When most people think of rental agreements, they’re probably thinking about one of a couple of things. They might be thinking about apartment leases, when they have to sign on the dotted line in order to start renting from a landlord. Or they might be thinking about the rental agreement they sign when they rent a car while on vacation. These are certainly two examples of rental agreements that are common in today’s world, but there’s another type of rental agreement people seem to be less aware of: equipment rental agreements.

Why aren’t people more aware of these agreements? After all, equipment can be expensive and if you have a big job that needs to be done but limited resources, an equipment rental can really be a life-saver. Well, as it turns out, plenty of people do fill out equipment rental agreements when they rent a piece of equipment from someone else, and the form to do so can be both simple and easy to understand.

It may seem a bit like “overkill” to have a written arrangement surrounding something that isn’t as valuable as a car - after all, you don’t have to sign anything to buy a lawn mower, so why should you ever have to sign anything when you want to rent one? Well, you’d be surprised just how relevant these documents can be. While you may have the best of intentions with the lawn mower you’re renting, there are a lot of people who don’t - and a solid, well-drawn-up equipment rental agreement is to help protect the owner of the equipment not because of the good renters, but because of the bad ones.

These protections can include a range of terms contained in the rental agreement. For example, an owner might put in language that essentially says “if you break it, you bought it,” as a way of protecting themselves against any damage you might do to their equipment while you’re renting it. Any kind of policy can really be drawn up in the agreement - as long as both parties sign on the dotted line, the policy will go into effect. Unless, of course, the policy is somehow illegal, but this applies to a range of formal agreements.

On the renter’s side of things, signing a rental agreement can have a few benefits as well. For example, without a rental agreement, they might never take the car they do in making sure they return the equipment on time and in tip-top shape, and may find themselves owing more money than they thought they would owe. For another thing, the rental agreement allows them to make the rental in the first place, and since that’s what they were after all along, that’s a pretty big benefit indeed.

Equipment rental agreements are typically not as long as more formal arrangements, but they still carry legal weight and should be treated with respect. After all, if your “word is your bond,” an equipment rental agreement is as ironclad as anything else you sign.