All Forum Posts by: Adam Azam

To be clear, I haven't been using a formal rental application with prospective tenants per se. I gather as much information from them in the phone interview and can usually locate public records based on that. That's actually where I've found them listed on our states sex offender registry as well as their criminal records history on our state portal.

I still do income verification and previous landlord reference checks. And generally I'll only request a full application from a tenant that I'm planning on renting to.

Unfortunately everyone is not honest. You must weed out the evictions and the criminals. And many folks just walk away. Should the landlord pay fees for applicants that change their mind, no!

If someone is untruthful they may not fill out the application if they are assured it will expose them.

This is the correct process. On bad tenant can spoil everything.

Just wondering. I have a current vacancy and the last few people that's called about it were 2 convicted sex offenders and 1 known druggie that has limited income and a troubling criminal history. I'm struggling with how to tactfully tell them they were denied.

I'm pretty sure Venmo is not FDIC insured so I've always felt it wasn't safe (aka my money wasn't protected) if I used Venmo. For a large sum of money, it didn't feel right. If for some reason something goes wrong, that's on you and not your LL.

I’ve had landlords ask me to use Venmo, and I’ve always been transparent that it’s not the safest for a large sum of money. They can’t really force you. The next best option is a direct deposit into their bank account, by going into a physical bank branch location

@Mark Perea I'd run the application and background check to see what turns up. Usually, it's the past landlord history (and sometimes the present one!) that can tell you a lot about prospective tenants. Also, try to see what kind of personality they have in terms of how they communicate and expectations (low maintenance vs high maintenance). Good luck!

@Robert Dautov As long as you give 24 hours notice, they can't stop you from showing the property. Start the eviction process. Hopefully your lease has some language about them not using deposits in lieu of rent.

@Belinda M. Adding a subpanel might be a good option. It can either be right next to the existing one or (if you're planning to add a bunch of circuits in a certain area of the house) in another location. I believe that you could have the subpanel be 100 amps as well (may depend on the current box - your electrician would know for sure).

Whatever you do, pay attention to the breakers, they are the main equipment expense, the panel enclosure itself is cheap.

I allow most types of pets at my rentals and charge $30/month/pet. I do this for the following reasons:

1. 1.Very few pet friendly rentals makes my properties more desirable.
2. $30/month/pet is more per year than most non-refundable "deposits" that other real estate investors charge. I don't get much push back, if any, from prospective tenants over the small monthly fee. I started off by asking for a pet fee of $250 which prospective tenants always complained about. Damage from pets is ongoing and should be paid monthly in my opinion.
3. 2.I'm a pet owner myself and I couldn't imagine moving and leaving my cat behind... Pets become part of the family and I'm happy to offer rental properties that are pet friendly.

3. I'm not a lawyer, so this isn't advise in any way, but review your insurance policy for any restrictions on pets and/or specific breeds of pets. Some exclude coverage on "aggressive breeds".

I'll also include a let agreement as part of the lease agreement that allows the pet agree my to be revoked if the pet becomes a problem and violates the terms in the pet agreement.

It's an applicant requesting tenancy through my property management company, and they've actually already approved them.

I was just informed by my property management company that a tenant (a couple) has been approved and that they qualified for this Special One Time Assistance (SOTA) Program which pays their rent for the first full year of their residency.

Has anyone had tenants in this program before? My previous tenants messed my unit up pretty bad, so I was hoping to avoid that this time. I did require double security deposit this time, before I even knew who the tenant was going to be, so that's a plus for me, but it's still only like $2,200.

Thanks for any insight / advice.