Oral Contract

Theoretically, you may be requested to accept an oral contract as a guarantee of rental. However, this is not a sensible system because it often has disadvantages for both tenant and landlord. Should you agree to an oral contract, the following rules apply:

• A valid oral contract must include discussion of both the use of the rental property, the cost of rent and any potential rent increases. Both landlord and tenant must agree on these points.
• Civil law must be upheld by an oral contract. This means that many clauses which would have disadvantaged the landlord in a written contract (for example, that the landlord is required to carry out regular maintenance on the property) are not applicable.
• Unless a rental term is agreed on, the contract is open-ended. Termination of the contract must be done in accordance with civil law, rather than in accordance with the payment term (which is usually used to dictate a termination notice in a written contract).