Consulting on Drafting House Lease Contracts

Renting a house (for living, for business, or both) is a form of property leasing. Renting a house should be documented in writing to record all agreements between the two parties, so that they could prevent disputes in the future.

Relevant legal documents:

Law on Housing 2014

The Housing Law 2014 stipulates that a lease contract must be made in writing and must include the following contents:

1. Information of the parties, including: Full name of individuals/organization name and address of the parties. Although not mandated by law, it is recommended to include personal ID numbers for individuals (tax code/business registration numbers for organizations, and the information of the organization’s authorized representative to sign the contract).
2. Information about the house, characteristics of the land attached to that house: land use rights certificate number, ownership rights of the house; purpose of use, specific area for each purpose; address, area, number of constructed floors, current condition; purpose of use…
3. Rent cost: per month/quarter/ year; whether a deposit is required; lease term and payment method.
4. Lease term: by day/month/year.
5. House receiving time: a specific date or a certain number of days before the effective date of the contract.
6. Rights and obligations of the parties: the lessor’s right to collect rent, the lessee’s right to repair the house, the right to sublease (whether or not); responsibilities of the lessor to ensure the stability of the rented property, responsibilities of the lessee to maintain the property, return the property in its original condition after the lease expires… Especially the tax declaration responsibility of the lessor (who declares?, who pays the tax?).
7. Commitments of the parties;
8. Other agreements;
9. Effective date of the contract;
10. Date of signing the contract;
11. Signatures and full names of the parties (if it is an organization, a stamp and the position of the signatory must be included). In addition, for contracts with significant value, long lease terms (especially for renting premises for business, renting office space), the two parties may need to sign additional appendices detailing information that they have negotiated.

The lease agreement will terminate when:

1. The lease term for a residential property expires (if the two parties sign an indefinite-term contract, the contract will terminate after 90 days from the lessor’s notice of termination to the lessee).
2. The two parties agree to terminate the contract;
3. The rented property is no longer available (e.g., forcibly demolished);
4. The lessee dies or is declared missing by the court (if there is no one cohabited);
5. The rented property is severely damaged, at risk of collapse, or is in an area with a decision to recover land, resettle housing, or has a demolition decision from the competent state authority; the rented property falls under the category subject to state repurchase, appropriation for other purposes.
6. One party exercising the unilateral termination right.

The house lease contract is a type of civil contract, records the agreement of the parties regarding renting a house. A written house lease contract is an essential document to protect the rights and obligations of both parties (and a legal requirement to execute the house lease), providing the basis for resolving disputes arising during the lease. Therefore, the parties should carefully review the content of the contract before signing it to avoid unnecessary errors that may affect their rights.
If you have any questions related to the rental contract, please do not hesitate to contact An Luat Vietnam for support and advice.