That 'free' online legal document site cost me 300 bucks in court fees

I needed a simple lease agreement for a rental property I own in Phoenix. Found one of those sites that lets you fill out forms for free, figured how hard could a lease be? Printed it out, had the tenant sign, all good. Fast forward 4 months, tenant stopped paying rent and I go to evict? Judge said my lease was missing the required state disclosure about lead paint and a clause about security deposit rules. Had to start over, pay 300 in filing fees, and lost a month of rent. Anyone else get burned by trustin those free templates?

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christopher_craig3mo ago

Heard a lawyer say those free templates miss half the state specific stuff.

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mitchell.nancy3mo ago

...and the thing nobody talks about is that those free templates also don't cover your local courthouse's specific filing rules. I've seen people show up with a perfectly filled out free will or power of attorney, only to have the clerk reject it because the margins were wrong or it needed a specific cover sheet. Some counties even require a particular font size for the notary section. You'd think the state law would be the main concern, but it's really the nitpicky local procedures that trip people up.

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