Explanation: Whereas landlord/tenant is more for general usage. This is a question I myself asked of a lawyer friend of mine, when I first encountered this issue some years back, and such was his response.
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writeaway, if, by your own admission, there are many examples of such usage, does this not contradict your argument?
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writeaway, certainly, but in this case their existence and abundance of use does contradict your argument. Please show me any actual evidence of the contrary, and I will gladly admit that I am wrong.
Thank you, Mark, I've found this link very helpful. My document appears to be a lease as it specifies a time-frame, so it would make perfect sense to use Lessor/Lessee (though the latter rather reminds me of 'Lassie' the dog!) Thanks to everyone for your input as well. This seems to be one of those questions with no definitive answer. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
You asked for the difference. Lessor/lessee is the more general because it applies to a lease of any kind, whereas landlord/tenant applies -- obviously -- only to real property. Nobody calls the owner of a leased truck a 'landlord'.
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lessor/lessee vs landlord/tenant
Essentially the same
Explanation: I would say that all of your terms are essentially equal but they differ (slightly) in terms of usage, nuance and perceived level of formality. In the US I would say that the use of 'lessor/lessee' is perceived to be more formal (legalistic) than 'landlord/tenant' and that, quite often, the use of 'landlord/tenant' is used more frequently when referring to actual dwelling places (as opposed to business or commercial property) but this is not a hard and fast "rule". For 'lease agreement' versus 'rental agreement' I would say that most people in the US would generally use the term 'lease' when referring to actually leasing some type of physical object, (like a car or truck or moving van) and would tend to use 'rent' or 'rental' to refer to property where they dwell (house, apartment, condo) but, here again, this is not a hard and fast "rule" it simply depends which terms you care to use. Essentially both sets of terms are, IMHO, relatively interchangeable; both are used and would be understood. If you're looking for a higher level of formality that sounds more "businesslike" or "legal" I suggest using 'lessor/lessee' and, if not, use 'landlord/tenant'. HTH.
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BTW, I'm a native English speaker and English teacher who was born and raised in the US. Well aware of the nuances and usage of this particular variety of English in this particular area of the world.
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peer agreement (net): +7