What Landlords Should Use Attorneys For

Question

I'm still educating myself on investment and saving up for my first multifamily property, which I plan to house hack for at least the first year.

With that said, aside from lease agreement details, what should I ask an attorney about when I've actually purchased a property and am entering into the tenant stage? What paperwork/information is important for me to bring to the meeting? And should I be consulting with an attorney for landlord purposes after purchasing a property, but before seeking tenants, or at a different stage in the investment process?

Mindy Jensen · Answer

@Valerie King , the standard lease agreement doesn't really have much in it, other than how much they will pay and what the deposit will be.

It doesn't address whether or not you allow smoking, pets, who shovels the snow, where they can and can't park, etc.

All these things are not covered in the Landlord Tenant Laws of your state, which are very important to read on their own, but just a beginning.

I suggest you do a search on BiggerPockets for Lease Clauses - you'll see some pretty amazing clauses here from landlords who have been doing this since before dirt was invented.

Marcia Maynard has one of my all-time favorite lease clauses. It states that regardless of how it is directed by the tenant, all payments will first be applied toward any fines or fees, then any remainder will be applied toward rent. And no partial payments are accepted.

This means that if a tenant is paying rent late, they can't just pay the rent without the fee. The fee is paid first, then the rent and if they don't have that entire amount, the whole thing is rejected.

@Chris T.  is right, you don't need an attorney to rent out a house or before seeking tenants, but it's good practice to have one read over your lease.

Chris T. · Answer

@Valerie King

You don't need an attorney to rent out a house, nor before seeking tenants. You can ask your current realtor (whom you're using to look for a MF) to give you a copy of a standard lease contract to use.

There are also a lot of free resources here on BP in regards to leases. Get educated in your state/city on the tenant/landlord laws though.