Sample Rental Agreement for Neighbor's Use of Portion of Your Land

Need to sign a document clarifying that a neighbor is renting a piece of your property, not attempting an adverse possession claim? Here's what it should look like.

By , Attorney · Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

If you're a homeowner, you don't risk much by letting another person use part of your land temporarily. For example, maybe a neighbor would like to extend their vegetable garden onto a bit of your land that's currently mostly weeds. However, if this arrangement might go on for a while, it will become important to create and sign a rental agreement between you two, so as to prevent the neighbor from eventually claiming ownership by a legal doctrine known as "adverse possession."

Here, we'll discuss how to avoid that, including:

  • the legal impact of signing a rental agreement, and
  • what language to include in that agreement.

How Will This Rental Agreement Defeat an Adverse Possession Claim?

Even if the neighbor didn't talk to you in advance—for example planted the vegetable garden over your property line then built a fence to encloses it—signing such an agreement can be legally useful, particularly if you'd rather live with the missing piece of land than fight over having the fence removed). Also, you can earn a bit of cash this way, though keeping the rental amount minimal will make it easier to get the neighbor to sign.

It's all a matter of legal definition: For someone to acquire title to land through adverse possession, their use of the land must be "hostile," which essentially means "without permission." A lease or rental agreement, of course, constitutes documented permission by the owner to the possessor, and would thus defeat any future claim that the individual "owns" your land. Read more about this strategy in, Avoiding Adverse Possession Claims by Renting Portion of Your Property to Neighbor.

While you should certainly work with an attorney to draft the lease appropriate for your situation, a sample lease with some of the key terms to consider including is below.

Language to Include in Rental Agreement for Portion of Land

Here is the basic format, which you can rewrite and customize to your needs.

RENTAL AGREEMENT

Date and Names of Parties

This Lease is BETWEEN the Tenant(s) _______________ [name of the person using the other's land], whose address is _______________ ("Tenant(s)") and the Landlord _______________ [name of the owner whose land is being used by a neighbor], whose address is _______________ ("Landlord"). This lease is dated _______________, 20__.

Purpose

The Landlord rents and leases to the Tenant, to occupy and to use, the following real estate located in the county of _______________ and State of _______________, described as follows: [insert geographical boundaries of the affected portion of land, ideally as determined by land surveyor] or commonly known as the _______________ and consisting of approximately _______________ acres/square feet, together with buildings and improvements on the property.

Length of Tenure

The term of this Lease shall be from _______________ to _______________, and the Tenant shall surrender possession at the end of this term or at the end of any extension. Extensions must be placed in writing on this Lease, and both parties agree that failure to execute an extension at least _________ months before the end of the current term shall be constructive notice of intent to allow the Lease to expire.

Amount of Rent

The Tenant agrees to pay the Landlord an annual cash rent for the above-described land in the amount of $______, to be paid in monthly installments on the first day of each month beginning at the start of the lease term.

Yielding Possession

The Tenant agrees that at the expiration or termination of this Lease to yield possession of the premises to the Landlord without further demand or notice. This explicitly includes the removal of any structures constructed by Tenant.

If the Tenant fails to yield possession, Tenant shall pay to the Landlord a penalty of $______ per day, or if a penalty is not specified, the statutory double rent shall apply, for each day Tenant remains in possession, in addition to any actual damages caused by the Tenant to the Landlord's land or improvements, and the payments shall not entitle Tenant to any interest of any kind in or on the premises.

Amendments

The terms of this Lease shall be binding on the heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns of both Landlord and Tenant in like manner as upon the original parties. Any amendments should be dated and signed by both parties.

Signatures:

__________________________[Landlord's signature] _________________

[Landlord's name, printed] Date

__________________________[Tenant's signature] __________________

[Tenant's name, printed] Date

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