Renting

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Renting is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good owned by another person or company. Examples:

Housing tenure, where the person who lives in the house is a tenant, paying rent to the landlord, who owns the property.
The renting of motion pictures on VHS or DVD, of audio CDs, of computer programs on CD-ROM.
Renting transport equipment, such as an automobile, boat, or bicycle.
Renting somewhat specialized tools, such as a chainsaw, or something more substantial, such as a forklift.
Renting a beach chair and umbrella.

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.

Reasons for renting rather than buying include:

Renting is tax attractive — in places like Spain, Australia, and the United States — it is deductible as a business expense (if the property is used in a trade or business: rent on a dwelling is not tax deductible).
Financial inadequacy, such as renting a house when one is unable to buy it.
A product is needed only temporarily, as in the case of a special tool or a truck.
Need for a similar product that is already owned but not in proximity, such as renting an automobile or bicycle when away on a trip.
Needing a cheaper alternative to buying, such as renting a movie: a person is unwilling to pay the full price for a movie, so they rent it for a lesser price, but give up the chance to view it again later.

Some merchants have rent-to-own (also called lease-purchase) programs, usually for expensive items such as houses or appliances.

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 deposit (also used for paying for small damage)

Sometimes the risk that the good is kept is reduced by it being a special model or having signs on it than can not 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.

If a person or business regularly rents goods from a particular company, they often have an account, which reduces the administrative procedure 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.

Renting

See also