Last Updated October 13, 2023
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What is a Vehicle Leasing Agreement?
A Vehicle Leasing Agreement is a document that outlines the terms and conditions between a lessor and lessee. In this case, the lessor is the owner of the vehicle and the lessee is someone who pays to lease it for a set time. You can use a Vehicle Lease Agreement for cars, trucks, trailers, and more.
Why bother creating a document? Because it's a good idea to use a Vehicle Leasing Agreement whenever a vehicle lease is being negotiated between two parties. In fact, any private lender that doesn’t provide a lease form should set off alarm bells.
An official document helps protect the interests of the lessor and lessee because it reduces the risk of misunderstandings and provides evidence for enforcing your agreement. For example, it clearly states information such as:
- Payments and leasing rates
- Insurance requirements
- The lease’s duration
- Warranties
A Vehicle Leasing Agreement is also known as:
- Car Lease Agreement
- Vehicle Lease Contract
- Motor Vehicle Lease Form
- Rent-to-Own Contract
What are the lessee’s responsibilities?
The vehicle's lessee is responsible for providing proof of insurance and ensuring the vehicle remains in good condition.
The lessor may bill the lessee for the necessary repairs if they return the vehicle with excessive interior wear, large dents or scratches, or any significant mechanical damage.
The vehicle's owner (the lessor) is responsible for registering the leased vehicle even though it will be in possession of the lessee.
How do I create a Vehicle Leasing Agreement?
Create your custom contract with LawDepot’s Vehicle Leasing Agreement template. Answer our questionnaire to ensure your document contains all the necessary information, and we’ll handle the legal terminology.
It’s essential that you be as descriptive as possible because you want to be clear about the vehicle in question. Some details you should provide are:
- Body type (e.g., sedan, semi-truck, pick-up truck, etc.)
- Whether its use is primarily for businessor personal purposes
- Whether it’s new or used
- Type of vehicle
- Year (e.g., 2022, 2023)
- Make (e.g., Ford, Toyota)
- Model (e.g., Focus, Corolla)
- Color (e.g., black)
- Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
You’ll also need to provide your location so we can tailor your Vehicle Leasing Agreement to your state’s laws.
What’s a VIN? All vehicles are assigned a unique 17-character VIN ("vehicle identification number" or chassis number) when they're manufactured. If you don't know your VIN, leave your answer blank for now and write it in after you have printed your document but before you have signed the document.
If your vehicle was manufactured in 1969 or later, your VIN is located on the driver's side dash, viewable through the windshield. You can also check the driver's side door, accident reports, insurance records, or repair work orders.
Step 2: Add party details
Your agreement needs to include information about the lessor and lessee:
- Whether they’re an individual or organization
- Full names
- Addresses
Step 3: State any warranty and insurance terms
If needed, you can apply two types of warranties to the lease:
- The manufacturer's warranty is the warranty that comes with the original purchase of a vehicle. If there is still a warranty left on the vehicle, state how many years of coverage remain.
- The supplementary warranty is when the owner or a third party provides a warranty for repairs that covers the period between when the manufacturer's warranty expires and the end of the lease term. State how much the supplementary warranty will cost the lessee if your agreement includes it.
In most places, auto insurance is a legal requirement. So your Vehicle Leasing Agreement should outline the:
- Minimum insurance coverage
- Maximum deductible on fire, theft, and collision
- Gap coverage (if applicable)
What’s gap coverage? It covers the difference between what the insurance company says the car is worth and what the lessee would have to pay under the lease if the vehicle is destroyed. This coverage stops the lessee from having to pay further charges.
Step 4: Customize your lease terms
Generally, Vehicle Leasing Agreements include key terms such as:
- The lease duration and mileage (e.g., unlimited or specified)
- An option to purchase (which allows the lessee to buy the vehicle at any time during the lease or at the end of the lease). The purchase price will likely be the approximate residual value of the vehicle at the time of negotiations.
- Pricing information such as the vehicle’s value, any added fees (e.g., late fees, cleaning fees, etc.), a down payment amount (optional), the lease rate, payment schedules, pre-authorized payments, security deposits, and taxes.
- Obligations should either party end the lease early
Please note that including an option to purchase may change the nature of the agreement from a lease to a conditional purchase contract which may affect its deductibility as a business expense.
It’s also important to know that, if the lease is terminated early, the lessor may require the lessee to be responsible for the difference between the residual value and the realized value.
The residual value (i.e., the buy-out price) is the vehicle's estimated value at the end of the lease term. The realized value is the actual sale price the owner receives for the vehicle when a lessee terminates the lease early, and the vehicle is sold.
The lessee isn’t responsible for the difference between the residual value and the actual realized value if the lease is terminated at the end of the lease term.
Contact a lawyer if you need more support about applying terms and conditions to your contract.
Step 5: Get ready to sign
If there are any terms unique to your situation that weren’t addressed in the questionnaire, you can use our additional clauses section to write them yourself. We’ll provide sample text with tips on how to write an effective and descriptive term.
When you’re ready, make your Vehicle Leasing Agreement legally binding by having the lessor and lessee sign the document.
What happens at the end of the vehicle lease term?
Unless the agreement is a lease-to-own, the lessee returns the vehicle to the lessor when the term is up and the Vehicle Leasing Agreement expires. With a lease-to-own contract, the lease payments made during the duration of the agreement will typically count toward the total purchase price.
A Vehicle Leasing Agreement can also list penalties for ending the lease before the term is up. Early termination penalties can include paying the remaining balance with additional charges.