Suggested Target Age: Grades 10-12

Source: Lesson adapted from materials from www.practicalmoneyskills.com and www.consumerjungle.org

Topics Covered: independent living, leases, landlord-tenant relations

Time Required: 45 minutes

• They will develop the skills and knowledge necessary to interpret and evaluate lease and rental agreements
• They will learn the basics of landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities

California: History (Democratic Principles) grade 12- 12.2(2,3,5); Career/Tech 7.2, 7.4
Florida: LA.A.1.4
Indiana: no specific standards identified
Virginia: Math A.1, A.2; CE.4, CE.9; Govt 16, 17; Economics & Financial Literacy Objectives 1,7,8,12,13

Materials Required:

• Materials for the “Would You Sign This Lease?” exercise. To obtain, go here: http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/english/pdf/teachers/lev_3/lesson_04/4_4.pdf You will want to print out copies of the sample lease, the sample month-to-month rental agreement, and the worksheets for students to use to determine whether they would sign these agreements. Also print out the teacher’s answer key for yourself.

Before you teach this lesson, you should refresh your own knowledge of the basics of leases and landlord-tenant relations. For example, leases typically are for a 12-month period. Renters can also look for rental agreements that are month-to-month. A lease will have in it the terms and conditions including length, monthly payment amount, date payments are due each month, fees for late payment, the name of the lessor and lessee, and the address where the rent should be sent.

Tenants need to be on the lookout for certain clauses in leases that they may not want to agree with, such as an inability to sue clause. Tenants may also want to request that a lease include additional clauses such as a list of appliances the apartment comes with, what facilities the lessor may use, any damages that exist when the lessor moves in, and any verbal promises made by the landlord.

Also review the following documents:

Rights and responsibilities of landlords 

By completing this preparation, you will be in good shape to walk the students through the main body of this lesson, the “Landlord-Tenant Power Point” presentation (see step 3).

If no one in your organization feels comfortable with this material (even after attempting the teacher preparation steps listed here), then invite a guest speaker to conduct this lesson. Good possibilities for knowledgeable guest speakers on this topic would include property managers, resident managers at an apartment complex, a person who is a landlord, or a realtor.

NOTE: This lesson requires that the TEACHER have access to a computer, power point and an LCD projector, but the students do not have to be on computers.

Lesson Plan:

Set-Up: Gather students together in a classroom setting

Introduction: Explain that today’s class is the second in the two-part series on living independently. Today the focus will be on budgeting and learning how to understand and evaluate a lease.

1. Play “Landlord-Tenant Court.”

a) Divide the class into four groups (note that you need at least 3-4 people in each of groups 1,2, and 3 – if necessary, delete group 4s).
            Group 1s will be tenants
            Groups 2s will be landlords
            Groups 3s will be judges
            Groups 4s will be court spectators

b) Place one chair in front the classroom on the left side and hang a sign from it that says “Tenant.” Place another chair up front on the right side and hang a sign from it that says “Landlord.” Place a desk or small table in the front and center of the classroom, with a chair behind it. This is the judge’s podium. Have the rest of the chairs lined up theater style, several yards back from the front “stage” area.

c) Pass out one TENANT card to each member of the tenant group; one LANDLORD card to each member of the landlord group. Click here for the Cards for the Landlord-Tenant Court Game. 

d) Explain that there are four landlord-tenant disputes for the judge to decide on. The judge can decide in favor of the tenant, in favor of the landlord, or he/she can make both parties responsible to take some action.

e) Have the first tenant, the first landlord, and the first judge take their places.

f) The judge should call the court to order and ask the tenant first to speak and explain his/her “side of the story.” The tenant should do so, using the information on his/her card. Then the judge should invite the first landlord to tell his/her side, using the information on his/her card.

g) After both sides have been heard, the judge should deliberate, then voice his/her decision.

h) Ask the court spectators whether or not they agree with the judge’s decision.

i) Inform everyone of the “correct” decision (written on the TEACHER card)

j) Repeat this process for the next 3 cases (or two cases if you have a relatively small group of students you are working with).

2. Have all the students return back to their original seats. Tell students that you wanted them to play the tenant-landlord game because it is very important for tenants to know their rights and responsibilities so as to avoid potential problems with their future landlords.

3. If you have a computer with LCD projector, walk the students through the “Landlord-Tenant” power point presentation located here: http://www.consumerjungle.org/images/stories/documents/independent_living/1_Landlord%20Tenant%20Law.PPT (NOTE – if you don’t have live internet access in your classroom, you can go to this site before your class, from an internet-connected computer, and download and save it on your own computer. The power point presentation “as is” takes about 20 minutes to run through. If you save it onto your own computer, you could alter it and reduce the time by deleting some slides.)

4. Break the class into two groups to complete the “Would You Sign This Lease?” exercise. (Teachers - go here for an overview of the activity: http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/english/at_school/students/lesson.php?id=80&ids=71:72:73:74:75:76::77:78:79:80:81:82:83