A lease agreement is the written contract that governs a tenancy. A complete one names the parties and the property, sets the term, rent amount, and due date, states the deposit, and spells out responsibilities and rules — maintenance, utilities, pets, subletting, entry notice, and what happens if either side breaks the terms.
A strong lease also folds in the disclosures your jurisdiction requires — for example, the federal lead-paint disclosure for housing built before 1978 — and any state-specific clauses. Because required disclosures and permissible terms vary, landlords generally start from a lease built for their state rather than a generic template, and attach an addendum for anything the base document doesn’t cover.