Party Rental Agreement Defined
A party rental agreement is a document that helps clients and rental companies create a clear understanding of the specifics for a rental. The agreement also helps to minimize risk for the rental company by making sure the client is on the hook for damages to the equipment, and addresses what happens if they abandon it before the contract ends.
The rental agreement is executed by two parties: One party is generally rented out to the other. The first party is called the "lessor" (sometimes referred to as the "renter" or "landlord") and the second party is called the "lessee" (sometimes referred to as the "client" or "tenant").
Sample – Party Rental Agreement
XX under the name of XXX (the "renter"), hereby agrees to rent its property to the clients (the "tenants") for the purpose of XXX (the "purpose") and, in exchange, the tenants agree to pay XX.00 USD for the property (the "rent"). By signing below, both parties acknowledge their understanding of the agreement and their intent to legally enter this agreement.
1. RENT. The parties agree that the rent shall be paid on a daily/monthly or yearly basis at the rate of XX. The tenants agree to pay the agreed rent of XX by check or dictated from here, in advance of any time that they use the rented property. The rent rates are subject to change by the renter with notice to the tenants. The parties agree that the rent will be payable according to the schedule below:
[] Daily: Beginning on ____, 20__, and ending on ____, 20__.
[] Monthly: Beginning on ____, 20__ and ending on ____, 20__.
[] Yearly: Beginning on ____, 20__ and ending on ____, 20__.
- LATE FEES . If tenants fail to pay the rent by the specified date, the tenants agree that the renter may charge them a late fee of up to XX% of the rent, at the renter’s sole discretion. Tenants agree that the renter may charge the late fees automatically, without any further notice to tenants.
- CHEQUE BOUNCE FEE. If the tenants’ bank should refuse the tenants’ cheque for any reason, tenants hereby agree that they will pay the renter a fee of XX for any cheque that is refused by tenants’ bank. This fee is payable immediately upon the notice of the bounced cheque to tenants.
- PROPERTY. For the purposes of this agreement, the renter hereby rents to the tenants the property located at ________ (the "property") including any other property described as such in any separate schedules or addendums of this agreement. The parties agree that the renters will not be responsible for any title to the property or for any actions that affect the tenants’ title to the property. The parties also agree that the renter is not responsible for the tenants’ actions while the tenants occupy the property.
- SECURITY DEPOSIT. Tenants agree that, upon mutual agreement of the parties, tenants will provide a security deposit for the property (the "security deposit"). The renters agree that, if the tenants should abandon the property, the renters have the option to apply any security deposit to the costs of recovering the property and to filing an action to recover from the tenders for any damages to the property. The parties agree that, upon the tenants’ relinquishing the property back to the renters, the security deposit and any remainder that is not applied to costs associated with the tenants, will be returned within XX days from the end of the tenancy.
Components of a Party Rental Agreement
While the contents of a party rental agreement can vary depending on the nature of the rental, there are key elements that generally should be included.
Terms and Conditions
A party rental agreement should clearly outline all of the terms and conditions of the rental. This includes:
Payment Details
In addition to the terms and conditions of the actual rental, the contract needs to address payment and any other related details, including:
Responsibilities of Parties
A party rental agreement is much like any other rental agreement in that it outlines the responsibilities of the parties. Here, the party renting the items is responsible for integrity of the items. This includes:
The party renting the items is also financially responsible for ensuring the items are returned in good condition. If just one item is damaged while in possession of the renter, the renter is responsible for the full cost of repair or replacement. In addition, the renter is also responsible for making sure the items are returned in a timely manner.
The owner on the other hand is responsible for making sure all items are delivered to the renter in usable condition. All items must be in working order, free of damage and clean. The owner must also provide a delivery timeframe when items will be dropped off.
When the rental agreement is signed, the owner is also legally responsible to make sure the items are picked up within whatever timeframe is set out in the rental agreement. For every day the pickup is delayed beyond the set timeframe, the renter may be eligible to request a refund for each day that passes.
Liability
When items are rented, the owner becomes responsible for any injuries that occur as a result of defective or dangerous items. Depending on the rental agreement, there may be a point at which the liability shifts back over to the renter. Here, it is important that the contract clearly outline the expectations of both parties in regards to liability.
Advantages of Party Rental Agreement Templates
An important consideration for rental businesses is whether to use a rental agreement template or not. There are a number of benefits for both rental businesses as well as customers in using rental agreement templates. For rental businesses, rental agreement templates save time, provide legal protection, efficiency and convenience. For customers, rental agreement templates help them understand what they are getting, their responsibility under the rental agreement and for potential damage to the rental property.
Rental agreement templates also help ensure consistency by having an agreement that governs every rental between a rental business and a customer. In addition to consistency, a rental agreement template can also help prevent disputes. A thorough and tailored rental agreement template helps businesses ensure that the rental terms are understood, and customers are not surprised on how their rental agreement works.
For a rental business, another benefit for having a rental agreement template is that a template can be revised from time to time to reflect changes in the law or if needed for additional clauses not included or address potential issues with the rental business. Once an updated rental agreement template has been drafted and enforced, the business can enforce its rental policies when a customer accepts the rental terms and either has agreed to payment or paid for the rental.
Customizing a Party Rental Agreement Template
Every rental company should have a strong party rental agreement template that is readily available for their different types of clients and rentals. However, even the best party rental agreement templates are usually not entirely generic. Since there is no one-size-fits-all solution in the rental industry, it’s often necessary to slightly modify existing rental templates to suit your client’s needs and your rental services. Here’s how to customize a party rental agreement template:
Make a Copy
It’s critical that you never directly edit your current party rental agreement template. Always make a copy that you can use to apply your customizations. Without this copy, you won’t have any means of recovering your original rental agreement template.
Add Instructions
The first step in customizing a party rental agreement template is to ensure that the client knows how to fill it out. While some clients are comfortable with paperwork, others do not have very much experience filling out contracts for rental items. Therefore, it’s a good idea to provide some basic instructions on how to fill out the rental agreement, as well as where to sign.
The basic instructions you include in your customized rental template should include reminders on the dates the items are rented, as well as the rental duration. Does the party rental template apply to tents, tables, chairs, linens, or equipment? If certain portions of the rental party agreement template don’t apply, cross them out in red and initial. You can also replace "X"s with blank lines to indicate where information should go.
Include Company Branding
Company branding is a good way to keep consistent print materials for your rental company. This can also help to distinguish your company from your competitors. Include your company logo where space allows. This could be within each page that you plan to print or only within the header and footer. Color can be used to enhance the professionalism of your rental agreement template. However, keep in mind that clients may print your rental agreement on standard printer ink. Unless your client has a color printer, they will not be able to measure the beauty of your rental agreement template in color.
Remove Unused Sections
If you find that a significant amount of information in your party rental agreement template is not applicable, remove it altogether. For example, you likely don’t need to include line items regarding a chair rental if your rental company does not offer chair rentals. Be sure to include sections for personal and business information needed for invoicing while removing irrelevant or unnecessary information.
Reorder Sections
Besides nightmarishly long rental agreements, there’s nothing worse than trying to decipher the order of a rental agreement. Therefore, as you customize your party rental agreement template, put yourself in the client’s shoes and reorder the sections in a way that makes logical sense to your client. A poor organization of your rental agreement template could confuse your clients and result in mistakes in the order form.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
One of the most common pitfalls when it comes to any type of contract is making assumptions about the other party. A party rental agreement template forces both parties to clearly define what they expect from the other. Without a clear definition, suppose the lessor in this example does not offer security when the items are picked up, even though it is mentioned in the party rental agreement. Then suppose the items get damaged. Without a clearly defined rental agreement, the party renter could not hold the lessor accountable to offer security . When using a party rental agreement form, it is important that the parties accurately fill out each section. For example, the rental period should be clearly defined. The fees, including deposit and cancellation policy, security deposit requirements and item cost should all be clearly listed in the party rental agreement. If the agreement is honest and all sections clearly filled out, then it will protect the rights of both parties.
Legal Aspects of Party Rental Agreements
Although it is clear that party rental contracts are essential, it still may be unclear what should go into them. A good rental company will make sure that a contract covers its bases by including appropriate terms.
Contracts are only deals between two parties if they are enforceable in a court of law. To be enforceable, terms in a contract must be clear and legal.
You should seek legal advice if you have any question about the enforceability of a rental contract. Rental contracts are like regular contracts, but may have some special considerations. For instance, rental company contract terms may not be enforceable because many states have laws prohibiting unconscionable contracts.
Most states have laws that declare any part of a rental company contract that has unconscionable terms to be unfair. Thus, if a rental company tried to use vague terms that were unfair to the renter, those vague contract terms would not be enforceable.
A rental company should avoid appearing to be "one-sided," or having the rental company receive all of the benefit of the transaction while the other party does not receive his or her fair share. This is not to say that every risk has to be fully split, but a contract that blatantly gives away all of the rights to the renter would be seen by a court as unconscionable.
Where to Locate Quality Party Rental Agreement Templates
Using online resources is the most efficient way to locate leasing agreements for party rentals. Most legal firms will offer templates and samples of rental agreements on their website. Individual pages that provide free online documents often have additional features like an interactive questionnaire that can lead to customized leases. Searching for rental contracts specific to one’s state or province can lead to better results; if the search does not include geographical specificity, one may have to scour through irrelevant templates that apply elsewhere. Certain websites also provide agreements that can be filled out online and printed in a matter of minutes, while other sites allow for the uploaded document to be saved and edited later.
The vast majority of websites with a documented history find that the longer the document is offered for free, the fewer responses they receive from sites requesting a fee. Most people will write down a few notes or download what they can without offering any compensation. For those sites asking for a fee, use of the document requires email registration so that further recruitment material can be sent. They then actively promote the success stories of others who found them to be helpful . Because the contract is for a one-time event, sites’ revenues are primarily generated by rental companies, giving some sites an adequate budget for marketing. Certain people were able to legalize their businesses this way.
For even those people who find a free rental contract, it is unlikely that these documents will be sufficient for the more sophisticated leasing business. As an individual’s business expands, so goes the need for customizing templates according to one’s locality.
There is no shortage of trade groups for rental vendors, but their presence is uneven. Some communities have associations that meet ten times a year while some associations meet only once a year. The value of joining such an association is that it provides one with a pool of resources, individuals who have the same levels of experience and passion for the business. In fact, many rental workers view their lines of work as a self-defined profession. In these associations, one can find various rental contracts, suppliers, manuals, and even some members offering tips on how to market a business.
The best resource for finding a party rental agreement is to go online, but many local trade associations exist for those who are interested.