An Idaho rental agreement is a legal contract between a landlord overseeing a rental property and a tenant using the property. Idaho landlord-tenant law governs and regulates these agreements.
Idaho Rental Agreement Types
Idaho Required Residential Lease Disclosures
- Lead-Based Paint Disclosure (required for some leases) – Landlords must provide an EPA-approved disclosure and informational pamphlet to tenants renting any property built before 1978.
To learn more about required disclosures in Idaho, click here.
Idaho Landlord Tenant Laws
- Warranty of Habitability – Idaho landlords can only rent out habitable property. This means providing certain basic health and safety features like heat, plumbing, and electricity. Landlords must repair any issues within three days after proper notice from the tenant. Failure to repair lets a tenant sue the landlord. In severe cases a tenant might also end the lease. Tenants aren’t allowed to withhold rent. They can repair and deduct only to fix a smoke detector.
- Evictions – Idaho landlords may evict for rent nonpayment, lease violations, or illegal acts, among other things. Before filing eviction, landlords must serve tenants with prior notice to pay, comply or quit, depending on the eviction type. Idaho has a fast eviction process, often under a week.
- Security Deposits – Idaho does not cap the maximum amount of a security deposit. When a lease ends, a landlord must return any unused portion of a security deposit to the tenant within 21 days.
- Lease Termination – Idaho landlords and tenants can end a month-to-month lease with one month of advance notice. Terminating a fixed-term lease early requires (in most cases) active military duty, landlord harassment, uninhabitable property, or domestic abuse.
- Rent Increases and Fees – Idaho landlords may raise rent by any amount, at will. Before a rent increase, a landlord has to give at least 30 days of advance notice. There is no state cap on late fees. Returned check fees have a $20 limit plus 12% interest on the owed amount, calculated from the date of dishonor.
- Landlord Entry – Idaho landlords may enter rental property for reasonable business purposes like maintenance and inspections. They may enter at reasonable times of day using reasonable advance notice, which by custom is at least 24 hours. Emergency situations suspend the need to give notice.
- Settling Legal Disputes – Idaho lets small claims courts hear landlord-tenant disputes, as long as the amount in controversy is under $5,000 and does not include an eviction claim. The statute of limitations is five years for written contracts, four years for oral contracts.
To learn more about landlord tenant laws in Idaho, click here.
Sources
- 1 Idaho Code § 55-208
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A tenancy or other estate at will, however created, may be terminated:
(1) By the landlord’s giving notice in writing to the tenant, in the manner prescribed by the code of civil procedure, to remove from the premises within a period of not less than one (1) month, to be specified in the notice; or
(2) By the tenant giving notice in writing to the landlord that the tenant will be vacating the premises, on a date as specified in the notice, but not less than one (1) month from the date of notice.
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