All Forum Posts by: Michael Peters

Make sure the applicant you selected comes in to sign the lease and turns over a security deposit before turning the others down.  You can always let them know you have someone on the back burner to get them in to sign in a day or two.  No use sending someone away if you don't have a contract.  Just be kind and courteous with those you have to turn down.  It doesn't hurt to reach back out in 9 months or so to see how things ended up for them.  You might even pull one of them back if your current tenant chooses not to renew.

I'm in agreement with Marc.  If it was just a one year lease then yes I would hold them to the entire cost of the repair.  If you received 7 good years with the tenant and this is the worst problem I would be extremely happy you missed out on the maintenance costs you saved by not running through potentially 5+ renters. If you can get by 7 years without having to do any major repaints and can get by with some touch ups your even more in the clear. 

Would also love to hear how the breakdown of how each room comes to $350.  Sounds like you need to start vetting some new handyman in your area.

100% get yourself a lawyer and start the eviction process as soon as possible.  The longer you wait the worse the situation will get and the more money you'll lose.  I would give them a verbal notification that you are starting the eviction process due to non payment and do your best to convey what an eviction will mean on their record.  Unless the tenant agrees to sign a lease and bring rent current, skip the payment plan and make it payment in full, I would see the eviction process to its completion.

Agree with Russ B. on this one.  Its going to be like pulling off a band aid so get it over with.  These type of tenants will never stop until you put your foot down and clearly state no.

Take it as a learning experience.  Automate your requests to avoid the texting issue.  Revise your lease as needed regarding the bug spray.  In my opinion if its clean and you spray before move in anything after that should be on the tenants.  The biggest thing is to recognize this behavior and put it to bed right away.  If you don't train your tenants on your expectations they'll run all over you.

I would completely agree with Jeff on this one.  College is an amazing thing but at the end of the day its just a piece of paper that gets you in the door.  You can definitely get a lot out of any program but it all depends on your goals going in.  I attended college for 12 years, received a handful of degrees, and at the end of the day the random jobs I took on while studying taught me more about the real world then any class.  

If I were in your shoes I would get a part time job during your studies at a local property management company or as a real estate agents assistant.  You'll learn just as much if not more learning from those already doing it.  On top of that you'll walk away from college with a job and real world experience.  This will put you miles ahead of the competition and will help build your own circle and credibility in the area.

Best of luck!

Solid advice above on treating their next rent late if they don't cover the costs of utilities owed.  

Few other requirements we use after getting burned by new tenants.  Until we get these three documents they don't get the keys no matter the circumstances.

1. Requiring the 1st months rent and deposit to be paid at least 3 business days in advance of move in or by cashiers check.  Your deposit is your safety net so this is an absolute must to avoid a bounced check.

2. Requiring renters insurance to go into effect before handing over keys.  Apparently my company let someone move in once without it on a weekend and they burned the kitchen down to the studs.

3. Confirmation from the utility company they have transferred utilities into their name.

Brian hit it on the money.  Three months rent is going to disqualify a lot of people.  In addition to that there are some amazing tenants out there that hit bad luck in the past and are working at rebuilding their credit.  

For those I'm on the fence about due to a credit score I've requested bank statements to ensure they can adequately cover the rent and are responsible with their income.  You can also see if they are willing to give you a tour of their current residence.  If both look good this is more then likely a better indication of how they will treat the property then a credit score ever could.

Its been an interesting few days.  Turns out we did have elevated levels of mold at the property.  The air quality tester however did agree that the only reason any was picked up is because it was disturbed during the removal process the day before the test was taken.  I've been working with the owner and tenant on ending the lease early as being the best for both parties but the tenants aren't having it.  They also called the fire marshal after reading an article online about CO detectors.  Everything is up to code and put that fire out immediately.

All reputable remediation companies in my area are backed up a few weeks so they will most likely be out of the property for 3-4 weeks.  Again threatening lawyers since they are only credited on a per diem basis of their rent which is the standard practice for my area.  Also learned Iowa doesn't have any regulations on acceptable mold levels.  I trust our process and back up so I'm confident we are covered in that are.  Putting one foot ahead of the other until everything gets figured out.  Terrible situation but its a good lesson learned.  

Thanks for all the input everyone!

@Sam Leon This would be a single family residence, but I still would like to avoid any negative internet reviews.  Not sure that can be helped with these tenants at this point.  

I'll post an update on the test results.  Supposed to get them sometime Monday.

I'm going back and forth on letting them out of the lease early.  I would need the owners approval first, but I definitely see why it makes sense.  I'm never a been a fan of giving back a deposit and letting someone walk away unless I was in the wrong.  The property would still have turn over expenses and the tenants might be still liable for some of those.  I really can't justify penalizing the property owner to save me a headache.  

Would allowing the lease to terminate the lease early and treat it like their lease had ended normally be a good compromise?  That way I could still hold the tenants to cleaning expectations and the like.