Rental Property Investor 路 Clearwater, FL 路 Member since 2015 路 112 posts 路 29 votes
Section 8 Tenant.
Property ready for her to move in with inspection approved.
Tenant hasn鈥檛 switched utilities yet and does not have the money 馃挻 to pay the deposit yet.
We haven鈥檛 signed lease yet, I always do at the same time of handing keys and tenant paying deposit and their portion of first month.
Also I am dealing with the daughter. The place is for her mom who is around 80 and is a sweetheart. The daughter is really rude ( to her and today to me as well ) shhe deals with me because she handles her mom鈥檚 money. Today she told me if I didn鈥檛 let her mom move all the same she would look for another place 馃槼馃槼馃槼馃槼
@Marisa Alvarez Talk to the case worker and see what they suggest. If you have other prospective tenants, rent it to one of them. If the mom is section 8, I don't know how much money she has for the daughter to handle. I thought section 8 were low income.
Yeah, what @Max T. said, just move to the next candidate. Don't you already have some bad vibes regarding the impending rental relationship? Don't move forward with this person(s)
Never counter sign a lease agreement or stop looking for a tenant until the deposit is in your hands. It only leads to putting someone less then ideal at the last minute or extra vacancy. Sounds like you dodged a bullet if the tenant is already threatening to move on.
The place is for her mom who is around 80 and is a sweetheart. The daughter is really rude ( to her and today to me as well ) shhe deals with me because she handles her mom鈥檚 money. Today she told me if I didn鈥檛 let her mom move all the same she would look for another place 馃槼馃槼馃槼馃槼
You are so lucky that you saw this attitude before the lease was signed. You'll be dealing with the daughter when there are issues, not the mother.
Her being rude would be a deal breaker to me. If she is like that now, imagine how bad she will be when the mom has moved in.
Let her know that you'll have to inform S8 that she does not have the deposit money and that you hope they can extend her voucher until she finds another place and not yank her S8 funding for failing to uphold her end of the agreement. 馃槉
Yes correct you collect a deposit to hold. If for some reason the applicant changes their mind or does not have the money to move in they forfeit the deposit. Never stop showing until you collect a deposit.
Any tenant we approve for an apartment gets told the following "we keep showing the apartment until we get a deposit from an approved applicant". Then from there we show until exactly that happens.
Also, the mother is your tenant. I always recommend speaking directly to the tenant about landlord/tenant matters, if another party makes this difficult now it will only be worse once they move in.
Real Estate Consultant 路 San Antonio TX Canyon Lake TX Fort Walton Beach FL Cape Coral FL Clarksville TN Sumter SC and Lawton, OK 路 Member since 2008 路 139 posts 路 128 votes
Don't negotiate with terrorists. Does she also squat at her mom's current residence too. I love to see where my tenants live now so I can predict what my place will look like when they are done living there...
@Marisa Alvarez, if you do collect holding funds, don't call it a deposit. Deposits are, by definition, refundable unless you can PROVE loss. In other words, you have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that another qualified applicant came along and offered to rent from you and that the only reason you didn't get paid by that candidate is that you were waiting on the person who paid the deposit.
Can you prove that, with hard evidence that would stand up in a court? Nope. Will an applicant who pays a deposit take it to court? Probably not, so that's why a lot of land lords get away with charging "non-refundable" deposits. Such a thing doesn't exist, but the lack of litigation of it doesn't mean it's not risky.
Non-refundable deposit is like diet bacon...call it whatever you like, such a thing doesn't exist...by definition.
Rather, what you do is charge a Holding FEE. The word FEE makes it clear this is not a deposit. FEES are by definition "non refundable" so you don't even have to say non-refundable fee. What you do say in your holding agreement is the fee will be credited toward total move-in costs if the tenant fulfills all obligations and signs the lease. The obligations include paying all remaining move-in fees due, switching utilities into their name, staying in good standing with current land lord if that applies, and keeping approximately the same income as the time approved.
I don't hold for more than 2 weeks without collecting rent, so Section 8 is pretty much a No-Go for me. They piddle around with their inspections for 3-4 weeks, and by that time I have found a market rate tenant. You take Uncle Sam's money, you get to play by his rules. No thanks. But if you're going to do that, at least collect a holding FEE.
I would look for a new tenant and tell her if she does not have the deposit, she will not be moving in period!
Don't start off giving into unwarranted demands as it will set a precedent for her daughter to act nasty going forward. I would prefer to wait for the right tenant than deal with one with a nasty attitude. I would tell her you plan to continue to advertise until a lease is signed/deposit is given and first come, first serve on that.
I say good luck. Then I say that I am looking for other renters.
It's not a mean thing to say this family has no money. Section 8 for some, is protection against being booted out easier.
Unless you rent properties for the sake of keeping them occupied, I bet you do so as an investment! When the government pays the rent, and the proposed tenant has an issue with getting the utilities changed, that's the red flag of NO in my book.
I had my days of moving out with an outstanding utility bill. The utilities want your d account paid first!
As well, I rented to friends that moved out with an outstanding utility bill, and I had to pay the bill because I owned the property.
Often times, we know what ice should be stepped on with caution. This situation has me hearing the ice crack before it is even stepped on!