better get a proper tenancy agreement signed and stamped. w/o one, in the case tenant cabut after 4 months, nothing u can do except scold the agent and agent probably just laugh.

a typical tenancy agreement is 1yr firm + 1yr renewable option. which means tenant cannot terminate before 12 months; must pay all even if he leaves early. if he wants to renew for 12 months after 1st 12 months, a letter to confirm will do, no need for agent commission or stamping anymore.

a diplomatic cause is common - if tenant is expat and sent away fron country, the agreement is terminated whenever he leaves, no penalty.

having said that, any agreement can be customised to suit both parties, no hard mandatory rules, really.

This post has been edited by AVFAN: Dec 28 2012, 08:02 PM

really sorry that i dont have a ready one to share here but any agent would have it.

quite right... for residential, it was commonly 2yr+1yr or 2+2.
but due to many available houses and highrise now for rental, many tenants start to insist on 1+1.
in my experience, most of them get out after 1 yr because they find a better one nearby with same or slight rental incr.
this says the yield for rental props is flat or getting lower as there is ample supply for rental.
there are many cases where a good rental is achieved for 1 yr, then stays empty for 1yr before next tenant comes in.
this is happening in many places. when situation will reverse, nobody knows.

for commerical operations, it is usually longer, maybe 3+1, 3+2, or in the case of banks in shoplots, 3+3+3, total 9 yrs with a provision for a capped rental incr every 3 yrs.
again as previously mentioned, there are no hard and fast rules. both sides need to agree, according to prevailing and anticipated future market conditions.

This post has been edited by AVFAN: Dec 29 2012, 10:01 AM