21 Lease Addendums Your Standard Lease Is Missing
The same set I use on my own leases, in two versions: annotated copies that tell you what each blank is for, and clean copies you print and sign. Free.
Why I can’t just send you my lease
People ask for it every week and I keep saying no, for a reason that has nothing to do with being precious about it. A lease is state-specific. Mine is written for Illinois. Hand it to a landlord in Georgia or Texas and half the clauses are unenforceable, a few are illegal, and the document reads like it was copied off the internet — which is exactly the argument a tenant’s attorney will make about every other page you did need.
Addendums travel better. They attach to whatever lease you already use and close the gaps that lease leaves open. Use all 21 or use three. The nine in Tier 1 belong on every residential lease in every state; the other twelve you add when the property calls for it.
A set of these was requested by Section 8 regulators in Chicago for use in training property owners on writing a stronger lease.
Art & Aisha Veal
Twenty-seven years buying, renting and selling property around Chicago — and every one of these addendums exists because something went wrong first. The move-in checklist came from a deposit case we lost. The pet addendum came from a fair housing complaint we should have seen coming. You're getting the version we wish we'd had.
QuickTurn Real Estate
© 2023–2026 Resilient Media LLC d/b/a QuickTurn RE. Educational templates only — not legal advice.