Our Lease, in Plain Terms

Rent & how to pay

• Rent is due on the 1st of each month. If it hasn't arrived by the end of the 2nd, a $50 late fee applies, and interest can accrue on anything delinquent.
• Pay by Venmo, personal check, money order, or cashier's check — or cash if paying in person only.
• Your move-in payment (first month or pro-rated amount, due at signing) must be certified funds: cash, money order, or cashier's check.
• A bounced check costs $75, and after one we can require certified funds going forward. A stop-payment on a check you owed costs $50.
• Falling two consecutive months behind — or defaulting three times during the lease — is grounds to end the lease, and the remaining rent for the term can be called due.

Fees at a glance

Security deposit

• Due at signing; the amount (typically one month's rent) is stated in your lease.
• After move-out it can be applied to unpaid rent, damage beyond normal wear, and other amounts owed under the lease.
• It is not your last month's rent — you can't skip the final payment and point to the deposit.
• Leave us a forwarding address in writing when you move out so we can send your deposit accounting.

Utilities — who pays what

Utilities must be in your name before you get keys — we'll ask for proof of the service contracts for everything you're responsible for. Your specific lease confirms this same split for your unit.

Appliances

• What's included varies by unit and is checked off in your lease — typically refrigerator, stove, and dishwasher are provided and maintained by us.
• Where a microwave, washer, or dryer is provided, it's as-is: you may use it, but we don't service or replace them.
• Window air conditioners are yours to provide; keep provided appliances clean and undamaged — repairs for damage beyond normal use are billed back.

Living there

• Occupants: only the people named in the lease may live in the unit. Adding someone requires our written consent.
• Guests: up to six visitors at a time, and overnight guests up to two nights in a week — beyond that needs written consent.
• No subletting or handing the unit to anyone else, including short-term rental platforms, without written consent.
• Pets need written permission first — any animal, even temporarily. Pet damage (stains, odors, flooring) is fully billed to you.
• Smoking: restoring a unit from smoke damage — odor removal, repainting, flooring — is entirely your cost. The safe move is simple: don't smoke inside.
• The basics you'd expect: residential use only, follow the law and local ordinances, no illegal drugs, no unlicensed firearms, no storing flammable or explosive materials, and don't be the reason the police get called — nuisance activity (and its costs) lands on you.
• Don't block sidewalks, driveways, garages, or other vehicles when parking.
• Waterbeds and pools (even kiddie pools) need written consent.

Maintenance & care

• Report water problems immediately — leaking roofs or pipes, running toilets, loose caulking. Water damage from overflow, misuse, or a leak you sat on is billed to you; a leak you report promptly is on us to fix.
• Submit non-emergency issues through the work order form. For real emergencies — gas smell, active flooding, no heat in winter — call the office. (Repeated calls for non-urgent items the lease treats as nuisance calls, so use the form and we'll prioritize honestly.)
• No painting, wallpaper, alterations, or DIY repairs without written consent — that includes mounting equipment to the building.
• Locks and keys: don't change or add locks. Locked out? You hire the locksmith (and get us a copy of any new key within 24 hours) — or we can respond for $75. Keys go back to us at move-out.
• Smoke and CO detectors: never remove them or their batteries. Keeping working batteries in them is your responsibility — it's also what keeps your family alive.
• Snow shoveling, ice, and lawn care for your unit are on you (see the utilities table).
• Used medical needles go in a proper sharps container, never loose in the trash.

Our right of entry

The lease allows us to enter between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. for repairs you've requested, work required by law, inspections, and showings — and at any hour in a genuine emergency. In practice we coordinate with you whenever we can; the lease just doesn't require advance permission for those purposes.

Renters insurance

Our insurance covers the building — it does not cover your belongings. Insuring your personal property and carrying liability coverage is your responsibility under the lease. A renters policy typically runs about $15/month and is worth every penny the day a pipe bursts.

Moving in

• We complete a pre-entry inspection form together documenting the unit's condition — it protects both of us at move-out.
• Keys are released once the lease is signed, move-in funds are paid (certified funds), and your utility accounts are confirmed in your name.
• For homes built before 1978, federal lead-paint disclosures are part of the lease packet, along with our mercury-safety notice.

Renewal, moving out & leaving early

• Want to stay? Send a written renewal request at least 60 days before your lease ends. Renewal is at our discretion; if we offer a new lease, you'll have 10 days to sign and return it.
• Moving out? The unit comes back clean — appliances inside and out, fixtures, floors, nail holes patched, working bulbs and detector batteries, all belongings and trash removed. Anything we have to clean, repair, or haul is billed at labor and materials.
• Belongings left behind are treated as abandoned seven days after notice and disposed of at your cost.
• Leaving early doesn't end your obligations: rent (and your utilities) continue until the term ends or a replacement tenant signs — whichever comes first — plus advertising costs and, if we re-rent it, a liquidation fee of one month's rent. Talk to us first; a planned exit always goes better than a disappearing act.
• Staying past your lease end without written consent isn't permitted — there's no automatic month-to-month.

Changes during the lease

• Rent can be adjusted mid-term (for things like tax, insurance, or improvement costs) with at least 30 days' written notice. If you don't accept the increase, you have 10 days from the notice to end the lease and move out before it takes effect, no penalty.
• If the property is sold, the lease can transfer to the new owner, or the new owner can end it with 60 days' written notice.

The legal frame

• The lease is governed by Pennsylvania law and written to comply with PA's Plain Language Consumer Contract Act.
• It includes a waiver of the Notice to Quit — in plain terms: if the lease is broken, eviction proceedings can begin without a separate advance vacate warning. This is one of the rights you give up by signing, so understand it going in.
• Lease violations are either material (serious — can end the lease) or non-material (fixable — you get written notice and five days to correct before it escalates). Collection costs and reasonable attorney fees for enforcing the lease are chargeable to the tenant.
• The signed lease is the entire agreement — changes only count in writing, signed by both sides.

Questions before you sign?

That's what we're here for. Call the office at (412) 555-0123 or email office@iregpgh.com — and if you'd rather have a lawyer look it over first, we encourage it.