally cool with it. Did you end up bringing up the pet thing yet?

sean_park82d ago

My buddy in South Edmonton had a similar situation with his landlord over pets. He asked nicely and the guy said sure at first. Then later he changed his mind completely. It's a risk I wouldn't take. Landlords can say one thing and do another. Better to get it in writing or just avoid the whole mess.