There is typically an implied, explicit, or written
rental agreement or
contract involved to specify the terms of the rental, which are regulated and managed under
contract law. Examples include letting out
real estate (real property) for the purpose of
housing tenure (where the tenant rents a residence to live in),
parking space for a vehicle(s), storage space, whole or portions of properties for business, agricultural, institutional, or government use, or other reasons. When renting real estate, the person(s) or party who lives in or occupies the real estate is often called a
tenant, paying
rent to the owner of the property, often called a
landlord (or landlady). The real estate rented may be all or part of almost any real estate, such as an
apartment,
house,
building, business office(s) or suite, land, farm, or merely an inside or outside space to park a vehicle, or store things all under
Real estate law. The tenancy agreement for real estate is often called a
lease, and usually involves specific property rights in
real property, as opposed to
chattels. In India, the rental income on property is taxed under the head "income from house property". A deduction of 30% is allowed from total rent which is charged to tax. The
time use of a chattel or other so called "personal property" is covered under general
contract law, but the term
lease also nowadays extends to long term
rental contracts of more expensive non-Real properties such as automobiles, boats, planes, office equipment and so forth. The distinction in that case is long term versus short term rentals. Some non-real properties commonly available for rent or lease are: •
motion pictures on
VHS or
DVD, of
audio CDs, of
computer programs on
CD-ROM. •
transport equipment, such as an
automobile or a
bicycle. • ships and boats, in which case rental is known as
chartering, and the rent is known as
hire or
freight (depending on the type of charter) • aircraft, in which case rental is known as
chartering, or
leasing if the rental is longer term • specialized
tools, such as a
chainsaw, laptop, IT equipment or something more substantial, such as a
forklift. • large equipment such as cranes, oil rigs and submarines. • a
deckchair or
beach chair and
umbrella. •
furniture • designer
handbags,
jewelry,
sunglasses and
watches. • Home appliances such as
washing machines,
refrigerators,
televisions,
microwave ovens, and
air-conditioning units In various degrees, renting can involve buying services for various amounts of time, such as staying in a
hotel, using a
computer in an
Internet cafe, or riding in a
taxicab (some forms of English use the term "hiring" for this activity). As seen from the examples, some rented goods are used on the spot, but usually they are taken along; to help
guarantee that they are brought back, one or more of the following applies: • one shows an
identity document • one signs a
contract; any damage already present when renting may be noted down to avoid that the renter is blamed for it when the good is returned • one pays a
damage deposit (a refundable fee that may be used in part to pay for damage caused by the renter) If the customer has a credit account with the rental company, they may rent over several months (or years) and will receive a recurring or continuation invoice each rental period until they return the equipment. In this case deposits are rarely required. In certain types of rental (sometimes known as
operated or wet rental) the charge may be calculated by the rental charge + timesheets of operators or drivers supplied by the rental company to operate the equipment. This is particularly relevant for crane rental companies. Sometimes the risk that the good is kept is reduced by it being a special model or having signs on it that cannot easily be removed, making it obvious that it is owned by the rental company; this is especially effective for goods used in public places, but even when used at home it may help due to social control. Persons and businesses that regularly rent goods from a particular company generally have an account with that company, which reduces the administrative procedure (
transaction costs) on each occasion. Signing out
books from a
library could be considered renting when there is a fee per book. However the term
lending is more common. ==Leasing==