Leasing and Property Management
Leasehold interests and lease types
A lease transfers the right of possession for a term. Tenancies include estate for years (fixed term, no notice needed to end), periodic (month to month, auto-renewing, notice required), at will, and at sufferance (holdover). Lease types include gross (landlord pays operating expenses), net and triple net (tenant pays taxes, insurance, maintenance, and CAM), percentage (retail, base rent plus a share of sales), graduated (stepped rent), index (CPI-tied), and ground leases.
An assignment transfers the entire remaining term; a sublease transfers less. In an assignment the assignee is in privity of estate with the landlord; a sublessee generally is not. The original tenant stays liable on the covenant to pay rent unless there is a novation.
Management duties and traps
A property manager owes the owner fiduciary duties, holds funds in a trust account, and follows the management agreement. The implied warranty of habitability and Utah's Fit Premises Act govern residential rentals; Utah law sets specific notice periods for nonpayment of rent and for ending a periodic tenancy, plus a deadline for returning a security deposit after the tenant vacates. Landlords must accommodate disability-related requests, and an assistance animal is not a pet, so no pet deposit may be charged.
Traps: a security deposit is not rent; a holdover tenant may be treated as a trespasser or held to a new periodic tenancy; eviction requires a court order and self-help lockouts are illegal; percentage rent depends on gross sales.
Worked example. Rent is $1,800 per month and the tenant takes possession on the 16th of a 30-day month. The 15 remaining days times $60 per day equals $900 due at move-in.