All Forum Posts by: Karen F.

Yes, it would rent VERY fast.  We ask for the maximum deposit that our state allows (2 months) because we find that it gives us a cushion if we have to evict for non-payment of rent, or they leave the unit damaged.  We often have units sit for a month between tenants.

In my area, it's standard to supply fridge and stove, not standard to supply W/D or A/C units.  If you can get away without supplying them, great.  If you have to, know that you don't have to buy new ones.  You can buy used ones.

No.  You cannot.  The deposit is to cover unpaid rent and damages to the unit.  BUT.... you could be really, really hard on them about the deposit.  You'd have to fire the property manager and handle the move out yourself, and get creative about the damages to the unit.  But you could certainly come up with enough damages to cover the $700 they owe you.

Nope.  You've got to evict him.  Good luck waiting for the courts to re-open.  Better to pay him to get out.  But don't pay him until he IS out, and you've changed the locks.

I am so sorry for you.  Bedbugs are a nightmare.  We've given up on getting tenants to cooperate with treatments in our C/D multis, or getting them to pay for treatments.  They are becoming more and more widespread, and are VERY hard to get rid of.  They can be a bottomless pit of extermination payments.

Bedbugs don't need a hole to get in from another unit.  They are extremely small, can come in through cracks you cannot see or plug.  The way she thought they got in, is probably how they got in - from the by the hour motel.  She owns the thousand dollar treatments she ordered.  It's ALL on her.  

Update your lease to make tenants responsible for bedbug treatments, if at all possible.

I wish you luck.  Glad you have a mentor.  And yes, we made some HORRIBLE mistakes with our first property.  Suffice it to say that our very first tenant wound up arrested, convicted, and the court made him pay us for years, it was that terrible, what he and the people whom  let in did.  And it wasn't anything that we had not been warned about - we just had to learn the hard way.

First of all, know that you have no recourse right now, since the courts are closed, so if you're getting your rent, play it delicately.  Frankly, because it's impossible to get into court now, I'd let it all ride until the courts are open.  Once they are, your first step is to get them to text you his photo ID so that you know his true identity.  Next, you background check him - criminal, evictions, court filings, google him, etc.  If they're dragging their feet about having him fill something out, I suspect that there is a reason.  If he looks okay, I'd let him be there.   If he is going to be there, you had best have him on the lease.  Might as well have him have skin in the game, since you'd have to evict him if there were trouble, whether he's signed the lease or not.  But if he's not on the lease, he has no obligation to pay rent.

If he looks shady (evictions, arrests, criminal), then just tell her flat out to get him out immediately.  Offer to let her out of her lease and go, to get rid of them.  But I wouldn't do anything until the courts are open.  The only thing you can do to get rid of someone before that, is to pay them.  So I'd look the other way, for now.

The only exception is criminal activity that is endangering the neighbors or you.

If you need to get someone out, you're gonna have to pay them to leave.  It's as simple as that.  Just make sure you pay them AFTER they're out, and they've signed an agreement saying that they are willingly relinquishing any claim to the unit, and they give you the keys, and you have changed the locks.

Thanks, Calvin!  Both Cozy and Tenant Cloud look great!  They syndicate to lots of sites, so I'll definitely give them a try.