All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Streamer

@John Casmon  The only social media I found when he was moving in was linkedin.  He's older, so that's not surprising.

We do have an update.  The emergency contact called me today.  He was also a personal reference, so we had spoken before.  The tenant did have a health emergency, was found by the friend, and was hospitalized.  He will fully recover.

Today was the first day in several days he was functioning and he asked the friend get us the rent.  I'm picking it up after work.  Including the late fee - though that may be unkind.  A credit card company will waive the fee as a one time courtesy. 

I've already sent the demand for rent letter, but I'll send a follow up stating that the rent has been paid in full.

Thanks to all for the advice and suggestions.  I'm glad my update didn't have a worse ending!

@Deanna McCormick  Good thought about taping the notice over the locks to the exterior doors.  Ringing the cell phone would be a great idea, but it's going straight to voicemail, so no ringing.  We'll go in tonight.

@Lynn McGeein  You've captured my worry well - a stroke, etc.  I've thought about the vacation or work travel, too.  Maybe he ubered to the airport.  You'd think his cell phone would be on within the last week, though.  

@Thomas S.  When he was setting up the home viewing our conversations were on his work line.  A receptionist responds and either puts you on hold before connecting or puts you through to voicemail.  The receptionist does not ask who I am.  Even if I had no concern about him as a person, it's still concerning that a tenant could possibly have come to harm in my property.  

Thanks for all the responses.  We still have no contact  We mailed the pay or quit notice.  We also gave notice that we would be entering the premises this evening.  Depending on what we find, we'll call the emergency contact after looking in the house. 

It is not the lack of rent but the lack of contact that has us concerned.  Usually tenants who are late with rent have a story.   This tenant has been easy to communicate with from day one.  Now his phone goes straight to voicemail, there is no response to texts, and no response to work or personal emails.  It strange and concerning.  I'll update when we have an answer.

@Brian H.  It's been a week since we heard from him.  Sometimes I don't speak to a tenant for months, but I can always reach them when I need to!  

@Shaun C.  Exactly!  I wanted to establish in my initial post that this isn't a neighborhood with a lot of drifters.  We're only a month in and the security deposit is substantial.  His income/savings is more than enough to pay the rent.

@Thomas S.  We sent the pay or quit.  If he's okay, then this is not acceptable.  I'm mainly concerned that something has happened to him - possibly in the house, considering his car is in the driveway.

@Steve Vaughan The county jail would be a good excuse.  I was thinking more about hospitals. But who knows! Those accountants can get wild and crazy.   I assume you're being facetious about the number of calls/texts?  It was about 4 texts over a week.  Calls went straight to voicemail.  I left one message.  I sent two emails.  One notified him about late rent/late fee and asked him to get in touch.  The second was the notification that we're coming in.

@Kim Meredith Hampton  Great advice- I forgot about the emergency contact on the application.  We've never had to use it before.  It's possible he's just dodging us or another explanation.  But something feels off.

Thanks for replying.

Hi all,  I hope someone has some good suggestions for a possibly missing tenant situation.  We have a tenant who moved in just before May 1st.  We did lots of due diligence - past landlords, personal references, confirmed his employment.  Everything seemed great.  He's a single man in his 50's and a CPA.  He's on the company website and it's a verifiable company.

He paid his security deposit and first months rent and then moved in.  He bought some new furniture and did some work in the yard.  He seemed to be settling in well.

Last Wednesday, I texted him a reminder to include his move in checklist with his rent.  If he had already mailed a check, I said we'd stop by on Saturday to pick up the checklist.  He replied that he'd call with a good time on Saturday.

The rent didn't arrive on the 1st and when I texted on Saturday about the move in checklist.  I didn't get a reply.

I figured I'd wait until Monday, to see if rent arrived in the mail.  No rent.  I emailed and called but there was no response and the phone went straight to voicemail.  Later, I emailed his work and personal email but did not get a response.

Today (Tuesday), I've called a few times and texted once.  Calls went straight to voicemail and I didn't get a text back.  I called his work and the receptionist said he wasn't in today, but put me through to his voicemail.

My husband stopped by after work.  There was a car in the driveway and a torn screen.  The lawn hasn't been mowed in a week or so, I imagine.  There was minimal mail in the mailbox.

Now it's the 6th, so rent is clearly late, but I'm also concerned about him.  This is a quality neighborhood.  The neighbors are also accountants and nurses.  

Should we go in?  Text 24 hours notice and then go in?  Talk to his company HR to see if he's been at work?  Call his personal references?  Send the late rent letter (we'll do that for sure, today).

Since he's only been with us a little over a month, I don't know his patterns, but we've had to communicate a few times and he's always responded promptly.

Sorry this is so long, but context is important on something like this.  What would you do?

Thanks in advance!

Where is it located?  That would make a difference.  If you pm me the address, I might be able to drive by tonight.

This is a little off topic from where the thread has gone, but still relates to wholesalers :-)

I receive emails from several different wholesalers. Sometimes the prices are reasonable and below the price you'd find on the MLS - usually about 10% below. But occasionally something more discounted comes up. There have been a few times we've put some serious thought into buying one of the properties.

I'm thinking about one now.  It looks like a solid deal.  But the wholesaler doesn't allow formal inspections, which is what holds me back.  I can identify problems, but our inspector is awesome and always finds more than i would.

I can't figure out why the wholesaler won't allow an inspection.  I wonder if there is something seriously wrong with the house?  What other reasons could there be to block an inspection?

My sister just accepted a job in Austin, Texas.  She's starting on June 1st. 

She was told that in Austin, it's not possible to look for a house to rent in advance.  The advice was to come down a couple of days ahead of time and go to rental open houses.  She'd be able to fill out an application and take possession within 24 hours.

This doesn't make any sense to me.  I advertise my properties well in advance.  Can anyone with knowledge of Austin tell me if this is true?  Should she just go down there and try to grab the first place she sees?

Any advice on how to get a decent place?

Thanks in advance!

(And if anyone has a charming house for rent in Austin for a recent Ph.D. and her software engineer husband, let me know :-)  )

 I thought that might be the case, though I've never heard of it.  Thanks!

 Agreed!  She's such a great fit.  I believe her.  But a little voice in the back of my head keeps saying that I need to check it out.  After all, anyone can say they don't know about ANYTHING in their report.