How can a landlord protect himself against the bad apples

Question

Hi guys.  I'm close to having my condo ready for renting.  I have to go year by year by the by-laws.  I'm putting in a lot of effort into making this property respectable.  My question is, how far can I go in the lease agreement with a tenant regarding damages.  What I mean is this, what's the standard way a landlord protects himself against someone just trashing the place, scratching the walls, breaking the applies, the worst case scenario?  Can I put in dollar amounts like if you do A, then you'll be charged X dollars, etc.  Or is the answer just depend on your landlord insurance.  Also. can I put in a clause that says if they do X, they will be evicted.  I live in PA.  I'm pretty sure these things are under the state's jurisdiction, but not sure, please comment if you know about this as well.  I'm just trying to protect myself against disaster, and I know without the right paperwork, the finish will be like always, me in debt and the tenant making his dinner toast to how inexperienced I was.

Dana Whicker · Answer

You are right to be cautious, as there are a lot of horrible people out there that will take advantage of how our society has drifted towards the absence of personal responsibility.

However, all you can do is screen well, trust your instinct, and move forward.  No risk no reward my friend.

Account Closed · Answer

Account Closed Another way to minimize having a "bad apple" tenant, is to not be a "bad apple" landlord. As landlord, you are the chief...you set the tone. Too many landlords treat their tenants terribly and then wonder why they are having difficulties.  You can be firm, business-like and professional while still treating people with dignity and respect.  It works wonders!

Mindy Jensen · Answer

Account Closed, the absolute best thing you can do is screen your tenants so you are getting high quality people who will take care of your property.

If you want them to know something, tell them. If you want to be able to prove you told them, write it down and have them sign it.

Your tenants cannot read your mind, so share with them exactly how you expect them to take care of your property. A way to keep an eye on the property is to perform routine maintenance like changing the filter in the furnace (which a tenant will almost never do on their own) and changing the batteries in the smoke detector.

When you're screening your tenants, do a thorough background check, including criminal and credit history. This will tell you a lot. Call all past landlords and ask questions specific to the property like what is the address?

ANY eviction history is an automatic no. There had been a lot written about tenant screening in the blog and these forums. Read it all, devise a minimum requirements list, and then stick to it.

Doing all this work upfront will lessen the work you have to do after they move in - a quality tenant isn't likely to be evicted or treat your place poorly.

Account Closed · Answer

Thanks Dana.  Tyler, good point.  Actually talking about that, since I only have one property right now, the one I'm about to rent out, is it worth starting a business relationship with a lawyer, so that I have someone on standby in case something happens, or do most people go at it on their own until they have a lot more properties.  I know those retainer fees are serious, and with on only 1 condo, it feels like overkill, but then again, I guess it all depends on what will happen with that 1 condo.

Account Closed · Answer

Art, that's true.  I just hear so many horror stories, and how hard it is to evict people despite those tenants purposely being vicious for sport to the landlord.  All I know is when I lived in a rental, I caused my landlord no problems whatsoever, but in our "tough luck, sue me" society, it's better to be paranoid sooner than later.  But one thing I realized, everyone on here is right, screen the tenants like you're screening your future spouse, because in effect, you're marrying each other for at least a year, and in some cases, for longer, for better or for worse ;)

Account Closed · Answer

Thanks everyone.  I agree, screening is the best bet.  If I had to choose between someone eager to move in without history or someone else dragging their feet but with good history, I'd rather be patient.  It's one of those things where if you jump on it too soon, you'll have to suffer much more later.  I too was concerned about the boilerplate online services, because every local jurisdiction will have their own gotchas which only a local entity would know.

Account Closed · Answer

Thanks Nicole.

Thanks Robert, wow, that's a lot of info.  I'm going to read through it to get a better feel for it.  Regarding going to an attorney, in your experience, is it better to go to a brick and mortar place or use one of those online places like legalzoom?  I like online because it makes the interaction easier, but in this realm, I just never did it before.

Tyler Brown · Answer

For some of the things you mentioned, like trashing the place or purposefully breaking the appliances, there's no need to specifically address that in the lease since that's vandalism and is already against the law.  Just like how you don't have to put "tenant shall not douse the property in gasoline and set it afire" in the lease.  It's already against the law, and the law is going to trump anything you could put in your lease anyway.

For other things, you'll want to have a catch all phrase that holds the tenant responsible for damages beyond "normal wear and tear".  Your local laws may or may not define the useful life of many things in your condo and force you to pro-rate any charges to the tenant.

For example, if you have brand new carpeting when the tenant moves in, but it's ruined by pet stains and has to be replaced when they move out two years later, you will only be able to charge them 5/7ths of the actual cost if your laws dictate that the useful life of carpet is 7 years.

Steve Babiak · Answer

What's not explicitly mentioned with the post from @Robert M. is that Pennsylvania consumer contracts are required to be in "plain language" (no legalese) - and leases are a form of consumer contract and as such must be in plain language. Read what a PA attorney has to say on this:

http://dornish.net/a-matter-of-trust

This state gov't  link might have more on this:

https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/Consumers/Bureau_o...

Antoine Joseph · Answer

Use BP's tenant screening checklist, you'll be fine.