All Forum Posts by: Silvio Brigliadoro

@Dale Lotts, I'm not sure I can post a link here, but what I have is pretty simple, our listings and VM directs prospects to go to our website and fill out our "Showing Request"; the website has a Showing Request button, when they click on it it will first show the rental criteria, then a form. Like someone suggested google forms might be a good choice, JotForm is another good one, I now use PODIO as you can customize to also serve as a basic CRM and tracking for the many daily requests we get.  

I figured the ones that are unable or unwilling to follow my simple directions to read my rental criteria and fill out a simple form, will probably not make good candidates as they will likely not follow my rental rules or agreement; so that is another way to filter-out the bad apples. 

This has been working great for me for some time now, our "Online Showing Request" form first shows the "minimal qualifications" followed by a few questions, this very quickly allows me to focus on the prospects I should talk to and avoid the ones I shouldn't be talking to. 

Wesley,

In my opinion, the best incentive to have your tenant pay on time is for you to enforce the rental agreement, quickly. If December's rent is not paid by the end of business day on the 1st, serve the 3 day on the 2nd. AND charge him a fee for preparing and serving this notice, make sure the late fee is also added after the 5th. Another way to "cure" this issue is to do rent increases until he leaves, I prefer this over terminating a rental agreement... Good luck!

@David StoneSome ideas.. I would ask utility if they can send you, the property owner at a different address, the utility bill if it ever becomes delinquent. You could call to check the balance every 3 to 6 months or just add it to the rent and pay it directly. Upon move out, I would call unities before refunding deposit..

Chase offers ACH / EFT electronic in CA for $25 per month plus $0.50 per transaction,  no charge for the first 25. You initiate the transaction,  not the tenant. 

Allowing tenants to make rent payments directly to your bank account is great, but what will you do when they fail to pay the rent on time? 

In California I serve the tenant a 3 day notice to pay the rent or quit, the notice must include the exact amount of the unpaid rent; after 3 days I can choose to file an unlawful detainer and eventually get them evicted. If the tenant has free access to my bank account and is resourceful, they can deposit $1 into that account making my notice unusable to file the UD; I would have to once again serve another notice with the adjusted balance and repeat if they pull that again...         

Its very likely that the previous owner lacked management skills and did not train this tenant properly.  I would try to get her "on board" by acting quickly on enforcing rules and collections. I prefer tenants that pay the rent on time, train them once or twice when they don't, rather than a management-intensive operation going after late fees... 

I would first strictly enforce the rules for 2-3 months, serving 3 day notice to pay or quit on the 2nd of the month; if that does not work, I would then serve a 30 day notice to increase the rent, every 1-2 months until she leaves on her own... 

If these were my tenants and I had them on a rental agreement and If the location of the property can bring better quality tenants I would tell them I am sorry this was a mistake and it will not work out. I will then serve a 30 day notice terminating the tenancy. The piece of mind this will give me far exceeds the potential loss of rents in my world.