All Forum Posts by: Michele Fischer

I guarantee that someone on a housing voucher will hang blankets in the windows regardless of what you provide.  It seems to be a low income cultural thing, maybe for cost effective privacy.

We like to use wide slat inexpensive blinds on all windows.

I'm not sure it is worth a lot of process for only a few units.

Is the pain point with the checks that you don't want to be close to the mail, or you don't like e-depositing them, or the time lag to find out whether it will bounce?  We liked checks way better than cash.

But our favorite was when the tenants went to our bank and deposited to our accounts.  Some risk that they could make partial payments, but we never had any issues.  

You are getting good advice.

We had a tenant completely abandon once and it was unnerving.  We were checking arrest, hospital, and death data, he was just gone and we never figured out what happened.  We have used our states abandoment policy several times to pursue getting a unit back when rent goes overdue.

We would not evict if we can get possession back via abandon process.

As additional protection, when we rent to a single occupant, we have them fill this out as part of the lease so we have someone else to work with:

In the event of abandonment, arrest or death, the following person has the authority to decide when to terminate tenancy and how to store/distribute my belongings:

Name: ____________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________

Phone #: ____________________________________________________

Some states have a lease automatically revert to a month to month agreement when the time period expires, you need to know the laws in your state.  New paperwork covers you regardless though.

You are getting good advice.

When the tenant contacted you, were they really looking for a discount or a deferral? It's important that everyone is on the same page.

Go into this assuming they will not catch up.  Get agreement from them that if they cannot get caught up in a certain time period that they need to move.  Make the agreement something you can live with and be firm.  Consider asking for partial payments that align to the paychecks that the tenants still working so that you can see progress move often to guage how things are going, and have them be less behind total.  

And watch utilities if you will be responsible to pay them after move-out, people often let utilities slide when they are strapped for cash.

You are getting good advice.  It is frustrating, but we don't really control who is in our units and it probably isn't worth trying to enforce.  If you were self managing you could be more aggressive, buth with a PM this is their issue to deal with and they don't want to.  Let them do their job.  They aren't being lazy, they know this is no win.  We have parked outside units to figure out the comings and goings from time to time, but truth is it doesn't really matter and life is easier when you don't monitor it and let it raise your blood pressure.  Having fewer people on the lease has advantages too.  Your biggest risk is probably criminal activity since they have not had any kind of background check as an unauthorized occupant.

This is a very untested area, there are not a lot of court cases to know what is and is not allowed, and nobody wants to be the first.

There are so many doctors willing to sign off on a service animal, but it does weed out some.

We have used this form with some success:

FORM TO REQUEST AN ASSISTANCE ANIMAL

We are committed to granting reasonable accommodations when necessary to afford persons with disabilities the equal opportunity to use and enjoy our rental properties.

Under the Fair Housing Act, a person with a disability is defined as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Reasonable accommodation may include waiving or varying pet polices and fees to allow an Assistance Animal. An Assistance Animal is an animal that does work or performs tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability, or provides emotional support or other assistance that alleviates one or more symptom or effects of a person’s disability.

Please complete this form completely and return it to us. All information will be kept confidential, except as otherwise required by law.

Today’s Date: _______________________

Name of person with disability requesting accommodation: _____________________________

What is the species of animal? __________________________

Provide the name and physical description (size, color, weight, license) of the animal:

_______________________________________________________________________________

Does the animal perform work or do tasks because of the disability? _____________

If Yes, please provide a statement from a health or social service professional indicating that you have a disability and explaining how the animal is able to do work or perform tasks that alleviate one or more symptoms or effects of your disability.

If No, please provide a statement from a health or social service professional indicating that you have a disability and how the animal alleviates the symptoms or effects.

Please attach statement with any additional information and contract information for the professional completing the statement.

_______________________________________ _______________________

Signature of Person Making Request Date

_______________________________________ _______________________

Signature of Person with Disability Date

I would also add:

- Avoid five bedroom properties, or sizes and options that are unusual in your target neighborhood; it will be difficult to sort out market rent.

- Avoid properties that have items/areas that can't be tenant proofed.  If there is something nice they can destroy, they will.  Look for hearty and plain rather than fragile and unusual.

- Pay attention to insurance and utility rates by area/property.  They can vary a lot by city or condition, and it impacts the cash flow a lot.  It is easy to phone utility companies and ask for an estimate of monthly costs to get a feel for differences.

- Look for funtional floorplans.  If you can't imagine where furniture will go and how things will flow, prospective applicants will struggle too and the property is less rentable.

- Avoid proeprties where there are sturctural issues or unknowns found during the inspection.  Even if you get a great deal, you are buying a big headache.  Keep looking.

Agree, this is fraud and you should notify them that the contract is not enforceable and you will not be moving forward with their tenancy.  Reach out to any other applicants that were interested that may fit your standards and get it back on the market as soon as you can, move forward with someone new.  I hate it when things fall apart this late in the process, but it does happen from time to time.  Get it rented as quickly as you can to honest applicants.

I would offer them to break the lease and leave now, no reason to wait.  Don't admit any kind of blame, tell them they could be more comfortable elsehwhere and that you support that.  "This hasn't been a great fit for either of us, if you are concerned about your health I am more than willing to let you move out with no extra fees as soon as you can find a new place."