All Forum Posts by: Eric D.

 What if you had a phobia about people with a hook for a hand?  Could you discriminate against that?

It is the same answer as the ESA/Service dog.

Here is an email that I send to my existing tenants as I get ready to show an apartment.  It makes it easy, and they know what to expect.  It also lays out my method pretty good.  I am not spending a lot of time showing an apartment, and I give plenty of notice.  I NEVER get any problem from the existing tenants about showing the apartment.

I try to give new tenants an overlap period if the new tenants want to move out earlier.  Of course, I charge pro-rated rent.

Based on what I know about other landlords in my same complex, and other landlords across the country, I probably make more money, for less effort, than most any other landlords I know.  I show apartments, maintain them, and do 100% of most everything.  There was a time when I was a Section 8 landlord, I wondered how anyone could actually make money being a landlord.

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As I get ready to re-rent your apartment, here are some things that may help keep the inconvenience to a minimum. If you have additional ideas, please feel free to suggest them.

I am going to attempt to rent the apartment for August 1, although I can give the new tenants a move-in option of July 16 if you want. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. If I get it re-rented by 7/16, you will only need to pay 1/2 of the rent for July. If you have already paid the entire month of July, I will refund the extra. Please plan on paying the entire rent amount for July unless you hear otherwise.

I get many inquires via email and text, and I pre-screen all the prospects as much as possible. They should have a solid credit score, income and clean criminal record before ever coming to the apartment.

I will generally show the apartment a couple of times a week, with 3-5 showings each time, assuming I can get that many pre-qualified people set up. I can generally rent it after 2-3 showing sessions.

I try to show the unit during the week between 6 PM and 7 PM, and sometimes on weekends between 11 AM and 4 PM.

You can be in the apartment, or not, it’s your call. If you are there, expect a few questions about utilities, the neighborhood, etc. Of course, I will expect good answers…

You do not have to do any special cleaning, but removing anything that is illegal or embarrassing would be a benefit to everyone.

Never show the apartment to anyone yourself if I am not there, unless we have arranged it ahead of time or it is your friends. The address is listed in the ads, so there are some scammers that may show up. I have only had that happen one time, and it may have been an honest mistake on the prospective tenant’s part. You do not want to just open your door to someone that saw the ad and just showed up.

I will set up a Google calendar invite with the tenant’s name, phone number and email address and invite all parties to the showing time. After you accept it, I will know you have confirmed. If the showing cancels, I will generally cancel the appointment if I get the cancellation in time.

Be sure your calendar is set up for Central Standard Time (CST). Otherwise the appointment will look like it is ~6 hours off.

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have.

What is the purpose of requiring notice to move out, if you cannot even show a place until it is vacant and ready to move in?  All you need is a week or two notice.

I am amazed at how many people wait until it is vacant.  That is an additional cost that is avoidable if you have better tenants.  When I was renting to lower quality tenants, that was the case.  It was a dump and needed a major rehab between each tenant.  A tenant that wants to move in right away needs a very good excuse.  That is a HUGE red flag for me.  It screams "I am being evicted".  It takes me a ~3 business days to get a background check done, that is nearly a week if a weekend falls in there.

I show as soon as I get notice.  I most often get a new tenant in the first few showings, as I only show to pre-screened tenants.  I get an application fee and at least ~$1,000 holding fee when I get the application.  That happens about two months out as well.

With better quality tenants, I often do not have to do anything, although I always do a once-over, and maybe some touch up paint (less than a cup of paint), however in a spotless place it's easy.  No painting, no replacing carpet, appliances that still look like new, no ordering a 40-yard dumpster.

I rarely keep any damage deposit anymore.  Tenants often fix stuff before they leave, like buy a new refrigerator shelf or even professionally cleaning carpet.

Most of my places are ~30 years old.  Extensively remodeled in the last 10 years.  They are in a great area, and I make sure my tenants are worthy of my places.  Credit score screening, for all occupants, is the number one way to avoid bad tenants.

Keep in mind, this housing complex was repositioned from a dangerous Class D neighborhood to a C+ or B- area. With the HOA we changed the makeup of the neighborhood. The cops rented a place on-site, they never responded without double or triple backup. Pizza deliveries and cabs would not come in the area because they were often robbed.

If you have never had a rental with quality tenants, it's hard to imagine how much more money you make with better tenants, and how much less effort it is.

In the end, it's all about tenant quality.  Good pets follow good tenants.  Or at least the good tenants will pay for damages.

Interesting discussion.  I have read the ADA stuff quite a bit over the years, and to me it is a very gray area.  You cannot ask to get access to medical records, and I would assume requesting to see a document with medical information on it is "medical records".  If a tenant was in the service, and says they have an PTSD dog, what documentation are they required to show?  Or if you can see they have an insulin syringe, and they say it is an insulin dog, is that enough?  You know the disability at that point.

What documentation are you legally allowed to get, and what will that documentation actually show? How do you know it is real? Can you call the letter writer, if it is indeed a letter, and ask if it is real?

None of that is required is defined in the law.

I allow dogs, so the risk of a suit is not worth $25 a month. I can raise the rent that much extra at the next lease signing. When all a tenant has to do is make a phone call to HUD, or to a "ESA Certificate giver", it is not a battle that I am willing to fight.

I would much rather limit kids, however that is indeed illegal.

A housing provider also may not ask an applicant or tenant to provide access to medical records or medical providers or provide detailed or extensive information or documentation of a person's physical or mental impairments. Like all reasonable accommodation requests, the determination of whether a person has a disability-related need for an assistance animal involves an individualized assessment. A request for a reasonable accommodation may not be unreasonably denied, or conditioned on payment of a fee or deposit or other terms and conditions applied to applicants or residents with pets, and a response may not be unreasonably delayed. Persons with disabilities who believe a request for a reasonable accommodation has been improperly denied may file a complaint with HUD.  https://www.animallaw.info/sites/default/files/FHEO_notice_assistance_animals2013.pdf

I would just email it.  Certified mail costs you more money.

 There is no documentation for a service animal, an you cannot require it.  Only on an ESA animal can you.  You can only ask two questions, by law, of a service animal owner.

Is the animal medically necessary?

What service does the dog provide?

If they answer yes to the first question, and "medical Alert" to the second question, you are done.  You cannot ask for papers.  You cannot ask what the disability is.  You do not need to know if it is for seizures, depression, diabetic, hearing, medication alert, PTSD, etc.  HIPAA prevents you from knowing.

In situations where it is not obvious that the dog is a service animal, staff may ask only two specific questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person's disability.

https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html

I purchased tax certificates in FL, which sounds like where you are.

Tax deeds sometimes have a lot of bidders, sometimes not.  Typically not a bad deal.  Do you just resell?  Or hold?

How about working another job, in your same career field?  Or working overtime?

Rebates are ending on 6/15/2019, Sunday should be 11% off day.