Does a verbal agreement have any legal standing with regard to a rental property?

Question

Does a verbal agreement have any legal standing with regard to a rental property?

Answer 1

Verbal agreements for rentals are perfectly legal.

Generally, a verbal agreement defaults to a month to month tenancy, which is governed by your state's landlord/tenant laws.

Answer 2

There is typically a dispute when verbal and legal are used in the same sentence. There will be two different versions of the same story and a judge does not know who is telling the truth, but you never know until you go to court. I have gone to small claims court as a plaintiff thinking I had a open and shut case only to some judge decide that I was incorrect. You never know until you roll the dice.

Answer 3

An old saying "Verbal agreements aren't worth the paper they're written on."  Get a written and signed agreement for your own protection.  Trust no one.

Answer 4

In CA, a verbal agreement of less than a year is considered valid in court and a written agreement is needed if more than a year. Anyway, to avoid a he said/she said situation a written agreement is always recommended even it's less than a year.

Answer 5

LEases under 1 year do not have to be in writing. /