Lease agreement checklist for Philippine landlords (with the clauses people forget)

How to use this

Open your current lease beside the map. For each part, ask: is it there, is it specific, would a stranger know what it means. Mark what is missing. Then decide which of the missing parts you can write yourself (most of them are plain facts) and which need a lawyer (the lessor's capacity if you sublet, termination and forfeiture, anything touching the Rent Control Act).

The five most often missing

Notices. Without a clause saying what counts as service, a WhatsApp notice may be argued away. Name the addresses, the channels, and when a notice is deemed received. Data privacy. You hold the tenant's ID, contact details and payment history; RA 10173 expects their consent and a stated purpose. One paragraph. Electronic execution. If you sign electronically, say the parties agree to — it removes the argument before it starts. Venue. Which courts, and that barangay conciliation comes first where the Katarungang Pambarangay applies. Nuisance and quiet hours. The complaint you will receive most, and the clause that lets you act on it.

Things that look like clauses but aren't

A penalty of 10% a month compounding — courts cut unconscionable penalties; a modest fixed late fee survives. "Deposit forfeited on any breach" — forfeiture of the whole deposit for a minor breach is routinely reduced. "Lessor may enter at any time" — unenforceable and bad practice; write notice in. "Tenant waives all rights" — means nothing.

Notarisation

An unnotarised lease binds the parties. Notarisation makes it a public document and is needed to register or annotate it on the title, which matters for leases over a year if you want them enforceable against a buyer. Many landlords notarise everything out of habit; the cost is small. An electronically signed lease can be notarised under the rules on remote notarisation where a notary offers it.