Tenant Rules set by Landlord
Kenneth GarrettPro Member
Investor · Florida Panhandle/Illinois · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votesI have a number of rental units where I use the MLS rental lease. I use this so I make sure I meet the state requirements. I do not have a list of guidelines and/or rules that the tenant signs other then what is in the lease. I feel like maybe I have been fortunate up to this point.
Is anyone willing to share what they use for property rules?
@Kenneth Garrett a good document was posted to the files section of BP under the title "property rules". Here is the link - https://assets1.biggerpockets.com/uploads/user_fil...
@Kenneth Garrett Your lease, if you use one of the local Realtor association ones, likely encompases almost anything you'd run into, but it depends on your property type.
However, one I always use is: "Smoking is prohibited on the property, including but not limited to the TENANT'S unit and interior and exterior common areas". Otherwise, I find the clause that tenants shall not cause disruption to others can pretty much take care of anything else I've run into. Smoking could likely be included in that but I like to point it out specifically so I don't find out after 3 months when the damage is already done.
If you have a larger building, consider rules concerning congregating in common areas, at least between certain hours (like no loitering in common areas from 10pm-7am). If you have laundry facilities, establish rules as to their use, IE not overloading the machines, removing clothing when cycle is complete, etc.
Sure...
Here's what I use for SFH...
Of course, I can't enforce all of these. e.g. language...
I also have the tenants initial the bottom of each page of the lease, and I walk them through it. (I get a lot of young individuals or young couples.)
I explain that the rules help keep the neighborhood nice for families and kids.
Occupants. The only persons who may live on the Property during the term of this Agreement are the tenants listed on this lease agreement.
Tenant may have guests on the Property for not over 5 consecutive days or 10 days in a calendar year, and no more than two guests per bedroom at any one time. Persons staying more than 5 consecutive days or more than 10 days in any calendar year will NOT be considered original occupants of the Property. Tenant is not required to disclose to Landlord when guests stay at the Property fewer than 5 consecutive days or 10 days in a calendar year, but Tenant must obtain the prior written approval of Landlord if an invitee of Tenant will be present at the Property for more than 5 consecutive days or 10 days in a calendar year.
RULES. All existing rules concerning the Tenant’s use and occupancy of the premises have been furnished to the Tenant in writing. Additionally, Landlord may, from time to time, and in the manner provided by law, adopt further or amend written rules concerning the Tenant’s use and occupancy of the premises.
a)Kegs – No alcoholic containers larger than 2 gallons allowed (kegs, party balls, etc.) on premises. Violating this rule constitutes material noncompliance with this lease, and Tenant shall pay a $75 fine within 10 days of Landlord’s assessment in addition to any damages caused to the building or grounds by Tenant or Tenant’s guests.
b)General Conduct – Tenant and Guests shall NOT:
i)Permit or do anything to annoy, harass, embarrass or inconvenience another Tenant, or neighbors, in said or adjoining premises.
ii)Provide false or misleading information on the rental application. If information is relevant to Landlord’s decision to rent unit, Tenant will have breached these rules.
iii)Negligently destroy, deface, damage, impair or remove a part of the premises or knowingly permit a person to do so.
iv)Profane, obscene, loud or boisterous language or unseemly behavior and conduct is prohibited.
v)Criminal activity on or near such premises, engaged in by a Tenant, any member of the Tenant’s household or any other person under the Tenant’s control.
c)Noise – Tenant shall not play or operate pianos, radios, television sets, or other devices at an unreasonable volume at any time that causes a disturbance to any neighbor and their peaceful enjoyment of the premises. More than 2 complaints within the lease period may result in the termination of your lease.
d)Pets. No pets, dogs, cats, birds or other animals are allowed on or about the Property, without Landlord's prior written consent, excepting guide, service, or signal dogs certified by medical doctor. Strays must not be kept or fed in or around the Property. If a pet has been on or allowed on the Property, even temporarily (with or without the Landlord's permission) Tenant may be charged for cleaning, de-fleaing, deodorizing, shampooing, or replacing any portion of the Property.
e)Smoking. Smoking is prohibited in any area in or on the Property, both private and common, whether enclosed or outdoors. This policy applies to all owners, tenants, guests, employees, and servicepersons. The Tenant will be liable for any damages caused to the Property due to Tenant or Tenant's visitors or guests smoking in or on the Property. Any violation of this policy will be seen as a breach of this Agreement and Landlord will be entitled to all remedies allowable by law including eviction.
f)Motor Vehicles, Parking, Garages
i)Washing vehicles on premises is permitted.
ii)Repairing vehicles on premises is NOT permitted.
iii)No parking on lawns.
g)Waterbeds – may be permitted ONLY with express written permission of Landlord AND with written proof of renter’s insurance covering all damage that may result from waterbed.
h)Painting/decorating – Painting is NOT allowed.
Decorations may be hung on the walls using 3M Command strips, or small nails that require only moderate spackling to fill once the nail is removed.
Thanks Matthew and Ron. Great ideas. The MLS lease has many of the components for typical things but I want to be more specific to address other types of issues. Ron I agree, I have each page initialed on the lease.
Currently I have a number of SFH and student rooming housing.
I will start to implement some of these ideas.
Appreciate the help.
@Kenneth Garrett a good document was posted to the files section of BP under the title "property rules". Here is the link - https://assets1.biggerpockets.com/uploads/user_fil...
Thanks for the attachment. Has a lot of the information I was looking for.
@Account Closed
Good points about staying away from court.
I like the BP Property Rules Ori had sent. They cover most things. I'm going to incorporate many of those items into my leases.
@Ron Rohrssen- People still use waterbeds in your area? If so, thats awesome. I'm getting all nostalgic after reading your rules on waterbeds.
I recommend reading Brandon and Heather Turners book on managing rental properties. They promote a system that clearly and comprehensively sets the expectations for tennants. Without having looked at am MLS lease, I would imagine it is legal and somewhat soundly written, but I would be surprised if it leaves as little room for ambiguity as the system proposed by the Turners.
Allow me to illustrate the importance of a comprehensive agreement. I recently had a tennant fail to notify me of an intermittently running toilet. The outcome was a $300 water bill overage and a tennant that felt they had no responsibility. With the Turners system I would have covered this possibilty with the tennant up front in orientation as well as in the lease. If I had done this, chances are my tennant would have told me proactively. But if they still had failed, I would have had a leg to stand on to firmly demand payment for the avoidable expense resulting from their negligence.
In summary, my opinion is that a generic lease such as from the MLS, will work for great tennants with strong common sense. But it may fall short when you are faced with less.
@John Anderson Interesting comments. I see nothing in the law prohibiting such a clause.
I'll refer to a section from RentPrep.Com (not necessarily a source of legal advice), and another source from the state of Iowa.
First RentPrepisode (http://www.rentprep.com/landlord-tips/stop-your-rental-property-from-becoming-party-central/)
For landlords that feel strongly about controlling large-scale drinking in their rental units, the lease agreement is the best way to keep things under control. Take steps to keep the environment quiet and friendly before it
@Kenneth Garrett Since you said you are renting to students, check out this rider that was presented to a renter I was helping find an apartment...I would fine-tune the language a bit before using it though:
Always apply the local rules if you can. Unless you have a property next to a campus (walking distance) or highly demand property near a campus, I would just reference the local/government rules or campus rules if applicable for student rentals, if applicable.
For college students, I always make their parents co-sign the agreement. That will keep them more or less in the right path. I had experience with one student at the time, so its easy for me.
My experience with college rentals, if you put all the rules, such as no drinking more than 3-6 beers a night, no partner staying in your bed more than 5 days in a row or 10 days within a year!... they will just walk away, plus your other students that actually sign the lease, will do it anyways.
What's the point? Its an investment, wright? If you rent to a family, Is it any different from a student that drinks to death, or a family that drinks to death every Sunday and make BBQs to watch the NFL season every Sunday for about 6 months?
By the way, if you listed, actually, AA participants are a protected class, only if they are in AA, but how do you know that when in deed they are anonymous? Strange... Just be careful with drinking rules and that type of thing in your lease.
@Kenneth Garrett Since you said you are renting to students, check out this rider that was presented to a renter I was helping find an apartment...I would fine-tune the language a bit before using it though:
That clause is great!
But, while I trust my son with my soul, I would never sign that agreement as a parent. Not me, I know he is a good person and I trust he will do the right thing, I have no control of other students renting the same apartment. How you fix this dilemma? I'm just curios about your approach, because me as a parent and as an investor, I don't see paying $1000 or dream about the $2500 for damages to your property when most likely is not my son who did it... love to hear your approach (of course this is an unrealistic story). And how you come-up with the $1000 or $2500?
@Josue Vargas I don't personally use this, it was sent over as part of a lease for a tenant I assisted in finding an apartment.
The amounts are good because they are high enough of a fine to encourage compliance, but low enough that they are affordable/collectible in case of non-compliance. Rent on this unit, if I recall correctly, was somewhere in the $1500/mo zone.
Something to keep in mind is that most leases have a clause that the lessee is responsible for their guests' actions - ie if your son has a friend over who kicks out the glass in the common entrance door, your son is responsible to the landlord, and your son's friend is then responsible to your son for payment of the damages. Additionally, most of the time the tenants as a group (like roommates) are joint and severally liable, so if one roommate causes 50k in damages all will be sued and all are liable for the 50k balance to the landlord, and they can then go after one another to decide who owes what.
What I don't like about the rider is that the lease is automatically terminated. As a landlord I don't like to be bound like that, I want it to be my decision to end the lease, so I'd likely change that part to something along the lines of, "Landlord has the option to terminate the lease immediately".
Ok. And it makes some sense. Believe me if I'm hit with a 50K damage for another individual in the property other than my son that causes a major damage to the property and I'm held responsible, my lawyer will have to sit down and discuss the matter with the Landlord.
Students tend to be problematic, not all, but if a lease state that the landlord can kick them off in the middle of the semester, I don't think that many parents wants to sign that deal, because they don't know how other people will behave, plus is very hard to find any apartments of rooms in the middle of a semester class... I honestly think the best way is a 6 month contract, for their semester, if you don't trust students... I might be wrong, but my contracts are for the hole scholar year, including summer, and I have no issues so far.
Ok. And it makes some sense. Believe me if I'm hit with a 50K damage for another individual in the property other than my son that causes a major damage to the property and I'm held responsible, my lawyer will have to sit down and discuss the matter with the Landlord.
Students tend to be problematic, not all, but if a lease state that the landlord can kick them off in the middle of the semester, I don't think that many parents wants to sign that deal, because they don't know how other people will behave, plus is very hard to find any apartments of rooms in the middle of a semester class... I honestly think the best way is a 6 month contract, for their semester, if you don't trust students... I might be wrong, but my contracts are for the hole scholar year, including summer, and I have no issues so far.
Do you let random troublemakers into your home? I doubt it. College students are adults. They're responsible for keeping the apartments or houses they rent in good condition, and they're responsible for guests they allow onto the property. They're also responsible for selecting good roommates, if they're in a roommate situation. And without the (standard) lease clause that they're jointly and severally liable, each roommate would simply claim the other one did it, and they both might have a shot at avoiding responsibility.
It's a serious matter to cosign a lease with someone. Your lawyer can sit down and discuss the matter with the landlord, but these kinds of terms are enforceable.
When establishing rules you must be reasonable based on the fact that you will be required to inforce them. Never put anything in your lease that contravenes state law.
You will read many posts that say their lease says such and such and the tenant is in violation, What do I do. Obviously you inforce your lease otherwise it is null and void.
If you can not or are not prepared to inforce and evict a tenant for a lease violation do not put it in your lease. Never assume a tenant will respect your lease agreement.
Seems like
1) "No fun"
Should just about cover it
You might consider a clause that your renter will maintain a Renter's Insurance policy which names you (or your entity) as an additional insured.
Isn't a renter insurance policy covers for personal property only of the renter? It does not cover for any damages to the property.
Ok. And it makes some sense. Believe me if I'm hit with a 50K damage for another individual in the property other than my son that causes a major damage to the property and I'm held responsible, my lawyer will have to sit down and discuss the matter with the Landlord.
Students tend to be problematic, not all, but if a lease state that the landlord can kick them off in the middle of the semester, I don't think that many parents wants to sign that deal, because they don't know how other people will behave, plus is very hard to find any apartments of rooms in the middle of a semester class... I honestly think the best way is a 6 month contract, for their semester, if you don't trust students... I might be wrong, but my contracts are for the hole scholar year, including summer, and I have no issues so far.
Do you let random troublemakers into your home? I doubt it. College students are adults. They're responsible for keeping the apartments or houses they rent in good condition, and they're responsible for guests they allow onto the property. They're also responsible for selecting good roommates, if they're in a roommate situation. And without the (standard) lease clause that they're jointly and severally liable, each roommate would simply claim the other one did it, and they both might have a shot at avoiding responsibility.
It's a serious matter to cosign a lease with someone. Your lawyer can sit down and discuss the matter with the landlord, but these kinds of terms are enforceable.
I do not let random troublemakers into my own house, because I don't live with them. Now, on my rental, I can't control it 100%, thought I do my best. I see it like I do not live there, its just a business like any other. They pay, I collect, they break stuff, I repair, they move out, I take some of their deposit for the repairs... and move on. Sorry if you took it so personally.
Ok. And it makes some sense. Believe me if I'm hit with a 50K damage for another individual in the property other than my son that causes a major damage to the property and I'm held responsible, my lawyer will have to sit down and discuss the matter with the Landlord.
Students tend to be problematic, not all, but if a lease state that the landlord can kick them off in the middle of the semester, I don't think that many parents wants to sign that deal, because they don't know how other people will behave, plus is very hard to find any apartments of rooms in the middle of a semester class... I honestly think the best way is a 6 month contract, for their semester, if you don't trust students... I might be wrong, but my contracts are for the hole scholar year, including summer, and I have no issues so far.
Do you let random troublemakers into your home? I doubt it. College students are adults. They're responsible for keeping the apartments or houses they rent in good condition, and they're responsible for guests they allow onto the property. They're also responsible for selecting good roommates, if they're in a roommate situation. And without the (standard) lease clause that they're jointly and severally liable, each roommate would simply claim the other one did it, and they both might have a shot at avoiding responsibility.
It's a serious matter to cosign a lease with someone. Your lawyer can sit down and discuss the matter with the landlord, but these kinds of terms are enforceable.
I do not let random troublemakers into my own house, because I don't live with them. Now, on my rental, I can't control it 100%, thought I do my best. I see it like I do not live there, its just a business like any other. They pay, I collect, they break stuff, I repair, they move out, I take some of their deposit for the repairs... and move on. Sorry if you took it so personally.
I didn't take anything personally. Not sure what gave you that impression. (We have rented to college kids these past few years, but it's simpler for us because they are one-bedroom apartments in our own house. Just signed leases with two new student tenants last month.)
The person using personal examples has been you, talking about your college-age son and how you'd have your lawyer talking to the landlord if they tried to enforce the (fairly standard) lease terms in case of damage caused by your son's roommates or guests. The part about random troublemakers was to point out that both you and your college-age son are adults. If you wouldn't do it, it's reasonable to expect him not to do it... and his roommates. There's responsibility attached to signing a lease with roommates (and to cosigning for a child). No sense in calling a lawyer to try to wiggle out of it.
Ok. And it makes some sense. Believe me if I'm hit with a 50K damage for another individual in the property other than my son that causes a major damage to the property and I'm held responsible, my lawyer will have to sit down and discuss the matter with the Landlord.
Students tend to be problematic, not all, but if a lease state that the landlord can kick them off in the middle of the semester, I don't think that many parents wants to sign that deal, because they don't know how other people will behave, plus is very hard to find any apartments of rooms in the middle of a semester class... I honestly think the best way is a 6 month contract, for their semester, if you don't trust students... I might be wrong, but my contracts are for the hole scholar year, including summer, and I have no issues so far.
Do you let random troublemakers into your home? I doubt it. College students are adults. They're responsible for keeping the apartments or houses they rent in good condition, and they're responsible for guests they allow onto the property. They're also responsible for selecting good roommates, if they're in a roommate situation. And without the (standard) lease clause that they're jointly and severally liable, each roommate would simply claim the other one did it, and they both might have a shot at avoiding responsibility.
It's a serious matter to cosign a lease with someone. Your lawyer can sit down and discuss the matter with the landlord, but these kinds of terms are enforceable.
I do not let random troublemakers into my own house, because I don't live with them. Now, on my rental, I can't control it 100%, thought I do my best. I see it like I do not live there, its just a business like any other. They pay, I collect, they break stuff, I repair, they move out, I take some of their deposit for the repairs... and move on. Sorry if you took it so personally.
I didn't take anything personally. Not sure what gave you that impression. (We have rented to college kids these past few years, but it's simpler for us because they are one-bedroom apartments in our own house. Just signed leases with two new student tenants last month.)
The person using personal examples has been you, talking about your college-age son and how you'd have your lawyer talking to the landlord if they tried to enforce the (fairly standard) lease terms in case of damage caused by your son's roommates or guests. The part about random troublemakers was to point out that both you and your college-age son are adults. If you wouldn't do it, it's reasonable to expect him not to do it... and his roommates. There's responsibility attached to signing a lease with roommates (and to cosigning for a child). No sense in calling a lawyer to try to wiggle out of it.
Ok, cool.
I have a number of rental units where I use the MLS rental lease. I use this so I make sure I meet the state requirements. I do not have a list of guidelines and/or rules that the tenant signs other then what is in the lease. I feel like maybe I have been fortunate up to this point.
Is anyone willing to share what they use for property rules?
I didn't read 26 posts, just say'n.....
Do not try to be a helicopter landlord with rules that many dream up, they can bite you.
When you lease a residence there are certain rights of use and quiet enjoyment ranted to the tenant, landlords often go too far trying to reduce their risks which are expected t be taken by a landlord.
Silly example: No candles allowed! So, you can't have a birthday cake for little Billy.....seriously!
Or, they are Jewish and light candles at religious holidays, OK hovering landlord, try that!
Think about how your rules affect their rights to carry on the same rights as an owner, which is what you convey by a lease, you can cover illegal activities easily, no business concerns in a residence, pet policies, care of the property, even additional administrative aspects that were not expected when the rents were established, like police calls, neighbor complaints, picking up trash or additional things they cause you to deal with.
Before you jump into a rule book, see your attorney!
If you can't grant owner's rights as to use and enjoyment then don't be a landlord. :)