All Forum Posts by: Leah Slaughter

I would look into Rhino. It’s a deposit insurance plan in lieu of a deposit and only costs a small monthly fee. It’s much easier to get higher amounts with this for lower Qualified applicants. 

There are companies you can use to do RUBS or a utility bill back. I’m personally not a fan of by the room rentals but I would do a flat rate with a split for overage over a base amount. 

24-48 hours but our people are on staff. When dealing with third party vendors, have them scheduled to go out the day after vacating and approve the work (if reasonable cost and someone you trust) quickly. Give them the timeline you want them to meet. Within a week is more than reasonable if you set it up before move out. 

@Trenton Miller 👍. Always a much cleaner way to do it, especially for the tenant who left and the landlord!

We use Vivint and love it

One thing you might want to look at is offering rhino in lieu of a security deposit. We saw a huge decrease in days on market with this and can get even more coverage than a traditional deposit while appealing to tenants who usually rent apartments because of the low move in costs. 

You definitely want the tenant to take care of the yard. Yard maintenance is much more than just mowing, it includes things at least in my state and my lease like trimming the trees, fertilizing the yard, trimming the bushes, treating for weeds, etc. There is also significant damage that can happen from mowing the yard such as rocks being thrown by the mower and breaking windows etc., and if you take responsibility for it, then you take responsibility for all of it. Let the tenant do their own lawn!

Releasing him from the lease releases him from financial obligation. If she is not the breadwinner and she is not the one paying the bills, then you do not want to release him. That said, this is a disaster waiting to happen and it might be good to work with the wife to help her find another place or to let her know that she needs to find another place if she cannot afford the rent. There are very strict laws in the state about family violence situations so your hands are tied in many ways, but who knows if he’s going to stop paying the rent any day. The minute he is released he probably would. Or possibly would. I’ve just seen it happen too many times! We see similar situations to this when one roommate moves out and wants to be released even though the lease is still ongoing, and we never release them because we want to hold them accountable for everything under that lease until the end of it. It’s even worse if the remaining occupants cannot afford it or qualify on their own. I assume that is the case here with the wife.

If you calculate your return as a cash on cash return based on the amount of equity you have sitting in that property, the rent rate you were getting for the value is pretty mediocre even with the increased rate to current market value. I would definitely sell and 1031 exchange into a better return. It’s really important in a market like this that you have a strong return because it’s possible to dip anytime.

My recommendation would be to try to get them to leave early. The last thing you want is it to escalate further. Depending on what state you’re in depends on the laws pertaining to ability to break a lease or move out without penalty due to family violence. I would make sure you check your lease and also the laws in your state because odds are if she tries to get a protective order she will be able to get one or a restraining order or something. In cases like this the best thing you can do is help them move along their way especially if there’s only two months left in the lease. Needless to say if they have not given notice, you might want to give them notice depending on your notice provision so that you don’t lose the ability to do so because you waited too late if they don’t give notice themselves.