From the Hotline: Temporary leases

July 01, 2022

Members have been asking about temporary leases. Here are three recent topics:

Must a seller/tenant occupying a home after closing under a Seller’s Temporary Residential Lease (TXR 1910, TREC 15-5) provide keys to the buyer/landlord? Yes. Paragraph 12 of the Seller’s Temporary Residential Lease requires the seller/tenant to provide keys and access devices to the buyer/landlord during the term of the lease. The buyer/landlord may enter the property at reasonable times to inspect the property but cannot move in until the temporary lease terminates.

When must a seller/tenant vacate the property when occupying a home after closing under a Seller’s Temporary Residential Lease? The temporary lease states that the seller/tenant must surrender possession of the property upon termination of the lease. The lease will terminate upon the expiration of the term stated in Paragraph 3 or upon the tenant’s default of the lease. Assuming the seller/tenant is not in default, the seller/tenant must vacate by 11:59 p.m. on the last day of the lease term specified in Paragraph 3 of the temporary lease.

Can the parties agree to charge $0.00 as the rental amount when using either the Seller’s Temporary Residential Lease or the Buyer’s Temporary Residential Lease (TXR 1911, TREC 16-5)? Yes. The parties can negotiate a contract where no additional rental fee for the term of the temporary lease is required. The other terms of this agreement to sell the property, which includes the temporary lease as part of the main contract, provide sufficient consideration for the lease to be effective and enforceable without specifying additional monetary consideration for the temporary lease term.

—Ryan Bauman, staff attorney

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