Oklahoma Lease Agreement

Required Landlord Disclosures (4)

Federal and state law require the landlord to make certain disclosures to the tenant when entering a new rental agreement. These disclosures are legally mandated, and landlords must provide them during lease signing.

1. Lead-Based Paint: For all units constructed before 1978, landlords must disclose the knowledge of any lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards on the property.

2. Landlord Identification: Oklahoma landlords must provide the owner’s or landlord’s name and address in writing (OS § 41-116).

3. Flooding: If the rental unit flooded within the past five years, landlords must disclose this information clearly in the written rental agreement (OS § 41-113a).

4. Methamphetamine Contamination: Landlords in Oklahoma must disclose any knowledge relating to meth manufacture on the property. If the contamination level is less than 0.1 mcg per 100 square centimeters, no disclosure is necessary (OS § 41-118(5(C)).

Security Deposit Regulations

Maximum Security Deposit Amount: There is no limit on the amount a landlord can charge for security deposits in Oklahoma.

Receipt of Deposit: No law requires landlords to provide a receipt for the security deposit. However, landlords must keep the deposit funds in an Oklahoma-maintained, federally insured escrow account (OS § 41-115(B)).

Deduction Tracking: In Oklahoma, landlords can withhold money from the security deposit for unpaid rent or damages caused by the tenant’s failure to comply with the lease terms. When returning the remaining security deposit, the landlord must also give the tenant a written list of any deductions (OS § 41-115(B)).

Returning a Tenant’s Security Deposit: The tenant must make a written demand to return the security deposit within 6 months after the tenancy ends. Landlords then have 45 days to return the security deposit to tenants after the lease term expires, possession of the property, and written demand by the tenant. Should the tenant not make a written demand for the return of the security deposit within the 6-month timeframe, the landlord can keep said funds (OS § 41-115(A)).

Landlord’s Access to Property

Advance Notice: Oklahoma landlords must give tenants at least 24 hours’ notice before entering the property and can only enter at reasonable times (OS § 41-128(C)).

Immediate Access: In cases of emergency, landlords may enter the unit without advance notice (OS § 41-128(A))

Landlord Harassment: Landlords who repeatedly enter a tenant’s unit without proper notice could be liable for landlord harassment. Tenants may be able to get a court order to prevent the landlord from continuing to enter the unit, recover the costs of any damages through a lawsuit, or even cancel the rental agreement (OS § 41-124(A)).

Rent Payment Laws

Grace Period: There is no mandatory grace period in Oklahoma.

Late Rent Fees: While state law does not restrict late fees, landlords must include the amount of the fees in the lease agreement for it to be valid.

Tenant’s Right to Withhold Rent: Tenants can inform the landlord about a significant problem with the rental unit that impacts health or safety and give the landlord 14 days to resolve the issue. If the landlord does not fix the problem, tenants can have the repair done and subtract the cost from the rent payment, as long as the repair costs less than one month’s rent (OS § 41-121(B-C)).

Breach of Rental Agreement

Missed Rent Payment: Once a tenant misses a rent payment, Oklahoma landlords can give tenants a 5-day notice to pay or quit (OS § 41-131(B)).

Lease Violation: Landlords should give tenants a 15-day notice to cure or quit for lease violations. If the landlord doesn’t cure the violation in 10 days, the lease can be terminated 5 days later (OS § 41-132(B)).

Self-Help Evictions: Landlords should never attempt self-help evictions and should always follow the legal eviction process. Self-help evictions are illegal and could result in civil or legal penalties.

Lease Abandonment: Tenants who break a lease early and without cause could be responsible for the rent remaining for the duration of the lease agreement. However, Oklahoma landlords have a “duty to mitigate damages,” meaning they must try to re-rent the unit with reasonable effort (OS § 41-105).

Ending a Lease

Month-to-Month: Landlords or tenants can terminate month-to-month leases with at least 30 days’ written notice (OS § 41-111(A)).

Fixed-Term: Tenants may break a fixed-term lease before the expiration of the lease term in certain circumstances. These include the tenant entering active military duty, the tenant dying, uninhabitable living conditions, or the tenant being the victim of domestic violence.

Property Abandonment: For any personal property that has ascertainable value left behind by the tenant, the landlord must notify the tenant and give them 30 days to retrieve it. Landlords must store the property in a safe location and can charge the tenant a reasonable rate for any storage fees incurred (OS § 41-130).

Renewing a Lease

Required Renewals: Landlords in Oklahoma are not required to renew a tenant’s lease at the expiration of the lease term.

Required Notice: Oklahoma landlords are only required to notify the tenant when they choose to terminate a month-to-month lease, which is 30 days. No notification period is required when a landlord decides not to renew a tenant’s fixed-term lease (OS § 41-111(A)).

Rent Control & Stabilization

There is no statewide rent control in Oklahoma, so landlords can raise the rent to whatever level they’d like. Landlords can increase the rent on month-to-month tenancies as they give them 30 days’ written notice of the increase.