Contacts, notice, and governing law_ making your lease defensible

Otherwise, emergency contact and next of kin should be collected at move-in as well, and keep it current. In a death scenario, the emergency contact may be the only lead you have to locate a family member or state representative— estate representative, not state representative. Without it, you're locating next of kin through public records, a much slower and more expensive process. Have explicit notice provisions. The lease should state clearly that notices will be sent by certified mail to the address on file. This keeps your default notice process legally defensible. A notice sent to an old address because the lease didn't require the address update from the tenant is a process that may not hold up. Always have governing law clause as well. This confirms which state's law governs the lease. For, for example, properties in Texas, that's going to be Texas law.