All Forum Posts by: Christopher Reynolds

Trevor, that might be an optimist's point of view. I think the case you present might be more rare than the alternative. Also in Massachusetts, I don't have the option to deny a Section 8 tenant because they hold a Section 8 voucher. I have to process them just as any other tenant.

In my case, I did not have to find out what their references were like, as they were looking for a May 1 move-in date and I am seeking April 1. They decided not to apply. Of course they would have known the move-in date had they bothered to read my ad. They also asked me 3 or 4 questions that were answered in my ad. Only the caller and his sister spoke any English, the other two adults did not understand my questions at all.

Everyone can apply, but if they don't meet my basic criteria, I will let them know up front.

Shera, my initial post illustrates that I would require each adult to apply, and that they would all be jointly and severally responsible for rent.

So them being related applies to them being a "family" under a protected class? A cousin and a sister of a guy and his girlfriend is considered protected?

If they are good applicants, then they are good applicants. I haven't met any of them yet, but I am very apprehensive based on the telephone conversation.

It seems sentence 2 and 3 contradict each other, no? Isn't the "application fee" and the tenant paying for his own check sort of the same thing?

I've used the BP link for Smart Move in the past, and I prefer to use it in the future. However, my state doesn't allow me to collect anything from a tenant beyond first last and security. It doesn't explicitly say anything about applicants, but I've been very careful about what I collect as Massachusetts is very tenant friendly.

Also, I would expect that not everyone will be able to provide good landlord references (or any references at all), and this is on my written criteria.

If they are applying as a group, then I can disqualify the group based on one person's disqualifications?

Massachusetts doesn't legally allow me to collect anything for application fees as far as I can interpret the laws.

Your first sentence sums up my thoughts about this situation pretty well. Instead of getting 2 people who are financially well suited to live here, I'd be getting 4 adults who are unable to get their own apartment. Also my water bills would surely suffer, although they would be much worse with 2 adults living with 2 teenage girls!

Hello everyone. I have an apartment for rent now, and I have a caller asking me how many adults I'd allow in this apartment (loaded question). He said it was he, his girlfriend, his sister, and his cousin I think. 4 adults.

I don't have to tell you all the reasons why I dislike this idea. However, I was wondering how I'd know if I could say no to this arrangement legally. I know familial status is a protected class, and if this was 2 adults and 2 kids, it's a no brainer what should happen. However, I wasn't sure what I should do here. Are there maximum occupancy allowances mandated at the state level, or municipal level? I tried searching for official statistics but couldn't find anything.

I told the caller that each applicant would have to be on the lease, each would have to qualify with good credit and references, and each would be jointly and severally liable for rent, should 3 of the tenants move out. He seemed fine with that.

Thanks so much for any help you can provide!

We price them the same as the local laundromat down the street. The funny thing is, we have better machines than they do. We bought Speed Queen commercial machines. Yes they were very expensive, but they are as solid as laundry machines get, and they are extremely efficient.

Hey everyone. We are planning to rent out one of the apartments in our triplex. We have made substantial improvements to this unit since purchasing the property, including a completely renovated kitchen and bathroom, as well as refinishing the original hardwood floors. We think this is a very nice apartment.

Another unit in the triplex is a very nice unit, and is already renting for more than almost anything in this area. Our concern is that even though the unit up for rent is nicer than the one already rented, we might be limited by the area itself and not by the unit.

We are entertaining the idea of renting the unit fully furnished. There are a fair amount of technology companies within driving distance of our area, and we think we might have some success in renting a fully furnished apartment to someone working at one of those companies.

My real question is: When to use an agent to place a tenant? We will be managing the unit. We have always found good tenants from Craigslist, and we created a Postlet for the unit and posted it to several sites already. I work with a lady who has a duplex and she had an agency place a tenant for her in a unit she was renting. She said the agency suggested they price the unit at several hundred dollars above what she was thinking of asking, and the agency successfully placed tenants for her.

Does anyone use an agent for a property that might be considered higher-end for a particular area? Thanks for any help!