What a fair lease should include

1Our role

• Map Aware Home is a platform for finding rentals, communicating and keeping records.
• We provide a lease form for convenience, but we do not write, check or enforce rental contracts.
• The agreement is between the tenant and the landlord. For large amounts or unusual terms, ask a lawyer to review it.

2What every lease should include

• The full names and contact details of the tenant and the landlord.
• The property address.
• The start and end dates, and how the lease can be renewed.
• The monthly rent, the due date and the accepted payment methods.
• The advance rent and security deposit, and when and how the deposit is returned.
• Who pays for water, electricity, internet and association dues.
• Who handles which repairs and maintenance.
• House rules, such as those on guests, pets and noise.
• How either side can end the lease early, the notice period, and any penalty.
• The signatures of both sides and the date.

3Before you sign For tenants

• Read the whole lease, and make sure everything you were promised is written in it.
• Never sign a lease with blank spaces or missing pages.
• Take dated photos of the unit when you move in. They protect your deposit later.
• Keep your own copy of the signed lease and of every receipt.

4When you prepare the lease For landlords

• Write the terms clearly, in a language the tenant understands.
• Do not include terms that make the tenant give up rights the law gives them.
• Go through the unit with the tenant at move-in and note its condition.
• Give the tenant a signed copy.

5Philippine laws to know

• Civil Code of the Philippines (Articles 1642 to 1688) sets the basic rights and duties of landlords and tenants in a lease.
• Rent Control Act of 2009 (RA 9653) covers lower-rent residential units. For those units it limits yearly rent increases, allows no more than one month of advance rent and two months of deposit, and lists the lawful grounds for eviction.
• Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173) protects the personal information tenants and landlords share with each other.

6If there is a disagreement

• Talk it through first, using Map Aware Home messages so there is a record.
• Disputes between people living in the same city usually go to barangay conciliation (Katarungang Pambarangay) before they can go to court.
• Report scams, threats or someone breaking our rules through Contact Support or the report button on their profile.

7Our responsibility

Map Aware Home is not a party to any lease. We are not responsible for broken agreements, unpaid rent, damage to property or disputes between tenants and landlords. Each side takes on the risks of the agreements they sign.