All Forum Posts by: Kathy Johnson

You know your tenant better than we do.  

We had a tenant before who had been in the house for almost 20 years and had to reluctantly give notice due to moving into a care facility.  The wife was ocd about cleaning and the family let know in timely ways about maintenance issues.  Even though we started showing, we left an 'availability date' buffer between moveout and new rental in case there were any issues.  With a less cleanly tenant or if the tenant was likely to undermine a new tenancy we would wait till it was vacant to show.

Sorry, I am not in Arizona.  We do have rentals in California and Wisconsin.

It sounds like you will need to cover the deposit return and statement yourself and also send a demand letter to the former property manager for the deposit funds.  If she won't comply, keep records of everything for a small claims case.

Be careful that you don't give him any money until he is out and has signed something stating he is out.  If  you pay him while he is still in the rental, he will find another reason to delay.

Just proceed with the Sheriff lockout because obviously this 'tenant' isn't going until the end.

If it were my rental, I would have it repaired.

Andrew Boettcher It is true that 24 hour notice is required in many states, but there are some that only require 12 hours and some that require 'reasonable notice' which can vary depending on the situation.  OP didn't say what location she is in so we really can't say what notice is required.

This is just a theory because I can't tell from your description:

You asked about moving the rent due date to the 15th, but then didn't pay for the 15 day period between the old rent due date and the new rent due date.  This would make all your subsequent payments short by about half the rent. This would trigger any late fees described in the lease agreement.  In this scenario, you would owe back rent and late fees.

A landlord would worry about doing a rent to own if the tenant isn't keeping current with the existing rental agreement.

That will depend on whether the tenants have existing long term leases and what your state laws require for notice.  If the tenants are on month to month agreements, and your state allows a 30 day notice, tenants do usually expect changes when ownership changes.  Just be sure to check your market so that when tenants check around, they still find your units to be a good rate.  If you overprice you won't keep or get tenants.  But, if the existing tenants are a problem, then raising rents a sizable amount can be one way of encouraging them to move on.

9 times out of 10 you will regret mixing free rent and contract work.

If you plugged holes, there could be some charge for primering and painting the damaged areas to match the rest of the rental walls.  Normal wear and tear would be cleaning and painting without need for primering or multiple coats.  Dirt is also not considered normal wear and tear.  Smoke and/or grease residue from smoking or cooking would also not be normal wear and tear.  These are just examples.  You might try requesting more of a description/breakdown of costs from the landlord to see exactly what was done.