All Forum Posts by: Daryl Luc

Simple solution...in your phone screening, introduce a query along the lines of:  "Do you represent or are you working with a tenant's rights organization?" "Have you ever?"  These can be critical questions since there are tenant rights organizations that would love to make an example of you....and take away your property. If they answer yes, just hang up.  Most likely they'll beat you to it.  If they answer no, then to change it up, after the fact, can be seen as an entrapment. A plaintiff can not use a lie to prove that you were in the wrong.
Just a different type of SLAPP lawsuit.

I'm in my 70's.  If I was in my 20's, I wouldn't be getting married or looking to buy a house either.  Those early wives are just training wheels for the next one.  Houses that you live in, aren't an investment in most parts of the country due to demographics, job growth etc.  Renting makes way more sense.  Land-lording makes even better sense.
It's how I counseled my two kids...upon graduation from college, go to a coast and start your life because there are more and better opportunities for just about everything except agriculture.  If at any point you start to get homesick, you can sell off what you own, come back to where you want to be, and pay cash for just about anything.  They both moved to a different coast.  It's been thirty plus years and they're doing just fine there.  Kids today will eventually do fine also.......maybe.

what he ^ said.  Tenants don't do auctions.

If it was me, I'd give twenty four hour notice and go about my business.  Her presence is not dictated by your lease or by any law.  Just curious, what's her beef if nothing is left in the premises?

Depending on whether you live in a city, village, township, the ability to govern sidewalk maintenance is can be restricted (ie; a township in Ohio can't pass any ordinance that ordains if, when or how a sidewalk has to be cleared) and who the law director is will be different.  Call Nashville City Hall, and ask who it is.  If you live outside of Nashville, seek out the appropriate administrative office.

There is a 'service animal' con game.  There are a litany of on line providers of animal certification for dollars.  They openly imply that with their $50 piece of paper, you can take your animal anywhere, including renting in situations where landlords prohibit pets.  They don't address why you would qualify for these animals, only that your animal can qualify with their exclusive paper. 

Service dogs are highly, and specifically trained to perform assistance for the person that owns it.  Emotional support animals, not.  Here's the break in the process, the animal is not the protected class.  The human is.  If they are asking about an emotional support animal, then they have been diagnosed with a mental condition by a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist...from your state, and can supply the appropriate letter of diagnosis.  This is perfectly ok to request from a prospective tenant as part of your screening. 

If someone has an apparent physical disability, the service dog will have the job of assisting them with physical efforts they can't easily complete.  It's perfectly ok to ask what the disability is that the dog helps with as part of your phone screening.  There may be circumstances with your property that make accommodation, dog or no dog, financially prohibitive.  There are also service animals that support for seizures, catatonic events and others, but again, a tenant prospect would be forthcoming with the appropriate paperwork if requested.

Anything outside of these 'guidelines' is most likely an individual bringing you a pet, or in your case pets. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't commit to anything until you've actually met the prospects.  Then you can size up the situation much better.  If someone else has followed your pre-lease process and fits your criteria better, you are allowed to lease to them.

Tenants without bank accounts are a no no.  I don't care what they look like on paper.  How on earth do you expect to sue for restitution judgement recovery if you have to, and there's nothing to attach?  If they're driving a nice car, ask yourself what's wrong with this picture.  If they're driving a beater, ask yourself what's wrong with you.

I was informed when I first started that cash tenants are bad news, and all these years later no one has been able to tell me their success story with one.

It is something I build into my lease.  That said, I suggest you contact your city law director for clarification on responsibility since some communities have registration laws for rental properties.  There could possibly be specific wording within that prevents assigning the responsibility for main sidewalk clearing.  I personally doubt that would be the case, but in all cases of doubt, I go straight to the source.  Drives and walkways on your property can be assigned to the tenant without any worry.

I may be totally ignorant regarding how income is claimed....but in all cases of companies I've been a principal, unless it's a publicly traded enterprise, all income flows back to the individual...at which point, whether an LLC, S, C or sole P, the only impact to that income after hitting the adjusted gross income line are expenses, deductions and credits. In addition, our government has been moving business away from cash exchange as much as possible via audit pressure because of the ability cash provides for non-reporting of those exchanges. Those who use Schedule C or E to report their business line can be certain that the IRS and probably other authorities with audit powers use bench-marking to determine whether your line items are 'square'.
Any non public traded entity owned by an individual or members, that would craft a cash flow from one owned entity to another owned entity would yield that cash flow as top line income. Public companies such as telephone, gas or electric companies, for many years have structured different enterprises under a capstone company called a Service Corporation, with the intent of diverting income into expenses charged back to those downstream entities, but to do something like that for a $24k cash stream is beyond goofy because it would have to be exchange traded and subject to SEC rules and regs for additional filings....

When I was presented with a prospect that had a service/support animal, I informed them that the property itself was not ADA compliant and any accommodations for a physical disability were financially impossible to perform due to the number of stairs.  In addition, our company policy requires $1M liability rider to their Renter's policy ooverage specifically covering the dog.  Never have rented to an SA or ESA prospect yet.