All Forum Posts by: Rob B.

This is always a tough situation because it can happen with most online providers, so Cozy isn't alone in this. And given that you are a member of the BP community, neither are you. I would highly recommend reaching out to local legal counsel who specializes in this; someone who has a firm grasp of the local laws and ordinances as they pertain to tenant-landlord law, and eviction proceedings (should you choose to go that route; I always tell people to proceed with caution because evictions can have a lasting effect on both parties). Usually, the online service providers (in this case, Cozy) wouldn't get caught up in the legal dispute. At this point, there's clearly a disgruntled tenant and diffusing the situation doesn't really sound like it'll do the trick; so, making sure they pay with cashier's check/money order sounds like a great idea. If you're past this point then, again, legal counsel is your best bet as it sounds like it is something that will need to be litigated in court. 

The thing about services like Zelle or Venmo is you will run into balance transfer limits. When you use a solution that was designed for collecting rent online you're less likely to run into transfer limits. 

I think it is absolutely admirable that you want to dive into this, and I'm all for it, but there are practical steps that need to be taken first. As someone who had to go through the repair process myself, it doesn't happen overnight. However, there are a number of steps you can take to establish a financial system that works for you and your goals. Some will shame me for mentioning this but Dave Ramsey has a lot of helpful material on tackling that debt and rebuilding credit. I would, simultaneously, use the time to potentially work for someone in the industry; someone who you'll be able to earn from in more ways than one (finances/work pay, learning opportunities, licensure opportunities, etc). This way you're both learning from an industry professional in real-time while also earning a living and working towards that goal of paying down debt, building credit score with better (reinforced) habits over time, and then you'll have a bit more saved up so you should be able to make that first REI opp happen for yourself. There are other resources on low to no money down but first things first, take a deep dive into financial literacy -- that is a great place to start.

Hi Janelle, I definitely understand the concern (especially heading into the winter months; believe me, here in Chicago, it gets pretty cold during those months). That said, there are a few options here that might help; you can list it and offer a 6-month lease; this should be able to get you right back on track for the season. At that time, offer a full lease extension (might even be able to push the rent up a bit, but I'd focus primarily on getting yourself back on-season and then get a lengthier/standard 1-year lease signed. Since you're in a college town, it is still possible that seasonal workers might be looking for housing; that said, it may mean you need to dip the price. Also, there are platforms that can help you bring a certain level of automation to the tenant search process (ie. automatically syndicating a single listing to 10+ major listing sites, thorough tenant screening with full background checks, digital lease creation, automated online rent collection, and maintenance tracking - all from within your account). Anywho, I hope this helps! Definitely make sure to get it up on the Facebook Marketplace as well. @Janelle Carlson

There are definitely a lot of helpful tools out there designed specifically with the purpose of actually collecting rent; they've thought through some of those pain points (like disputed payments and reverse transactions, which can happen if a tenant becomes disgruntled or they decide to dispute for some other reason...). Again, there are options out there which allow you to collect rent much quicker than those others but still provides other rental management tools you might find valuable; you can easily go with an option that will help you keep track of who paid what and on which date -- a tool that can help to make the process as painless as possible and more efficient for both parties (landlord + tenant), and also offers digital leases. You may also run into transfer limits with some of those other apps (like Paypal) which aren't necessarily designed for the purpose of rent collection.

Hi Josh, I'm happy to hear that you're doing your research. There are a lot of great options out there; aside from providing the basics (ie. listing tool to get the property published to 10+ major sites, scheduling tool to schedule viewings, tenant screening with comprehensive applications which include nationwide criminal background checks + credit checks + eviction history, digital lease creation tool, rent collection tool, and maintenance tracking tool), some services also offer your tenants additional capabilities which makes it an easier sell on your end when getting them to transition over (ie. their ability to report on-time rent payments to the credit bureaus; this can create an added incentive for making sure they pay that rent on time). Either way, you're on BP so you're in the right place. 

Hi Web, I'm also just a pro-level member on a monthly plan, so I can't necessarily speak to the differences in BiggerPockets premium level leases but I will say there are some options out there which allow for further customization and are up to date (ie. when a lease is created, the appropriate clauses are auto-imported based on the property address/location -- this way your lease has you covered and is in compliance with local regulations/state law). @Web A.

For starters, congrats on getting things moving, Jeff, and I'm sorry to hear that family hasn't been all that supportive but a lot of times people fear that which they don't know; since it sounds like many of them don't have experience in REI, it is easy to think of the ways in which it could fail especially when they haven't been versed in the different success metrics and strategies for succeeding long term. In regards to your ambitions in Real Estate, as long as you've done your due diligence, and the numbers pan out, that is your ammo. There are always going to be those who are a bit more pessimistic when you bring up things that aren't really in their wheelhouse/something they haven't bothered to understand. In this instance, sometimes the ones you'd expect support from the most can become your biggest obstacle. Still, your education on the industry, but more specifically, your strategy and your numbers, that's what matters. If they're worried about the rental management process, tell them there are definitely some tools out there that can even help you to automate the rental management process. Best of luck to you on your journey!

Hi Sean, there are definitely a lot of helpful tools out there; ***a lot of people use Zelle or Venmo, but they’re not designed specifically for rent collection. There is an option out there which allows you to collect rent much quicker than those others but still provides other rental management tools you might find valuable (again, not to knock Cozy or these other tools), but you can easily keep track of who paid what and on which date with a tool that is reliable and fast. It definitely can help to make the process as painless as possible and more efficient for both parties (landlord + tenant), and also offers digital leases. Again, you may run into transfer limits and slower payment processing times with some of those other apps which aren't necessarily designed for the purpose of rent collection but the right landlord software can make this seamless for you. 

Some services also offer your tenants additional capabilities which makes it an easier sell on your end when getting them to transition over (ie. their ability to report on-time rent payments to the credit bureaus). Either way, you have some great options. I hope this information helps! 

I'm with Cassie; be sure to look into your local laws first and foremost. That said, since they are on a month to month status it doesn't sound like you'll need to wait a super long period of time outside of the standard 30 or 60 day notice period (very common for a landlord to inherit a year-long lease with quite a bit of time remaining on that lease, so count yourself lucky that it is just a month to month lease at this point). Still, be sure to look into your local laws and give appropriate notice. And be careful how much you raise it; sure, you want to make sure it is at current market price but again, certain states and local municipal governments have varying rent control laws in place. This means you're going to need to pay super close attention to how much you can boost that rent and make sure it doesn't violate the law by being higher than the ceiling percentage those rent control laws outline. All that said, congrats on the new place! Super happy for you! @Jean Wilner Wilner