All Forum Posts by: Wesley W.

If this continues, you might consider not renewing this person's lease (another reason to have MTM).  If you turn a blind eye and this escalates,  your long term good tenants will find a better place to live.  If the other tenants are coming to you with these concerns, you need to take note. 

Check your local laws, but in many areas you do not have to provide a reason for non renewal.  Good luck!

Here's a tip I got from an attorney.  I always send one notice certified, and one identical mailing via First Class Mail (keep receipts).  That way, if the First Class mailing does not come back returned, you have some evidence that it has been successfully delivered.  It's not air tight legally, but at least allows you to show the judge you made a good faith effort to notify them properly (your lease should specify the manner).  For the cost of a stamp, it's worth the effort.

You can also physically post a notice on the door and take a pic.  I do this in addition to the above when I am worried about the timing of the notice.  (e.g. a 3-day notice will take 3 days to get to them, and therefore you are actually giving them 6 days)

P.S. I have never, ever had a tenant accept a piece of certified mail.  Ever.

@Mark Hower Both of those are concerns to me.  Too many ways this can get complicated, and they haven't even moved in yet.

In my tenant-friendly neck of the woods, a year lease gives many more rights to the tenant and almost none to the landlord.  I always do MTM from jump;  I treat my heavily-screened tenants well and hope they stay for a long time.  If I made a mistake with a tenant (or they are inherited via acquisition), I can terminate their MTM lease.  The tenants, in turn, can leave if they transfer job or something else in their lives changes.  Last thing I want is someone living in my building that doesn't want to be there.

It's very difficult to evict for any lease violation around here save non-payment of rent.

@Brian Buchanan My understanding from the OP is  that if it is $50 per property, a 100-unit apartment complex would be $50 annually, as it is one property.

@Mark Hower don't compound one mistake by making another one.  It is MUCH better to have a vacant property than one with a tenant with cashflow problems or a million excuses why they don't have your rent payment.

If you're going to be flexible, be flexible with the rental price and get a good tenant.  it could be very short sighted if you are looking to get maximum rent.  Only the sketchy tenants will rent places at the top of the market - because they can't be choosy; no one will take them!  Better to slowly bleed negative cash flow than make a mistake onboarding the wrong tenant.

On a high end property, the applicant should have all the move-in costs saved up and loaded for bear.  If it's a "CC points" thing, tell them all move-in costs must be in guaranteed funds (and add that in to your deposit to hold paperwork for next time).  Good luck!

Absolutely put them in your name temporarily.  That way, you have power for turnover tasks, can leave a lamp with a timer so the property appears occupied, etc.  

It's also much easier to transfer utilities than to schedule a connect.  In my area, National Grid is the utility provider, and if you have gas service, they must be provided access to the inside of the unit to test all appliances if gas service has been shut off.  Talk about a major pain, especially when their appointment window is 8am-4pm, and it could be cancelled by them if technicians are needed elsewhere else for an emergency.  Getting utilities connected is a major pain if you live more than 20 min away (they call 20 min before showing up) and you have a day job that tethers you elsewhere during the work day.

You can place utilities in the tenant's name on the day of move in.  NG allows the tenant to call before 5pm on any weekday and transfer responsibility that same day.  I recommend reading the meter before calling so you get billed for utilities that were used.  You can get screwed if they use the average for the previous tenant for your costs during the turnover.

Absolutely serve on day 7.  This will show your tenants that paying rent is a high priority to you, and thus should be to them.  Delaying that subcommunicates to them that you are (a) a weenie/pushover and/or (b) are lax on your policies.  Going forward, make sure you have a provision in your lease allowing you to recover collection/attorney costs. Also, remember, you cannot legally serve this notice to them yourself.  Good luck!

This doesn't help you now, but moving forward can you collect last month's rent (in addition to security deposit) as part of the move-in costs?

I just recently had to start doing this because of what you are describing.

It cuts down on the volume of applicants, but what you are left with is people who have saved enough money and properly planned for their move.  Not sure if your market would support it, but I rest more easily these days doing it this way.

Good luck with your current situation.  This might be one of those times where you are losing some money as part of "landlord tuition."

Okay, here is what I've decided to do.  I will close off the entry door into the kitchen and the door into the current bedroom.  In that corner of the kitchen, I will put the fridge and electric stove, and perhaps a small bit of counterspace up to the mud room door.  Kitchen cabinets and sink stays where it is.

I will wall off the current bathroom door and put the new door across from the current bathroom door.  This will make it so the toilet in the rear of the bathroom, and there will not be a view into the bathroom from the kitchen.  Currently, someone sitting on the toilet can be openly seen from the kitchen.

I have already knocked down the wall between the bonus and bedroom; I will build a new wall to make a closet on the "lobby end" of the room.  This increased bedroom size will allow me to increase occupancy from 1 to 2 individuals, which should open up my pool of renters significantly.

I am also doing away with gas service - switching to electric range, and will do electric baseboards for heat.  This will simplify the appliances, as well as save the tenants the additional $25/mo. "connection charge" for the two separate services.  I know electric heat is more expensive, but the small square footage and the ability to control each baseboard locally should mitigate that.

Thanks for all of the feedback.  I'll post pics later this summer when I am finished.