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General Landlording & Rental Properties

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Sam Leon
  • Investor
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL
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I need to provide internet and cable TV to existing tenants, seeking advice on the best and reasonable compromise...

Sam Leon
  • Investor
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL
Posted Oct 9 2014, 14:49

In the process of finalizing the purchase of a triplex.  Fully rented to three tenants with yearly lease, to expire May 2015, July 2015 and August 2015.

However. in reading over the lease - the seller has written into each of the lease that internet and cable TV are included with rent.

Investigating further, it is a personal Comcast account to the seller, and it's a SFR account, he has a cable modem in the laundry room, with coax cables running to the individual units, and tenants have the WIFI WEP password.

Obviously when the purchase is completed the account will be deactivated, and I am going to have to figure out a way to provide cable TV and internet service in accordance to the lease.

In speaking to the tenants, yes they use both, and yes they depend on both.

As a matter of preferences, I have never provided any of this to my tenants, I would rather not if I can avoid it.

I believe my options are:

(1) Negotiate with the seller to maintain the account in his personal name for now...he continues to pay for the bill and I would reimburse him for it.  This arrangement would last until August 2015 when the latest lease expires.  By that time I would have either new tenants or existing tenants signed under new leases without such services provided.

(2) Call up Comcast and see if they are open to creating a new account under my name with the same terms and rates and do a switch.  I will be responsible for the bill and it will be status quo until August 2015.

(3) Find out how much it costs to establish a new account with Comcast for EACH tenant to provide cable and internet.  Then reduce the rent for each by the amount of the monthly fees so that they can call to have their own cable and internet hooked up, and be responsible for their own bills.  This may actually be a good excuse to have them transition to my new lease so everyone is on the same page.

I am leaning towards option 3.  However, one potential problem is if they they don't all agree, say one tenant wants to keep things the way it is now and two tenants don't mind signing a new lease with a rent reduction to allow for their own cable/internet, I don't want to end up doing both.

Thoughts?

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