How does the law of contract affect agreements to rent a place to live?

The law of contract has many rules that deal with the ways in which contracts are made, interpreted, carried out, broken and ended. Once you become a party to a valid contract, you undertake legal obligations.

For the purposes of agreements to rent a place to live, there are two kinds of obligations:

• Obligations that you and the person you are contracting with agree to. These obligations will be set out in the contract, if it is written.
• Other obligations may be implied by the law and apply automatically, whether they are in writing or not and whether you and the other party have discussed them or not.

An agreement to rent a place to live is a contract. The agreement can include obligations that the landlord and tenant work out for themselves, for example, the obligation to repair the property or the obligation to pay a security deposit. Other obligations, for example, to provide property that is fit to live in or the obligation not to damage the property, are implied by the law into the agreement automatically.

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WARNING: The contents of these FAQs are intended as general legal information only.
If you have a personal problem, please consult a lawyer.