{"id":16338,"date":"2010-10-28T10:46:19","date_gmt":"2010-10-28T17:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/renewsblog\/?p=16338"},"modified":"2021-03-16T09:46:49","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T15:46:49","slug":"2010-10-28-the-plight-of-the-accidental-landlord-help-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2010-10-28-the-plight-of-the-accidental-landlord-help-advice","title":{"rendered":"The Plight of an Accidental Landlord: Tips & Advice"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you hang out on the BiggerPockets forums<\/a> you know that at least once a week a brand new landlord… mostly a person who was forced into the landlord role just to cover the mortgage on an investment that went wrong, will make a post… actually it is more of a plea asking for help with a critical tenant issue.<\/p>\n

If you have taken the time to read through these pleas… your heart almost goes out to the individual because it seems that the more they discuss their plight, the worst the situation seems to be.<\/p>\n

As was the case with a recent post from a very stressed landlord<\/a> who was nervous about having to evict a tenant who was several months behind in their rent and had this poor landlord literally tap dancing to their tune.\u00a0 This person very clearly was an “accidental landlord”!<\/p>\n

Perhaps you know an\u00a0“accidental landlord” and have watched them struggle to find and manage their tenants.\u00a0 Perhaps you are or were one!<\/p>\n

“Accidental landlords” don’t start out with the notion of becoming a landlord.\u00a0 They end up backing into that role.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How… you may ask?\u00a0 Simple…\u00a0 This is the person who paid waaaaay too much for a rehab property.\u00a0 Or, perhaps they gilded the lily regarding the renovation or busted the renovation budget due to inexperience\u00a0in either estimating the\u00a0repairs\u00a0and their costs or poorly managing the contractors.\u00a0 Or, perhaps they just mis-read the market and got caught!<\/p>\n

Regardless the\u00a0end result is that\u00a0they can’t sell their property without taking huge losses and so they decide, with no knowledge or experience, to become a landlord!\u00a0 An “accidental” one at that!<\/p>\n

While I could write chapter and verse how not to find yourself as an “accidental landlord”… instead, and in hopes of helping out any investor who\u00a0finds themselves on this slippery slope, I am going to focus on just a few of the basics that should be adhered to by any person who finds themselves heading down the path of being a landlord for any reason.<\/p>\n

Tips for Potential “Accidental” Landlords<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Realize that owning rental properties is a very different animal then rehabbing and selling or wholesaling.\u00a0\u00a0There are many, many landord\/tenant laws and they are different in every state, county and city.\u00a0 Before you jump in or are pushed into becoming a landlord spend some time figuring out what these rules are.\u00a0 They can be found online, through real estate agents, municipalities themselves and in many larger cities through landlord\/tenant organizations.\u00a0 Also, seek out and participate in your local Property Owners Association.\n<\/li>\n
  2. Expanding on number 1 above, you have certain rights as a landlord… and guess what… so does your tenant.\u00a0 Know what those rights are!\u00a0 For instance, in most jurisdictions you can’t turn the power off to the property or change the locks just because the tenant has stopped paying rent.\u00a0 In fact, in Baltimore, Maryland that action would most likely end up with you in jail.\u00a0\n<\/li>\n
  3. Find a lawyer who specializes in landlord\/tenant issues and come prepared with a ton\u00a0of\u00a0questions and a request for a lease that will protect you and\u00a0comply with local laws.\u00a0 The list of questions – \u00a0first and foremost, includes “how does the eviction process work?”\u00a0 What\u00a0is the timeline and what are the costs?\u00a0 In some places\u00a0going from\u00a0non-payment of rent to eviction is a matter of weeks.\u00a0 In others, it is a matter of many long months.\u00a0\n<\/li>\n
  4. Seek out and hire a professional property manager.\u00a0 As much as it pains me make this recommendation, the bottom line is you may not be ready or able to be an effective landlord.\u00a0 My litmus test is the following: If you can evict a tenant in December, you have what it takes to make the tough decisions to be a landlord.\u00a0 If you can’t evict in December, hire someone who will!\n<\/li>\n
  5. Remember that your job as a landlord is not to become friends with your tenant.\u00a0 You may be friendly, cordial and respectful, but this is a business relationship — one where if you are lucky, you will get paid rent regularly and if you are not so lucky, you will find yourself becoming very hardened towards people.\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I am sure there are many other things you need to know when heading down the path to becoming an Accidental Landlord, but for now, know what you are up against and then make\u00a0the conscious decision –>\u00a0Do I want to be an Accidental Landlord or not?\u00a0<\/p>\n

    Best of luck!<\/p>\n

    Photo: Steven Depolo<\/a><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    If you hang out on the BiggerPockets forums you know that at least once a week a brand new landlord… mostly a person who was forced into the landlord role […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":448,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5183],"tags":[190,966,59,569],"class_list":["post-16338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-landlording","tag-landlord","tag-lease","tag-real-estate-investing","tag-tenant"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/448"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16338\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}