What is a public housing lease?
A lease is an agreement between you, as the tenant, and the housing authority, as your landlord. Your lease is very important because it explains your rights and responsibilities and the housing authority’s rights and responsibilities. Among other things, a lease will state:1 • how much rent you owe, • who can live in your apartment, • what you can expect of the housing authority, • what the housing authority can expect of you, • what procedures you must follow to end your lease, and • what procedures your landlord must follow to evict you. While each housing authority can develop its own lease, all federal and state public housing tenants must have a written lease, and all leases must comply with federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Certain terms are required to be in public housing leases, housing authorities are allowed to add additional terms as long as these terms do not violate the law. So while there may be basic lease terms that are similar among housing authorities,
