All Forum Posts by: Kyle Meyers

My lease states: payments made to the landlord when there are arrearages shall be applied first to the outstanding balance then to current charges.

If they did not pay the late fee the previous month and they pay the equivalent of one months rent to you the next month, they have not paid that month's rent because the outstanding balance must be paid first.

As Steve L. said you may want to send them a statement showing how the payment was applied and then give them the pay or quit. I believe this method will hold up in court because, you applied payments as agreed in the lease and they have not paid the current rent. You may want to consult a lawyer about and state or local laws on the matter.

I am sure there are laundry machines that can take a credit card. I would recommend calling some companies that sell coin laundry machines and asking about other options. I lived in a dorm at school the last couple years and the machines there could take coins or use a school ID to charge the laundry costs.

I just passed the state exam to get my real estate license and need to find a broker to work with. I have talked with several, but I really would prefer working as a property manager more than a traditional buyer or seller's agent. The problem is, I can't figure out how to find these jobs. I would have thought there would be some big companies doing this, but I can't find them. Anyone have a suggestion of where I should look? Good website to find some contacts on maybe?

Thanks.

You should really read up on the laws in your area. In Indiana, you would not need to give 30 days notice if she had violated the lease in some way (failure to report running water, not reporting crime on the property, participating in crime, etc. if any of those things or anything else she violated is in your lease) You would have to give a cause or quit notice (10 days in Indiana, shorter time almost anywhere else). If she did not correct her behavior (failed to report another crime, maintenance problem, etc.) you would file for eviction after the notice was up.

If it were me, I would give her the 10 day notice and a 30 day notice. That way if there is any difficulty in the eviction process for the cause or quit notice (which I have read there often is since it is not as easy to prove as non-payment of rent) you will still be able to get her out after 30 days (or whatever time period is required by your local laws and/or lease agreement).

You can also check about an immediate possession order. In Indiana, you can file for one if there is evidence to support that the tenant is committing waste (damaging) the property. If there is anything that would show the fight that occurred there or the break in were caused in any way by her I would see if you can get possession that way.

Contact a landlord-tenant lawyer, I don't think it sounds like you have the experience yet to take on this tenant by yourself. Try to stay informed on everything the lawyer does and also read up on all the laws yourself so you will better know what to do if anything like this ever happens in the future.

You could make your lease renew for a full year automatically if they don't give notice. It would work the same way the conversion to month-to-month does, but you would have another one year commitment.

One thing you might try is when people ask about a 3 month lease, tell them you can do that, but the rent is higher. I have been looking for a summer apartment and it is very common in Indianapolis for the rent on a 3 month lease to be $50 or $100 higher each month than if I were to do a year lease.

I think you can contact the different departments to confirm the income, if not, get check stubs, bank statements, tax returns, etc.

Do the checks on all of them, if one of them is a criminal and you don't want to rent to them, it won't matter that you did a check on one of the other tenants. You can probably charge them an application fee to cover your costs, but check your local laws.

If the rent is $750, it sounds like they might not be making enough between the 3 of them to afford it. If you do sign a lease with them, make sure it says joint and several liability. That way if one does move out the other 2 are still on the hook for the full rent or you can evict them.

I would require a higher security deposit for pets, if the local laws allow it, and increase monthly rent as well. Even hardwood floors can be damaged by pets, and the walls and doors, and yard can all be damaged too.

How would my taxes differ if I start an LLC and transfer ownership of my properties to the LLC. Would I have to pay self employment tax on rental income that I get through an LLC? Will I be required to send 1099s to contractors? Any other tax changes I should know of before I make this change?

Condo in Indianapolis = 1.5 months
Duplex in Indianapolis = 1 month

For the notices to the tenants, I just wanted to clarify that the tenant can invite you in or tell you it is ok to come sooner and then I would not be violating the notice, correct?