All Forum Posts by: Arthur McCormack

@Acsah George and @Nathan G. Thank you both for your feedback. There is comfort in hearing from others who have faced a similar situation. I will just do it as tactfully as I can, and hope for the best, yet prepare for the worst.

Fellow BP members,

Reaching out to ask if some of you have experienced a similar situation, that I'm about to deal with, before and how you may have handled it or, in hindsight, might have handled it differently than you did? Or if you have thoughts on the matter?

Backdrop: About 1.5 years ago rented the larger of two units to couple with one child; they passed the background checks and for the first 6 months paid on time, no issues. During this time, the smaller unit came up for rent and tenant referred sister. She passed background checks and even offered to pay $50 more a month than what I was asking, as they are close (as a family) and wanted to live next to each other. Long story short, the leases are coming up for renewal in 2 mo - the sister has been great, pays rent in advance and online, she even paid to have the who interior repainted by pro painter and  keeps the place in good shape. The brother and wife next door however... they had one more child over the past year (seems wife was already in first stages of pregnancy but did not disclose on application) - nothing against kids, but there have started to be plumbing issues and come to find among some pre-existing issue with buried pipes, they're also clogged with baby wipes; they pay late, and are not keeping up with the property upkeep as outlined in lease. 

Today: I'm very inclined to non-renew the brother's lease, my concern is the sister may decide to bail too, that would leave me with two vacancies at the same time. Sure  - dealing with vacancies is part of being a landlord, but have any of you had a sibling/tenant scenario like this that you were able to navigate successfully? My thoughts are to speak with the sister and lay it out straight to her, that she is a good tenant and I'd like her to stay. What are your thoughts on the matter?

P.S. even though leases started at different times, I made them short initially so renewals would line up with end of school/start of summer.

Thank you all for your honest, insightful and very helpful advice. Yes, I admit there is a little hesitation; they are good tenants in that they pay on time, don't cause me hassles, and upkeep the property, so the idea of going through the process of finding new tenants plays a part in my hesitation. But, what I am drawing as the most important lesson in all of your advice combined is that this is a business, and it needs to be run as such (no kidding Art, duh!) Thank you.

I'm 1.5 years into my first rental and the tenants leases will be renewing 4 and 5 months respectively (it's a duplex). I made some dumb mistakes when I first started (didn't go on BP and learn first), so based on what a friend was doing in CA (my property is in IN) I told tenants they pay for gas and electric but water and sewer was covered by me (water is separately metered for each unit). Looking to the renewals coming up I am contemplating offering the tenant the option to not have a rent increase and instead take over the water/sewer bill in the new lease, should they decide to renew. The way I plan on presenting this is that it would a) spare them from having an actual rent increase and b) give them the ability to control the cost as they can control their water usage (in case they have been more wasteful than they could be). This would, of course, reduce my expenses with the property and net me a cashflow increase, and keep me from kicking myself every month I pay the bill for not having done it correctly from the get-go.

What are your thoughts? Do you foresee problems/issues/legal ra

@Alex Diaz have you run the numbers through the rental property estimator? What does the math say?

I just wanted to take a moment and thank all who gave me advice about how to deal with the tenant rent payment issue - 1/1/21 was to be the date to see if that polite yet stern conversation had the desired effect. Well, seems like it did. The tenant called me today and said rent was in hands. I went by there and indeed, rent in full paid on time. I don't mind going by there for now, since I only have one property, and it gives me a chance to take a look at the location and see if anything looks out of place. Of course, once the number of rentals and tenants increase it will only make sense to have a PM handle all of that. On another positive side note - the tenant next door (it's a duplex) must of heard about our conversation because she not only paid electronically, but paid a few days  in advance. 

Thank you again my fellow BP'ers.

Interesting that you mention this about the movein checklist,  I was speaking with someone and they said the same thing. I'm going to reach out to an attorney next week who handles eviction, should it become necessary,  and I'll ask him about the law on moveon checklists too. Thank you.

Thank you for the advice, I followed your recommendations and had a polite yet stern talk with the tenant and made it clear that I’ve been lenient the first two months but as of Jan 1 the lease will be enforced, which means rent on the 1st, if not paid by the 4th, late fee as of the 5th, and if not paid by the 9th, eviction starts on the 10th. He seemed a little taken aback but stated he understands and will comply. Let’s see… if he doesn’t theres no doubt about what’s going to happen. Thanks again for the advice… and yes, I am a nice guy, but if need be I can be a prick too

wow, I am blown away by all of your feed back, this is gold. I will take the advice, observations and recommendations of each of you to heart. 

Yes, I admit, I can be a softie sometimes and this couples kid is adorable,  but there's no place for that in a business, and this is a business.

I will call him tomorrow and lay down the law, so to speak, and brush up on eviction process in the meantime. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

Thank you ali for your thoughts and suggestions. I am definently setting up the reminders and let's see what happens when January rolls around. I'm going to give him a call to remind him of late fees and that from January it will be enforced.  In the meantime I'll get my ducks lined up, so to speak, should the eviction become necessary.  Thank you again.