A lease addendum is a document that adds to or changes an existing lease, signed by the same parties, and it is the right instrument whenever the tenancy changes mid-term. The alternative, editing the original, destroys the record of what was agreed when, which is the thing the lease exists to preserve. This page is about using addenda so the tenancy stays readable.
What an addendum must contain
Which lease it amends, identified by property, unit, parties and date. What it changes, stated as a replacement rather than an instruction: the rent is now this figure from this date, rather than the rent increases. The date the change takes effect, which is often not the date of signing. And signatures from everyone who signed the original. Anything less and a reader two years on cannot reconstruct the sequence.
Replace, do not instruct
An addendum saying clause 7 is deleted and replaced with the following is readable. An addendum saying the parties agree to increase the rent is not, because nobody can tell from the documents what the rent then was. Writing the replacement in full costs a sentence and means the current terms can always be assembled by reading the lease plus the addenda in order, which is what anybody asked to advise on it will do.
The addenda worth having ready
Pets, with the deposit or rent and the conditions. Parking, where it is allocated separately. A rent change. Adding or removing an occupant, which is the one most often handled informally and most often regretted. And whatever your state requires to be disclosed separately, which is frequently issued as an addendum rather than folded into the lease body.
Where addenda go wrong
They get signed and then filed somewhere other than with the lease, so the lease on file is no longer the agreement in force. Keep them against the tenancy in order, and treat the lease as the lease plus its addenda rather than as the original document. The practical test, again, is whether somebody who was not there could assemble the current terms in a minute.
Questions people ask about lease addendum
Is an addendum the same as an amendment?
In ordinary use they are interchangeable for this purpose. What matters is that the document identifies the lease, states the change in full and is signed by the original parties.
Can a lease be changed by email?
Sometimes, and it is a poor idea. An email exchange rarely identifies the lease, rarely states the change as a replacement, and is rarely filed with the tenancy.
Does adding an occupant need an addendum?
It should. An occupant who is not on the lease has an unclear position and no obligations under it, which is a problem for both sides if the tenancy ends badly.