All Forum Posts by: Alison P.

I use rentprep.com. They don't need an email address for a background check and they can do a minimal credit check without any tenant involvement.  I get all the information needed on my application form and enter it into the rentprep website.  You also have actual humans that run the checks instead of just computer generated that could miss things.  They have different tiers of pricing depending on what you need them to do. Their customer service is great too.

I require it for all new tenants and get them to put me as additional interest on the insurance so I get notified if they cancel. They have to show me proof before they get the keys. About half of my inherited tenants have renter's insurance and the other half don't.  The reason I now require it is because I had a situation last year that cost me thousands and dinged my insurance. But if the tenant had had their own insurance it would have been covered by their insurance company and I would not be out so much money. Lesson learned.

I usually make the first contact with the contractor after receiving a call or text from my tenant.  If it goes back and forth a couple of times with me in the middle, I ask the tenant if they would be comfortable arranging a time with my contractor directly.  I've never had a tenant say no to this.  I give them my contractors name and number and let my contractor know the tenant will contact them directly to arrange a time.  I am pretty close with all my contractors and they know only to talk to me about the repairs etc and only give the tenant the very basic info and hopefully get the repair done on their initial visit.

Most of my tenants, with one exception but that's another story for another time, are also fine with me going in with the contractor if they can't be there.  If it's for a scheduled annual thing, like servicing the furnaces, I always give at least 24 hours notice and go in with contractor regardless if they like it or not (it's in the lease).  If it's their emergency and they have to be at work when the only time I can get the contractor in to fix something occurs (less than 24 hours), then I just get their permission to enter.  Again, no one has ever worried about it and always said, "yes, that's fine". I will always be there with a contractor if my tenant cannot be.  I believe this covers the contractor from any liability from accusations of theft etc.

@Todd Powell Yes, anyone can listen to it.  Here is the link https://www.rentprep.com/podcast/170-esa-trouble-j...

The attorney on this podcast is in NY and they have some of the strictest tenant/landlord laws.  She specifically states that you do have the right to get a letter from a medical professional UNLESS the person is quite obviously disabled. ie. they are in a wheelchair, or are blind etc.  But if someone is trying to state they have anxiety, which is not obvious on the outside, you have the right to ask for a letter. Whether Oregon laws are stricter than NY, I can't answer that...

I started using RentPrep for screening just recently after reading about them in the Bigger Pockets book "Managing Rental Properties". They are another amazing resource for Landlords. On top of their screening service, they also have very useful podcasts and a Facebook page for landlords to ask and answer questions (just like these forums).

I just listened to the RentPrep podcast #170 (someone earlier in the thread mentioned it).  An attorney talks about the rules and regulations regarding Emotional Support Animals.  It was very enlightening and well worth listening to.  It seems that unless they can prove - via a letter from a medical professional - that they need the support animal, you do have rights as a landlord to refuse them.

Thank you all for your words of support and sharing your experiences.  I do feel like I'm coming through this much stronger and more knowledgeable.

I had a tragedy happen in one of my rentals this past week and I thought I would share what I have learned with everyone, in case you ever find yourself in the same situation what I have learned might be helpful. (These were inherited tenants and I'm still very new to this business).  What a learning curve!

I never in my lifetime thought I would have to deal with, or learn so much about the issues I have this past week.  

Day 1 - On Sunday evening, my phone lit up.  My tenants were calling and texting to tell me that there were several police and an ambulance outside one of my units.  I called the non-emergent line but dispatch couldn't give me any information.  As the evening wore on, one of the tenants called back and told me that the police had told her my tenant had been found dead of a gunshot wound.  She said she knew the police officer and said he would talk to me, she handed him the phone.

He described in great detail what they had found and what happens when someone is shot in the head (something I hope I never hear again for the rest of my life).  They were pretty sure it was suicide but were taking the girlfriend in for questioning just in case.

Day 2 - The Sheriff's dept took over the case and the sheriff called to tell me my unit was now a crime scene and they would call me when they were finished with it. The girlfriend was arrested and charged with felony possession of a firearm and it came out of the woodwork that she had killed her previous boyfriend in 2010 and been convicted of 2nd degree domestic assault in 2014... 

I called several cleaning companies and eventually found one that dealt with this kind of situation.  I still had no idea what to expect the state of my property to be in.  I found out it could be upwards of $4500 to clean depending on the extent of damage! I called my insurance company to alert them to the situation, they started the claim.

The sheriff gave me a heads up that if, when released, I allowed the parents to go in and take their son's belongings, that the girlfriend could sue me if any of her stuff was damaged or taken.  I needed to see a lawyer.

Day 3 - I was able to get an appointment with my attorney, who agreed with what the sheriff had told me and that no one had authority to take anything at the moment.  The parents would have to get a court order to be able to retrieve their son's possessions and that, when released, I should take a witness and photograph the inside of the unit to prove I didn't take anything.

Day 4 - The unit was finally released to me.  I took a witness, called the cleaning company and we all met at the same time.  I pulled the evidence tape off the door took a deep breath and walked in.  It was surreal, everything just left as it was when it happened.  All the lights were on, there was a wax warmer still on, the oven was still on very low! I took pictures of everything (except the blood). The cleaning guy did all that.

He ripped up the carpet that was most affected, sprayed biocide, and told me he would have to come back the next day to take out more carpet, do more disinfecting and put in an 'airscrubber'.

There were heavy prescription drugs all over the place in the girlfriend's name.  The cleaning guy told me I should get them out of there because someone might break in and steal them.  We gathered them up, I took a photo of them and then took them to the Sheriff's Dept.

Day 5 - Although I was not supposed to touch anything, I decided that I would, at least, throw out all the perishables in the fridge.  I don't want to talk ill of the dead, but the unit was in a disgusting mess and the fridge even worse and it would be at least a month before I could do anything with this unit. I did not want to have to deal with flies and moldy food etc when I was eventually able to clean the place.  The cleaning guy even sprayed the inside of the fridge with the biocide! The insurance adjuster arrived and did his thing, getting lots of info from the cleaning guy and the photos he needed of the damage. I locked up the unit and that's how it will stay now for at least a month until the court order is given to the parents.

Day 6 - The mother invited me to the funeral.  I am going to pay my respects.

What I have learned:

Get legal advice immediately. It turns out, I am responsible for everything until a court order is given for the estate.

If the girlfriend stays in jail and can't get anyone to remove her stuff after the parents have removed what they're entitled to, I still have to go to court to get an order to state I can remove her stuff and I have to have a sheriff present to do so. This could take a further month...

Take pictures of everything and have a witness present, so that you can't be accused of stealing anything.

It will take a long time to process and there is nothing you can do about it.

After the initial shock wears off that this has actually happened, it's a case of putting one foot in front of the other and following what your attorney tells you, to the letter.

I deliberated long and hard about posting this.  But in the beginning, I had no clue how to proceed.  I was numb and in shock.  If my experience can help anyone else, I thought it was worth posting...

@Natalie Kolodij I keep my fingers crossed that they don't. But governments have a habit of finding ways to squeeze every penny out of you they can get.  

When I was in the UK last year, I heard on the news that the British government decided that owners of rental property could no longer deduct the mortgage interest off their taxes! The reasoning behind it was because there were such huge numbers of properties being bought up by investors that it was pushing up the prices and cutting out the 'ordinary' person from being able to afford to buy a home.  They were doing it to deter investors from buying rentals.  Whether it will work, I don't know, but your mortgage interest is usually the biggest deduction you have on a rental.

It makes me wonder if it's only a matter of time before they do something drastic like that over here, but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed :-)

Something that no one seems to have brought up in this discussion is the fact that we don't pay self-employment taxes on rental income, that's a 15% deduction right there.  My worry is that if people start pressing the IRS about allowing the 20% deduction because they view themselves as a "trade or business", the IRS just might decide that we need to pay self-employment taxes if that's how we want to be defined.  I'd rather not have that happen it at all possible...

@Tracy Streich, Thank you for that information.  Unfortunately, there isn't anything in my lease that specifies what happens in a lease break situation, but there will be now ;-).  I have been at this for only a few months and have already had enough things happen that I will be adding about 1/2 a dozen additional clauses into my lease, and mine was originally written up by an attorney! (A landlord friend gave me a copy of his to start me off and said it was pretty airtight). 

This is certainly a steep learning curve, there seems to be yet another situation thrown at me from around every corner.  I'm so glad to have found Bigger Pockets and be able to learn from such experienced landlords.  

@Dennis M. and @Max T. thank you for your input too.