All Forum Posts by: Anna Sagatelova

@Daryl Luc It's unfortunately common how frequently investors and real estate professionals misunderstand and misuse "quiet enjoyment" - Quiet enjoyment clauses are to protect the tenants, specifically from an intrusive landlord.

To OP - I'm glad the situation seems to have resolved itself. Now that you've had this first-hand experience, will you be modifying your lease or "house rules" in any way?

Renter's insurance (if they had it)

My understanding of the law is as follows (please contact an attorney to verify):

The owner of the property can hire an employee to perform property management; that employee does not have to be licensed, but they must be a bona-fide employee of the owner... if the owner is an LLC, the LLC better have that person on payroll.

Otherwise, only licensed agents under a brokerage (or a PM company that is itself a brokerage) can carry out property management services on behalf of a third party owner.

Hi Deb,

This is simply the case because 1) it is a small area relative to other suburbs and municipalities comprising Greater Cleveland and 2) it is more predominantly homeowner-occupant based than renter based.

Olmsted Township requires a rental permit to lease out your property. This is common in the Cleveland area, as we are targeted by out of state investors so much.

From my experience as a PM and as a pet owner, I think the most important consideration is age of the dog; puppies are very destructive. I would also add to this, how responsible the pet owners-to-be are, but it sounds like they are on top of things, considering they are already talking about a future dog and potential restrictions before they've even moved in.

We don't discriminate against any breeds, except to enforce existing municipal ordinances where applicable. We have never had an issue operating like this.

You should add a pet addendum to your lease and explain all the terms; leash rules, picking up waste, provisions for periodic inspections, and most importantly, that the dog must be secured in a crate/kennel when nobody is home. This is a must in case a repair is needed and they give permission to enter while they are out, or it's an emergency situation. If and when a tenant violates this, we charge them back a missed appointment fee because our techs/vendors will not enter a property with an unsecured dog if the owner isn't home to control the animal.

Please keep in mind that the $150 and 2 hours could include travel time to and from the hardware store; they probably went to the unit to assess the leak, once they determined the issue they may have had to drive to HD to purchase parts, then come back and perform the repair/replacement. Especially for SFRs, where every unit is different, has different brand fixtures, etc - PMs don't just have parts for every possible situation laying around. In an apartment setting where things are more uniform, that would be different.

You also mentioned that it was treated as an emergency to prevent further damage to property. This also makes sense, so keep in mind that emergency labor may cost a premium charge. The way emergencies might be handled: if it's during business hours, the company has to reschedule the rest of that technician's day to accommodate the urgent issue; if it's after business hours, the technician is working "overtime". Either way, this is a greater cost to the PM company, so naturally they would pass that along to you.

Should you ask for itemization? I think as Russell mentioned above, there isn't much more to itemize, but you could inquire about travel time, emergency billing, etc. Great PMs do document all work, no matter how small the repair. For example, our company logs travel time as a separate line item in a work order, and we also take before and after pictures, as well as keep digital copies of receipts for all parts purchased. We also clearly time stamp the start and end time of each work order. Communicate with your PM and they should be able to clearly explain their policies.

@Nathaniel Symonds

Unsurprisingly, as a property manager in Cleveland, OH, I work with a lot of out-of-state investors. Many of them are "newbies" and have never invested in their local markets. The most successful ones (again, from my vantage point as PM), set clear goals, establish a realistic budget and stick to it, have a good relationship with their PM - vet PMs before you buy! - and usually are investing in solid B-class properties. Yes, 3rd party inspections are a must. Most of our OOS clients don't fly out here; maybe once to get a very general feel for the city, but on an ongoing basis, that's what we (PMs) are here for.

Good luck!

I'd be very interested to hear from other PMs and investors who are self managing, what is their total number of doors managed and whether they have made the switch to smart locks vs. using the kwikset smart key system.

There is no commitment on either end at this point, or even after you send pictures, let them do a walk-through, or receive a complete application. I think that since the current tenants are not moving out for a month, you almost don't have much to lose here; these prospects are not likely to lease the property sight-unseen (if they do, that's a huge red flag), and they also likely won't still be looking when the unit is finally vacant, re-painted, and cleaned 5 weeks from now (if they are, that's another red flag). So, you could send them pictures, explaining that the place may look slightly different once you re-paint. You could try to do a walk-through as well.

If they don't like it based on either the pictures or the messy-mid-move walk-through, I don't think you'll have lost anything because the alternative is waiting 5 weeks, at best. If they do like it, you can make the application available to them. They'd pay the application fee, you would screen them, and then you'll know, before the property is vacant, if they qualify or not. At this point, they still haven't committed; if they really love the place they can give you a reservation fee/holding deposit/security deposit - whatever process you have set up for this - and sign a lease. I think there is always some risk in signing a lease before your property is vacant; your tenants could conceivably be late moving out, or you could run into some issues getting the property rent-ready right on schedule. 

It is up to you if the late fee they are paying is worth it/sufficient.

If you are not depending on timely payments (for example, if their rent is not paying your mortgage on the property), I say take the additional late fee income (I hope your late fee is substantial).

When their lease comes up for renewal you might decide not to renew, you might leave rents the same or increase to whatever the market commands, but if you do renew I'd probably increase the late fee or restate your late rent policy to whatever you are more comfortable with.

Keep in mind that charging a late fee does not prevent you from filing eviction. If you charge a late fee on the 5th and they tell you "I'll pay on the 20th" - even if they've always kept their word - you can still post a cure notice and follow the rest of the steps to eviction in your jurisdiction. I'd have this conversation with them and explain that since they moved in in May, they have had various situations come up that clearly show they aren't able to adhere to the stipulated terms of the lease. The late fee is not a "pay your rent whenever" option, unless you just care that you get all rent paid within the month, in which case you treat it as such.