First time landlord story

[Chris Sones]

Hi all,

New member here! I thought I'd share my story of my first time renting which has been a huge learning experience. My brother directed me to this site for a reference and I've been reading a little here and there. I'm hoping to spend more time here. Lets get to my story.

I started with some applications and lease agreements found online specific to my state. When I had people fill out applications I would specifically state that I'd be doing a credit, and background check, and that they needed to list anything that may come up on the reports so there's no surprise with hopes that they would come forth with any information. I didn't do any credit checks. To be honest I wasn't sure how to and didn't want to spend the money. The main thing I made sure to do is call a few past landlords to see how the tenants checked out.

What I learned from my first application selection: It is best to spend a little and figure out how to do a credit check and make sure all credit comes back clean. Cut any poor credit. I should probably be calling employers as a check. A person with a short employment history should probably be cut.

I picked a guy that appeared to be a good candidate. He appeared to make good money for the place he was starting up with. He mentioned his credit wasn't great due to a divorce, which I could understand to a point. I'd say his demeanor won me over with a lot of it, and his management background with a good paying job. I made sure to tell him the monthly rate and what utilities ran. He seemed to have no problem with it. On the day we were signing the lease he mentioned that he had to borrow money from his boss. BIG red flag. I wasn't sure if I could stop the process at the moment so chose to look past it. Partly because his earning should make the payments work out and felt I was already committed to the guy. I had already told him he could rent before I knew about his current money situation. I'm wondering how to avoid this the next time.

All Utilities were quickly changed into his name, which I was very impressed with his promptness. First prorated month paid for. Deposit paid for. Beginning of first full month, nothing. I started calling with no responses. Then got a call about 1-2 weeks in. His boss had been putting him up in a hotel in another town that they needed him to manage. He stated that his boss was going to cover any cost to get out of the lease so he could move. I said I needed to see something soon since the month hadn't been paid for. I wrote up a termination of lease agreement stating when I needed the late payment to wave late fees and a 30 day written or emailed notice to vacate. I got a little nervous about what I had wrote up thinking it might not be legal, but felt it was very fair. Nothing came out of it and I decided to see an attourney. The cost to evict him was a lot and I really wanted to avoid it.

I kept calling and would drive by to figure out what was going on. He was never at the place when I drove by. He never answered his phone but texted a few times. 3 weeks into the month he wondered if I had a check yet, and that he would be out within a week or so. I haven't seen a check as of yet. After a few days went by I told him there hadn't been a check and wanted to know if his boss was truly going to send one. He said his boss planned to and would call me to work out details. I also asked when he would be out so I could get another tenant lined up, but he didn't respond to this.

End of the month I'm ready to start taking serious action to evict and figure out how to reclaim cost. I get a 3 day notice to quit ready and forgot it before going to the civil dept. I stopped there anyways to visit with them. They said to post a 24hr notice to inspect to check the place out. So on my way home I was going to drop a notice off. I figured he wouldn't be there like normal and plan to go in the next day. When I stopped to drop it off I decided to see if the door was even locked after knocking. It was unlocked so I peeked in and everything was gone. Keys left on the counter. I talked to my old neighbor and she said he moved his stuff out last weekend.

I had called him 2 days prior to knowing that he moved his stuff out. Of course he didn't answer. I told him its been a full month without payment or a call from his boss or anything. I said I felt I was getting the run around and that he is leaving me with no choice, but to evict him. Still no reply.

What a stressful month! I'm happy he isn't in there! But, am I done? I haven't heard from him yet and I'm wondering if I should still serve the 3 day notice to quit and have something documented? The place was left in good condition and I plan to start cleaning it up more this weekend and mowing the lawn. I thought about texting him and asking if he has left the place for good to get confirmation/documentation. The deposit will cover the month of rent lost, but I'll lose money until I get someone else in there. It's been an experience and I'm that much smarter for the next time around.