All Forum Posts by: Eric Blackford

Like this...or pay them back in pennies, LOOSE pennies.

And, after this, speak to a lawyer. Get yourself protected and get this person out of your house a.s.a.p. She is just buying time at your expense.

Keeping in mind that I'm a property manager and am local to the properties, I just tape the Three Day Notice to the front door, take a picture of it and walk away.

As long as you're not discriminating against someone based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or handicap, you won't run afoul of the federal Fair Housing laws. And, as was said, keep good notes and records.

Agree with Lynn. As a property manager I will say this, if a home owner calls me and tells me that I'm dropping the ball on communication, I will start calling him more, no questions asked. I try to contact my new accounts every three months during the first year just to give them a level of confidence. Generally, though, I find that sending them the rents on time is the best confidence builder.

Also, as a PM, I would be a little peeved if one of my home owners went and talked to a tenant without my knowledge, especially about my performance. If you do so, it might create a bigger issue than lousy communication. By that I mean that the tenant will sense a divide and try to exploit it. Bottom line is, it's your house and, if you're not happy with the manager, fire them.

Eric, as a property manager I find what you're proposing interesting. I certainly understand why you want to take on that task and, if you can get a management company to drop or reduce their placement fee for new tenants, that's great. As for the ongoing monthly percentage for management cost, I can't imagine why I'd reduce my fees for that.

Further, I look at the danger of working with tenants that are placed by someone other than myself. I have taken over a number of rental properties from owners and other management companies and, more times than not, I have issues with the tenants that are already in place. Not a surprise since I'm usually being hired to resolve current problems. I would encourage you in this direction, let the manager do their job, tenant placement and ongoing management, with the caveat that you want to review and have 100% veto power over any tenant that they recommend for your property. I generally give that to my landlords anyway. I feel that it is their property and I want them to be comfortable with the tenants.

I use a company called eRentpayment (dot) com. I set up all the properties that I manage into an account and am then provided account set up instructions for each property. Once I rent that property, I send out the email with the instructions and the tenants can now make rent payments using the internet.

The rent is still due on the first and late on the second day of the month. the website also starts charging a late fee after the first of the month, will not accept partial rent payments (if instructed to do so) and I can shut it down in case of eviction proceedings. I get an email stating that a rent payment has been paid and it takes the same amount of time to get the money from the company as it takes a check to clear. The cost is $3 per transaction and I have the option of paying all, half or none of the fee. I choose to let the tenant pay it.

I use a service that gives me a credit score that seems to be loosely based on the Big 3 credit scoring system and it also gives me more background info, like criminal, eviction and will even verify employment. There is no substitute for making the calls yourself and getting a full mental picture of their background and, as Karen M said, rely on your instincts. I say that I trust my gut.