Advanced ENGLISH Teacher’s Notes

Module 3 • Home Sweet Home Reading

Interpreting, Comparing and Contrasting Rental Contracts

Objective
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to interpret rental contracts. They will also be able to compare and
contrast rental contracts.

Student Worksheets
• Worksheet 1: Rental Contract 1
• Worksheet 2: Rental Contract 2
• Worksheet 3: A Comparison of Two Rental Contracts

Lead-In (10 minutes)

• Begin the lesson by asking the following questions about renting and rental contracts:
How many of you have ever rented a house or an apartment?
Did you have to sign a contract? Was it difficult to understand? Why?
Possible answers: It is a formal document. / The ideas are sometimes difficult to understand. /
It is written in legal language.
• Explain the meaning of rental. The amount of money paid or collected as rent.
• Ask students what they would expect to find in a rental contract. Write their answers on the board.
Possible answers: the landlord’s name; the tenant’s name; the date; signatures; the address of the rental property;
the date the agreement begins; the date the agreement ends; the amount of rent; the date the
rent is due; how the rent should be paid; which utilities the landlord is responsible for; who is
responsible for repairs; a security deposit
• Check that the students understand the meaning of the following words: advice, signature, tenant, property,
agreement, due, utility
• Elicit items that a tenant might wish to see in a rental contract.
Possible answers: rent, terms of payment, person responsible for repairs
• Point out that a person who rents out property that he / she owns is called a landlord. Landlord may refer to both
a male or female, while a female is also called a landlady. Elicit items that a landlord might want to include in a
rental contract.
Possible answers: a security deposit, a penalty or charge if the rent is not paid on time

Activity 1 (30 minutes)

• Explain to students that contracts are written in legal terms and therefore may be difficult to understand.
• Instruct students to look at Worksheet 1: Rental Contract 1 and read the first paragraph aloud with them. Ask
students to scan and highlight what information they can learn from this paragraph.
Possible answers: name of tenant, name of landlord, address of property
• Ask students to look for the words that are used to refer to the property.
Answer: the premises
Explain to the students that if they need help, they could use clues such as located and the address to help them
understand that premises refer to the property.
• Instruct students to look at Worksheet 2: Rental Contract 2 and to look for the words that are used to refer to
the property.
Answer: the dwelling

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Advanced ENGLISH Teacher’s Notes
Module 3 • Home Sweet Home Reading

• Divide the class into pairs. Have one student in each pair scan Worksheet 1: Rental Contract 1 and underline any
unfamiliar words or phrases. Have the other student do the same for Worksheet 2: Rental Contract 2.
• Write the unfamiliar words or phrases on the board, and ask students to guess their meaning from the context.
Provide explanations of words and phrases that are still unclear.
Possible difficult vocabulary:
lease = rent commence = begin
hereby = by means of this document vacated = left
herein = in this document give notice = warn
consent = agree or agreement in writing good condition = good state
evidence = proof reasonable wear and tear = things that have deteriorated
parties = people because of regular use
• Have pairs of students compare the two rental contracts and complete Worksheet 3: A Comparison of Two Rental
Contracts. Mention the importance of the headings in understanding the content of each clause.
• Remind students that in the U.S. the date is written month / day / year, not like in Europe or Asia.
• Review the answers to the worksheet with the class.
Worksheet 3 Answers:
Rental Contract 1 Rental Contract 2

What is the landlord’s name? Mark Robbins Adrian Davis

What is the tenant’s name? Joan Simmons Tanya Raye

What is the address of the property? 354 Irving Street, Boston 84 Cambridge Street, Boston

On what date does the contract begin? 8/4/12 2/25/12

On what date does the contract end? 8/3/13 2/24/14

How much is the rent? $1,500 $1,000

In what form should the rent be paid? cash or cashier’s check personal check or cash

On what day of the month is the rent due? the 4th of the month the 1st of the month

If the rent isn’t paid by the 4th of the

If the rent is more than
month, the tenant has to pay a late
What happens if the rent is late? a day late, the tenant
fee of $25, and an additional $5 for
has to pay another $100.
each subsequent day that it isn’t paid.

How much is the security deposit? $1,500 $2,000

When will the security deposit be within 10 days of leaving

30 days after leaving the apartment
returned to the tenant? the apartment
Which utilities will be paid by the
water water and garbage
landlord?
the tenant, unless there are repairs
Who is responsible for general repairs to
the landlord that are the result of a building
the apartment?
defect

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Advanced ENGLISH Teacher’s Notes
Module 3 • Home Sweet Home Reading

Activity 2 (20 minutes)

• Have students continue working in pairs. Instruct them to list additional differences between the two contracts. In
particular, they should look for clauses that appear in only one of the contracts.
• Have students share with the class the differences that they found between the two contracts.
Possible answers:
In Rental Contract 1, no pets are allowed.
In Rental Contract 2, the landlord can terminate the lease if he sells the property.
Rental Contract 1 is for one year, whereas Rental Contract 2 is for two years.
• Choose one of the differences and write a compare and contrast sentence on the board about it.
Possible answer: In Rental Contract 1 the rent is $1,500, whereas in Rental Contract 2 it is $1,000.
• Ask students to identify the word or expression that defines this sentence as a sentence of contrast.
Answer: whereas
• Elicit other useful words and expressions that can be used when contrasting two things and write them on the
board. (These expressions were presented in the online module.)
Possible answers: but, however, although, unlike, on the other hand
• Ask students to look at the sentence of contrast on the board and to suggest different ways of saying the same
thing with the above words or expressions that are used to contrast two things.
Possible answers: T he rent in Rental Contract 1 is $1,500. However, the rent in Rental Contract 2 is $1,000. /
Unlike the rent in Rental Contract 1, which is $1,500, the rent in Rental Contract 2 is $1,000.
• Elicit useful words and expressions that are used when comparing two things. Write them on the board.
Possible answers: like, both, in a similar way, similarly
• In pairs, have students write at least three compare and contrast sentences about the two contracts. Have students
share some of their answers with the class.
Possible answers:
In both Rental Contract 1 and Rental Contract 2, the tenant has to pay a security deposit.
In Rental Contract 1, the rent is cheaper than it is in Rental Contract 2. However, the security deposit is higher.
• Ask students which of the clauses in these two contracts they would find problematic if they wanted to rent one
of the homes.
Possible answers:
In Rental Contract 1, the security deposit is very high.
In Rental Contract 2, the landlord has the right to enter at any time.

Interpreting, Comparing and Contrasting Rental Contracts: Page 3 of 4

Advanced ENGLISH Teacher’s Notes
Module 3 • Home Sweet Home Reading

Activity 3 (20 minutes)

• Divide the class into tenant and landlord pairs. Each of the tenants wants to rent one of the apartments described
in Worksheets 1 and 2. The pairs must try to negotiate the terms of their contract. They should discuss issues
such as the rent, the payment of utilities, the security deposit, etc.
You may wish to write the following useful phrases for negotiation on the board:
Tenant:
Could you please explain why … ?
This seems (a little) unreasonable.
Are you prepared to … ?
I would feel happier about the contract if … .
Landlord:
I’d like to … , but … .
I’ll see what I can do.
I can’t promise (anything).
(I’m afraid) that’s impossible / out of the question.
I’m sorry, but I can’t … .
Well, maybe I could … .
Well, I’m prepared to … .
• Have the pairs of students choose one section of the contract that they renegotiated and rewrite that section or
clause according to what was decided as a result of the negotiation.

Lead-Out (10 minutes)

• Invite the spokesperson for each pair to share the pair’s work with the class and explain why they changed the
specific clause. Have students reflect on the process they went through, sharing things that could help them in
the future.

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