All Forum Posts by: Timmi Ryerson

It is good that this tenant is moving.  The fact that she refused to let the inspector in several times tells you all you need to know.  Experience tells me that you will find a mess when she moves out.  I hope that the HVAC guy reports to you any unusual conditions in that property that he may have seen while repairing the AC.  Unless it was over 100 degrees and unsafe for habitation I cannot imagine why this tenant did not just stay in the rooms that were air conditioned.  In my leases, any hotel or other accommodation needs to be pre approved and states a $ limit per day and conditions under which it may be an option.  If the damage is tenant caused, there is NO reimbursement.  In 32 years of being a landlord I have never had a reimbursable instance of a tenant staying in hotel accommodations.  I have managed over 15 units for most of those years. One writer suggested that you turn this over to your management company.  I suggest that you tell them what you want to happen and let them do the rest.  But do not just rely on the management company to handle it as they may just charge you.

I have an addendum to my leases that says specifically about the washer an dryer, that they are provided for convenience but not included in the lease. If for any reason the fail, it is up to the tenant to get their own.  But for other appliances, I have them included in the lease.  I have actually never had a tenant tell me that an appliance was broken only to find that the repairman said it was fine.  I would get a statement from the repairman and tell them that they can get their own refrigerator if they wish something newer and you will remove the current working appliance.  I think it is a great idea to add wording in the lease document that if, for any reason, a repair person is called for a repair and finds nothing wrong, that it can be billed to the tenant. I think that for problem tenants like you have here, it will stop the complaints.  I think you can add that codicil as an addendum to the lease after the fact.  

I have been through this before.  I paid off the mortgage on my properties and decided it was time to hire a property management company and take life a bit easier.  Before they were hired, I would do turns in 1 to 2 days.  I always had the new tenant ready by the time the old tenant moved out, did repairs and any cleaning and got the new tenant in.  When I hired the property management company, they went 4 months or longer without finding tenants for vacancies.  I also was getting billed outrageous amounts for repairs that they said were being done.  I was living out of the state at the time so I made a visit to the properties and arranged to have my father, a CPA, come and do an audit of their books for my account at the property management company.  This is what we found.  Vinyl being replaced in a duplex unit:  Only part of the original floor was replaced with a totally different kind of vinyl laid along side of the original vinyl.  The original vinyl was an off grey brick pattern and the new  vinyl that was replaced, under a table area where chairs had ripped the floor, was a greenish yellow flower pattern..It was awful.  The audit of the books showed why my repairs were so high.  For one unit that had 8 windows where the blinds were changed,  they had charged me for 36 blinds.  Since none of the other 11 units in my portfolio got new blinds, we learned that they were used in someone else's property and I paid for them.  So I tried to cancel the contract and they sued.  I showed up with evidence and the judge ruled against me.  I had to pay the balance of the contract to get my properties back.  It was a terrible experience, which I  now realize that I am not over yet even though it has been many years ago.

So I started a software company for property management to make it easy for landlords to manage their own units. That solved the problems.    

Suggestions: If you have a clause that allows you to give notice and get out of the contract, I recommend that you do that immediately.  Also if you choose to fight this charge, your documents will be your friend.  If you can prove that they did not notify you properly, you may win in court, but that will probably not get you any money.  It will get you the ability to fire them without having to pay their fee.  But the judge will probably rule that you owe the bill unless they did something provably wrong. The easiest solution seems to me to call the vendor directly and see why this "screen" replacement was so outrageously expensive. If  you find fraud, that is another issue and can actually be reported to police.  Good luck.  Please do post what you decide and the outcome.

Sara Wade  MFP means multi family property which has 3 units.

From the day you close you are entitled to any rent already collected and the full amount of each security deposit, pet deposit or any other type of deposit.  If rent is collected on other amenities, like parking, pool access, extra storage etc. you will get that rent also from the day the closing is signed.  Be sure it is in the title closing statement.  Be sure your title company has collected the check that can be delivered for any and all rent and security deposits due.  It is often hard to get them after the fact.  If there is a tenant who has not paid rent or owes back rent you should contact a lawyer to see what your rights at closing are to collect those rents from the seller and then he can go back against the tenant for unpaid rent due.  I would also present that tenant with a notice to pay or vacate immediately if it has not already been done.  You want your tenants to know that you expect full rent paid on time from the very beginning.  Remember, this is a business for you  and your tenants are not your new best friends.

Have a letter of introduction ready to give to your tenants in person the day you close.  It should have your contact information and any changes you expect in the near future, especially in their leases.  For example, if you are going to require them to pay rent via an automated system, explain that clearly and give your reasons.  If you have done your due diligence you have checked all leases and know that pet agreements where needed are in place as well as leases.  So there is nothing needed there unless you find an unauthorized pet on the property when you do your inspections. Congrats on your new property.

I agree with Nathan and think what he said was very true...For those locating in the mountains of California, when is snows, the panels do absolutely no good unless there is a system to melt the snow from the top of the panels.  Government needs to stay out of legislating the way owners heat and cool their properties.

Welcome Wes.

Also check the rents with comps to see if they are correct..or too high or low.  You can use Rentometer.com to check comps for free.  I suggest you do this and if you find a problem with them being too high for the area and condition of the property then I would walk...There are many red flags here.

I use Smart Property Systems.  It has everything you as a self directed manager of your properties needs to look professional, manage your properties, leases, collect rents online, screen tenants and market properties.  It also had a great accounting system and if you want to, you can load the reports into quick books.  It is affordable for a person who has only a few properties as well and easy to use.

I agree with JD Martin.  First of all, tenant screening is worth every penny that it costs.  When you order a tenant screening report, you should get a credit score and criminal background check.  Smart Move includes homeland security screen, sexual predator check and felony screen at federal and state level.  They are just now testing data on evictions.  Most people charge their applicant a non refundable fee for the work that needs to be done to qualify them for the property rental.  That fee should cover the cost of the tenant screening.  I use software that has the tenant screening built in.  It is very handy as I just invite the tenant to log into a portal and fill out the application.  I get that report back within 2 hours of them completing the screening request.  I charge $50 for the application fee.  Then I also spend time confirming the applicant's employment, amount of wages stated on the application and then I speak with a current or previous landlord to find out if there were any problems during their tenancy.  

Tenant screening and choosing the tenant for your valuable rental property is the most important job you have other than collecting rent on time and maintaining the property.