All Forum Posts by: Bill Crow

@Alicia Marks

I had a neighbor behind one of our rentals ask me if I could make the tree in the back yard drop leaves only in our yard - she was tired of raking up “our” leaves.

Sure, lady, I’ll talk to the tree about it.

@David Czech

My experience with professional resurfacing (spraying) has been disappointing. The resurfacing lasted about a year and peeled off in chunks. The company honored their warranty and re-did the two tubs. The same thing happened a year later.

Maybe there are better products and better installers. I wouldn’t do it again based on our experience.

@Wade Suhr

That’s a really good question. I would be curious as to the tenant’s motivation.

I can’t think of any benefit for the landlord to do this. It’s possible the tenant thinks they can write off the rent as a business expense, which it’s highly unlikely they could do legally. Does your lease allow tenants to operate a business from the residence? There are a number of little things that could get screwy with the lease being in any name other than the residents. Why add to your landlording risk?

Regardless of the motivation, I agree with the other responders - I would decline to do it.

@Cindy Whit

Tend to agree with the other responses. 30 gives you a lower monthly obligation for a similar rate. If you have extra cash, you can always prepay. If you obligate to the shorter amortization, your minimum payment is locked in at the higher amount. The real determinants are your cash flow and appetite for risk.

@Jimmy Jefferson

This is a red flag. Tons of questions. A few obvious ones:

Why are they offering?

Where is the money coming from?

Why would you not pay monthly as is custom?

What are you hiding?

Do all your due diligence and then some. There is almost never a legitimate reason for someone to prepay rent. It is an offer to compensate for a shortcoming that most landlords would not accept. Figure out what the shortcoming is and proceed accordingly.

@Alicia Marks

One of the oddest ones I’ve had is one I’ve seen a time or two before on sites like BP, but it happened to me. I was inspecting one of our rentals and looking at the trees in the back yard to see if trimming was warranted. The neighbor behind struck up a conversation and when I told her why I was there, she asked if I could “make my tree not drop leaves in her yard”. Seriously.

@Dorys Prentice

If you don’t lease to non-occupants, you can end the discussion here. Why would you accept the risk of renting to someone who won’t live there, with occupants who have no interest in maintaining your property and no financial repercussions? Don’t go there.

@Nick Brubaker

Not just for you, but all new landlords…Document, document, document. Take lots of pictures and write lots of detail at move-in and at move-out. You will not document too much. When you go to court, the documentation is your friend or your enemy, depending on how well you have done it.

@Rob C.

The article makes good points. I have found in practice that some insurance companies balk at the “additional insured” designation, but the “additional interest” is no problem.

As the article points out, being an additional interest keeps the landlord’s interests and coverage completely separate from the tenant’s. Considering that renter’s insurance is typically for nominal amounts, the benefit to a landlord of being a named insured is minimal, and can backfire as shown in the article’s examples.

As a landlord, make sure your property is adequately covered and your liability risk as well. You’ should not rely on the tenant’s coverage to protect you.

I do insist on the additional interest so that I know when non-renewal or policy changes occur.

In this industry, it seems to be of little value to be additional insured. Additional interest may be all you need.

@Poonam Hemrajani

It’s probably in a utility easement. Check your survey. I don’t think any other specific disclosure is required.