Explanations

For a leasehold agreement to be valid, whether written or a verbal “undeclared” one (for terms less than a year), several elements are considered essential requisites:

• Amount of rental payments must be clearly stated and mutually agreed upon by the parties.
• Length of time the lease will continue (the term of the lease) is a fundamental aspect, defining the duration of the tenant’s possession. This could be a definite period (estate for years) or an indefinite, recurring period (periodic tenancy).
• Description of the property (a proper legal description) is required to uniquely identify the subject property.

While rent payments are normally made in advance at the beginning of the lease period, this is a common practice for how rent is handled, not an essential requisite for the creation or validity of the leasehold agreement itself. The lease agreement must define the “rent amount and expected due dates,” but not specifically mandate that these payments must be made in advance for the lease to exist.

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