All Forum Posts by: Alyssa K.

@Chris Lockwood thank you! I appreciate the offer. The wife is a lawyer, so I find it hard to believe they would fake papers; although Matt Cox appeared trustworthy as well lol. The form is a DA 4187, and from what I can tell he got promoted and transferred to a new base. Although no report date is on there, just that it was “approved” in October. But I’d love the opportunity to understand what I’m looking at. I’ll send you a message. Thank you very much for the offer!

@Luke Sanderson thank you, that was very helpful/informative. I’m starting to have a feeling they knew they were getting ready to PCS, and just needed a place to lay their head in the meantime. They’ve only been in the property for 2 months, but when going through the screening process were extremely certain that they would be at their current base for a good while, they even asked to sign a 2 year lease. Sounds like they may have been blowing smoke. I appreciate you sharing points of contact that could help me recoup losses if they’ve trashed the house. That’s the only reason I have a fee in my lease for early termination, typically people that break leases, in my experience, don’t take stellar care of the property. They also have two HUGE service dogs, that were great when I met them, but could cause a great deal of damage if they wanted to. And I mentioned earlier in the thread that the flooded the master, resulting in me having to pull up brand new LVP and replace because they didn’t tell tell me as soon as they noticed an issue (floor is floating so water was trapped underneath, for some reason didn’t think I’d care to know water was seeping up through the baseboards). I’ll certainly never get board in this line of work. Thanks again, I appreciate you!

@Eric C. Thank you! I stumbled on that page yesterday when searching and it was very helpful in deciding my course of action. I haven’t verified with his commander, in fact when I was doing employment verification I skipped that step for him because I couldn’t get anyone on the phone, so I’m unsure of my likelihood of getting ahold of someone now. Unfortunately due to all this I’ll have to be that much of a stickler on every item. When it comes to a service member especially, I had hoped to be able to give the benefit of the doubt.

@Mariah Bardwell thank you! I’ve decided not to charge them the fee and just chalk it up to a loss and hope for the best. Seems there is something wrong with the system when a service member is made to move without warning and the landlord is stuck with the bill; not fair for them (although I understand it’s necessary), and certainly not fair to me as a new investor who is playing a long term game rather than getting immediate cash flow. I’m surprised the military doesn’t have systems in place to make a landlord whole, not that we need more national debt, but that’s another issue. Nothing to do but keep pushing forward. I appreciate you sharing your experience!

@Terrell Garren that they are! Prior to getting into Real Estate I was the Veteran Affairs representative for a large state university. I got the opportunity to work with many veterans of all ages in that role and have a great deal of respect for the sacrifices they and their families made so my family can enjoy the freedoms we have. And I think you are right about tweaking screening, looking back, I think they knew it was coming. From what I can tell, it looks like he put in for a promotion and was approved, which resulted in a new unit. Thankfully, even at a not so stellar time of year, it’s a great property that I’ve never had issues finding quality tenants for. I’ve told them no charges for breaking the lease. Surely the security deposit will make whole any damages, I’d hope after 2 months there wouldn’t be any, but my husband likes to joke that some people just “live hard” lol. I appreciate your feedback on this, and thank you for your service!

@Terrell Garren they have given me the orders, but I have no idea how to go about verifying if they are valid. The report date on them is October, which I did find odd considering I got them today. I don’t want to have to charge, but need to know if I’m legally able to in case the house is left in poor condition and I’m suck paying the mortgage through the holidays. The first month they lived there they flooded the master bedroom. I replaced the flooring, and all appeared well, but I need to protect myself in the event additional issues present after they are out. I thought the military would cover the expenses associated with breaking a lease for the service member, but I’m not finding anything that indicates that’s the case. Which now thinking on it makes sense, considering it’s the government. If I’m not able to protect myself and my investment, it makes it hard to justify choosing a service member over other qualified candidates, which is terrible; if anything they should get first dibs. I had multiple strong applicants for this property, and hate that I’m now kicking myself for picking them.

Tenants submitted notice of early termination, 2 months into their lease, due to military reassignment. I’m using the TAR lease (Texas), and there is a military clause. My understanding of this clause is that it allows a tenant to break their lease, and absolves them of the responsibility of covering rent until another renter is found (like any other tenant would have to do if they terminated early). However does the military clause also prevent me from charging the early termination fee that’s written into my lease, signed by all parties? I want to be fair, and have great respect for our military, but also need to make sure I’m covering my investment now that I’m left to find a quality renter at the worst time of year for my market.

Thanks in advance!

@Ben Nelson I would personally get him out as soon as legally able. There is a SO that lives down the street from a property I own, and every single applicant with children says they love the house but don’t feel comfortable living down the street from a sexual predator. As a mother, I don’t blame them.

You can search the sex offender website to see the severity of their charge. If it was something “explainable” (for ex. I know someone who is a SO because he passed out drunk in his front yard and kids saw him, so he got indecent exposure), then it most likely wouldn’t be an issue. Anything else, is a no go for me. There are some crimes you just don’t rehabilitate from, I don’t care what “risk level” they are assigned by the gov.

@Charlie Moore

You can advertise however you like, however I would think advertising “as is” would scare off potential good applicants. Just like I expect a potential flip that’s advertised “as is” to have some major issues I’m going to need to address if I choose to purchase, I’d think an “as is” warning on a rental is going to make a prospective renter worried about what they’d be getting into. While a unit should never be dusty/dirty when shown, that’s a simple system change, everything else is an easy “no”. No explanation needed. And, if nothing else, I personally like the opportunity to see if an applicant seems like they are going to be a PIA before I sign up to having them in my life for a year. If they annoy you at the showing, or seem unreasonable, they probably don’t qualify as your renter.

@Kai Van Leuven thank you for sharing! Certainly doesn’t give me the “warm fuzzies” either.