All Forum Posts by: Peter M.

Most leases used in Texas have a move in clause stating the tenant must move in within a certain time period of the contract can be voided by the landlord. If your lawyer is telling you to play ball then do what he says. He is a professional we are just a bunch of people on the internet. 

As for the water it is most likely a drainage issue. Some garages slope toward the house allowing water to get in. If the grade of the soil in any part of the building is toward the house you will have the same issue. On a slab foundation the soil should be 4-6 inches below the top of the concrete but if it is not, and the soil gets saturated one of two things (or both) happen. Either the water rises above the slab and gets in in between the siding and foundation or they hydraulic pressure of the water pushes up from the soil beneath the slab through the cracks in the foundation. What you need to do to fix this is a surface drain around the section of the building that lower than the house and divert it away. Catch boxes will be installed every 6-10 ft and the drain will have to run until it can get lower than the house where it releases the water through a pop up drain. They also make channel drains that you can install in existing concrete which you can put in at the transition between the garage and driveway. It is not cheap but it will fix the problem in most cases. 

Do you also give money to african princes and call back the IRS when they say they have issued a "warrant to put you under arrest"? You gave him access to your account (your mistake) and he took advantage of you (his mistake). You should evict him for non payment of rent and change your account number. If you go to the police they are going to tell you a) you gave him access so there is nothing they can do and b) it is a civil matter so you would have to file in small claims court. 

@Andrew S. There is no more danger in giving your tenants your account number than anyone else. If you ever write a check you are giving that person your account number. They have no ability to take out funds unless you make them a signatory on the account or do what Nahal did and give them access to your online banking. I use Cozy and it is great if your tenants have a bank account but if they are paying cash, having them deposit it into a local branch location is a great free way to collect rent. As an extra layer of protection you can use a deposit only account and then transfer the funds to your operating account online leaving only a small balance in the deposit account in case it ever did get hacked or accessed. 

Thomas hit the nail on the head. Make sure she qualifies alone and screen him as well just maybe not as strictly in a financial sense as you would a single tenant. Make them pay in one payment. I would make her put down the deposit so you only would have to pay it back to her and you don't get into a sticky situation if he leaves. Or make them both put deposits down and if he leaves credit his deposit toward rent. Let them work out the money on their end.

Not that I am aware of. Try looking up your states' tax laws. It could also vary by county or parish as well so you would need to check the county website for additional information. 

Do it yourself. Water bill/ total sq ft then multiply that by each unit square footage. It would be a hassle to make it all happen with billing in time to collect as well as prorating when tenants move in and out but you could do it with a simple excel spreadsheet and a rent collection system like Cozy. Or just keep them as gross leases and have the water factored into the rent. 

Ditto what they all said. Tell her as long as she is out at the agreed date and leaves it clean you won't file for eviction or in small claims for lost rent and potentially ruin her credit. Send her the required notice as soon as she is late just like you would any other tenant so the clock will start in case you do actually have to file. 

If you upload the pdf file through google docs it can convert it to a text file (googles version of Word) which you can copy into MS Word. It does not keep formatting so you will have to do some editing but it is much faster than retyping it yourself. Plenty of tutorials online on how it is done. 

Depending on the state, a tax deed auction will wipe out most inferior liens like mortgages. However some liens are not erased and it is the responsibility of the buyer to pay those as well. Public records and title searches will tell you if there are any outstanding liens filed against the property. 

This is your first rental so I don't think you need to move this asset into an LLC unless you have a bunch of other assets you need to protect. It is a lot of extra work for what amounts to an extra insurance policy. A good homeowners policy and an umbrella policy would take care of you in most situations. If you are running a legit rental, and follow all the fair housing rules you will be fine using your own name.

Some banks that are portfolio lenders will do this type of loan but it helps to have a relationship with them already and they usually will make you refinance the property through them so they hold the first and second position liens. 

My lease break clauses are below. Note that it says I do not have to accept their request to break the lease early however if they do move out without permission, Texas property code requires the landlord to mitigate damages. This means the landlord has to try to get it rented. This seems common sense but it prevents bad landlords from purposefully leaving it empty for the entirety of the lease and claiming the old tenant owes the entire lease amount. You don't have to take less rent or unqualified tenants, you just have to attempt to get it rented out. Honestly though, going after a tenant who abandons your unit for back rent is going to be a waste of your time and money. If you have to go to court to evict them, yes add the rent onto the judgement but going to small claims after the tenant is gone rarely results in you getting the money.

(1) Tenant may not assign this lease or sublet the Unit without Landlord’s written consent. This includes AirBnB, VRBO, and other similar house sharing/swapping services.

(2) If Tenant requests an early termination of this lease under this Paragraph 28B, Tenant may attempt to find a replacement tenant and may request Landlord to do the same. Landlord may, but is not obligated to, attempt to find a replacement tenant under this paragraph.

(3) Any assignee, subtenant, or replacement tenant must, in Landlord’s discretion, be acceptable as a tenant and must sign a new lease with terms not less favorable to Landlord than this lease or otherwise acceptable to Landlord;

(4) If Tenant requests termination of this lease agreement early, notice of no less than 60 days must be given to Landlord. Landlord is not required to accept the request.

(4) At the time Landlord agrees to permit an assignee, subtenant, or replacement tenant to occupy the Unit,

Tenant will pay Landlord:

(a) $ ______________ lease cancellation fee; and

(b) any prorated rent prior to the new lease Commencement date.

(5) Tenant agrees to vacate the unit more than 7 days prior to the new lease Commencement date and further agrees to move out as per all conditions set forth in this lease.

(6) Unless expressly stated otherwise in an assignment or sublease, Tenant will not be released from Tenant's obligations under this lease because of an assignment or sublease. An assignment of this lease or a sublease of this lease without Landlord's written consent is voidable by Landlord.

Rent Payment:

4.) Landlord requires Tenant(s) to pay monthly rents by one payment.

Security deposit return:

C. Refund: Tenant must give Landlord at least thirty (30) days written notice of surrender before Landlord is obligated to account for or refund the security deposit. Any refund of the security deposit will be made payable to all Tenants named in this lease.