Confirming receipt of notices
1 Reply
Wesley W.
Rental Property Investor from Capital Region, NY
posted 12 months ago
I conduct semiannual inspections on my rental units, and typically give notice through text message. I have a relatively new marginal tenant whom I have had some minor problems with. (In hindsight, this person was a poor decision on my part, but with COVID I having to stand pat at the present time.) She "did not get the message" and thus produced some pushback when I showed up for the inspection.
This situation left me wondering how I might proceed in the future with "notice to enter". If I send a text message (or email) and request a confirmation, then a sketchy tenant (whose unit I would like inspect above all others) will ignore the request, causing me a dilemma of not being able to proceed with my inspection as planned. Besides tacitly giving the tenant the control by "confirming receipt" it also will require that I make a separate trip back to that property to inspect that particular unit on a date different than the others at the property I inspected on the planned day. I am all about developing systems, and if there is even one outlier in a process, I essentially no longer have a system.
If I post a physical notice on their door, I still have the possibility of a denial of receipt ("it was not there when I got home that day!"); it also might look like a rent demand notice, so some bad optics for my tenants with their neighbors. I would also have to visit the property a day or two before to post said notices. (Again, two separate trips for one routine operation.)
Again, I know this particular situation today is an exception, but the experience caused me to reevaluate my process to see if there is a better way. Thus far I am have been very lucky with having very cooperative and responsible tenants, this one notwithstanding.
Thanks in advance!
Max T.
Investor from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
replied 12 months ago
Email with read receipt.