All Forum Posts by: Eric Neith

This is a landlording first for me and hopefully a last... Last week I got a call around 10pm from a local police department where one of my buildings is in Pennsylvania.  The mother of my tenant called local police because she hadn't had contact with her daughter for 5 days.  I arrived about an hour later to deliver a key to the police.  Upon police entry the found my tenant deceased, in her bed, from a possible overdose.  Since the cops were there, along with half of the neighbors, it's not a secret as to what happened.  I have received numerous responses as to my responsibility to disclose this information to prospective tenants moving forward. Has anyone experienced this before?

@Ben Kappel

I initially used Venmo, but I kept finding myself having to be the bad guy and interact when rents were late and then having to enforce collecting the late fees. With a site like cozy, you can keep adding units as your portfolio grows and you can let the program be the bad guy. Plus I have one tenant who pays on the 15th of each month, on that pays in the 1st and 15th, and the balance of tenants due on the first. So I have cozy set to collect rents per their due dates and I don’t have to keep a running tab of who is current and who is not. As your portfolio grows, that will become a nice feature. Yes, the tenants who don’t pay on the 1st, I inherited them. They are great tenants, so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

@Kevin Lin

I know with cozy, I can set the term of the lease or leave it open ended with a month to month option. In your case I would assume you just go in to that specific tenant(s) settings and end the term for cozy to collect your rent electronically.

I use www.cozy.co  It does a lot more than just collect rent.  It accepts applications, screens tenants (billing them directly) and collects your rent.  It automatically collects late fees that you can set.  My only issue was with one tenant I allow them to make biweekly payments.  So I bypass that with an understanding that their late fee gets charged on the 17th of the month.  So he pays on the 1st and the 15th with no issues.  Plus there is no fees because they hold your money for 7-10 days before they release it into a bank account you link to your Cozy account.  If you want it quicker you can pay a $2.99 fee.  Any other questions, just ask.

Thanks,  seems to be the winner so far.  I like the fact that I don't collect the money.

Hey everyone,  I am curious what programs or websites you are using successfully to screen your tenants.  They don't have to be free, I am also interested in ones that charge a fee per person or a monthly fee.  Also if you are using one that charges a fee,  are you usually charging that to the possible tenant as an application fee?  Thanks in advance for your time!

@Lavaud Charlemagne  I have Verizon.  I am pretty sure you can get a data plan from any service provider.  Just compare the costs.  Just make sure you purchase the Ipad with WiFi and Data,  not just the WiFi option.

I have a regular HP laptop that I leave at home.  I also use an Ipad pro with the magnetic keyboard.  It is linked to my data plan on my phones for $10/month.  Unlimited internet wherever I am at.  Plus Word and Excel and your Office documents can be shared through the Microsoft OneDrive effortessly... Feel free to reach out if you have more in depth questions.

I live in Pennsylvania and I use Northwest Registered Agent.  Very smooth company to work with.  I've been with them for 5 years.