All Forum Posts by: Susan H.

@Robert Ped  

We have a tenant that complained about bed bugs 3 months after they moved in. It's a single family residence (SFR) with no other houses or structures attached. We were very skeptical about the bed bugs being there previously especially since it took us 2 months to rehab the house and was vacant for 3 or 4 months before that. We were in and out of the house many times and none of us got bit and neither did any of the workers.

We called out a pest control company and they told us that bed bugs go into the electrical sockets and hide in the walls.  But for 6 or more months!?!  I don't think so.  Bed bugs can be picked up while traveling and brought back in luggage. 

But, we had little choice.  If the tenant left then we would still have to exterminate the bed bugs. Even though we were convinced that it was the tenants fault, we agreed to split the bill. It was $1,300.   Now, we going to include an bed bug and vermin addendum in all our leases. 

I would list the actual repairs and costs to remedy them. It sounds like you know your state laws and are in compliance. 

@Susan H. After the new tenant tells us that they've switched it to their name, we call the utility to verify that it is in fact in their name. And if they decide not to pay their utilities after we move in, we have an upcharge in the lease if we need to pay them, and any rent payments they make to us go to other things first before rent such as utility payments before they are applied to rents. The last thing we need is more bills to pay and accounting to keep track of, so we charge extra for that for that reason and as a deterrent. We are also signed up for landlord programs with gas and electric, so the gas and electric companies notify us if a tenant cancels utilities and bills us in the interim, which was quite helpful when a tenant moved out a month early with no notice and left all the windows open...

Thanks @Jeff Gates.  So does that rule out having the lease signed through something like Docusign?   I guess you collect the move-in payments in person, by certified check?

We also offer erentpayment.com. Now that we offer to cover the $3 fee on one payment per month, finally got tenants using it. First months and security by cashiers check or money order only. Like Alex, We make sure about utilities being in their name before handing over keys, order of what funds are applied to first, etc. We do offer multiple methods of accepting payment.

Hello all,

I setup an account with erentpayment.com today. It seems like a good service. However, my only issue is with the deposit to hold payments and the initial move-in payments. I would like to have tenants pay the deposit to hold, first month’s rent, and security deposit through erentpayment.com 1) because I would like to have the tenant set up with erentpayment straightaway and 2) because I’m hoping to do my lease signing electronically (not having to meet in person). The issue with this though is the delay in verifying the account and then confirming payment. I can stipulate that the keys will not be turned over until these first payments are received, but it could take up to 4 business days after signing the lease to actually receive the payment. Should I abandon this idea and have the first payment done in person by certified check?  Should I use a second service like Venmo for these initial payments (seems too complicated and there seem to be issues with Venmo http://time.com/money/4036511/venmo-more-check-than-cash/).  Should I turn over the keys after receiving notification of payment submission and before actually seeing the money in my account (seems risky)?

I’m curious what others who use services like erentpayment.com, cozy.co, etc. do for these initial payments.  

Susan, I too have gone over to online payments but with another service provider. Here is what our 'Rent' section looks like:

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Rent. As base rent during the Term, Tenant must pay Landlord, in advance and in FULL on or before the first day of each calendar month during the Term, the sum of Your Rental Amount Here ($0000.00). Payment must be made to Landlord, or his authorized agent, at the address first indicated above, or at such other place as Landlord may from time to time designate. Payments will be accepted online through Cozy, an online payment service, in which the Tenant must allow for recurring monthly rental payments and use as the primary rental payment method. Tenant may from time to time pay rent using direct deposit, check or money order, however a Ten Dollar ($10) fee will be charged for such payments methods which will be due at the time of payment. Partial payments will not be accepted. Any and all fines must be paid within ten (10) days of written notice from Landlord.

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I try to give them multiple options for payment just in case for some reason the rent collection service you go through isn't working or for some reason they do not have access to the internet. I know its pretty rare these day with smartphones and all but at least you remove any excuses for late or non-payment of rent. In any case I it completely up to you to accept cash but, understand that it carries a risk in not being able to be tracked, I personally stay away from receiving cash. 

I pretty sure you are aware but, I will mention it any way, you should also include a 'Late Fee and Returned Check Fee, Application of Payments' section in your lease specifically outlining what fees they will incur if rent is late, if there is a grace period, what happens when a check bounces and what order will funds be applied (our order is: $ is first applied to late fees, then to returned check charges, then to other amounts - excluding rent - then to rent due under the lease) - If you're going to report to credit or tenant agencies if they pay late then you need to have a separate clause in there for that too - and also if you charge a fee for having unauthorized pets or smoking the home.. you need to have those clauses in there as well. 

Lastly, ALWAYS, ALWAYS have the 1) the Security deposit, 2) the first month's rent (and any other fees your require) deposited prior to handing over the keys. You can collect those at the time of lease signing but you shouldn't if that is the same day you hand over the keys. We have them sign the contract before hand (online digital signature services are great for this) and they must also deposit the security deposit and first month's rent prior. Then we set a date usually withing 2-3 days to meet them at the property and hand over the keys and go over the property and anything they may have questions on. A big 3 is that you also need to make sure that the utilities (gas/electric) have been passed onto their name, don't just take their word for it, call the companies and verify... BEFORE you hand over the keys. Your lease should have a provision in it that states that if no keys are handed over within 10 days of the lease start date then the lease is void -- this protects you, of course however you would have to return all monies they have paid you up to that point. 

Hope this helps. 

Alex