Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2019 · 139 posts · 54 votes
Hi All.
Hope your holidays going well.
I have International students as tenants in my property. Of course they have no credit score or any but have bank checking account.
They want to open an account for the Internet service but they couldn’t because they dont have social numbers.
They asked me to open an account for them with their cards as monthly autowithdrawal.
They confirmed with Frontier and month to month service is available for them and the area. What kind of potential issues are there down the road, and how do I prevent any negative result from opening an account with my name and social number?
I could immediately think of additional security deposit to cover any unpaid service and cancel the account but what else do you suggest? Thank you all
Rental Property Investor · Wrentham, MA · Member since 2019 · 137 posts · 104 votes
6y
I don't think it's the worst problem you could have. Xfinity has the ability to turn off the service via an app. See if Frontier has something like that. I would include the payment with your monthly rent. Adding more to your security deposit helps but in the end not sure if it's that big of a help.
Rental Property Investor · Wrentham, MA · Member since 2019 · 137 posts · 104 votes
6y
I don't think it's the worst problem you could have. Xfinity has the ability to turn off the service via an app. See if Frontier has something like that. I would include the payment with your monthly rent. Adding more to your security deposit helps but in the end not sure if it's that big of a help.
Property Manager · Champaign, IL · Member since 2019 · 19 posts · 12 votes
6y
@Jay Yoo
It’s a good idea to add internet when leasing student accommodations in general. My recommendation would be adding an internet usage addendum to your lease stating that you will cover internet in return for the additional fee frontier will charge as an addition to the rent. Check your state laws to see what can be done in recourse if they do not pay that fee, but being in student housing management myself I am sure they would rather pay you than try to fight a utility company.
Specialist · Earth 2.0 · Member since 2019 · 598 posts · 271 votes
6y
I would put the internet in the name landlord either LLC or your name. Then advise there will be a surcharge. So maybe you get the internet for $50 a month you could charge $55 a month. If you already have a lease with these tenants speak to your attorney as will need to do an amendment to the lease for this charge.
Specialist · Earth 2.0 · Member since 2019 · 598 posts · 271 votes
6y
I have found International students to be Great! They want to study hard, create a bright future for themselves, but be patient with them as learning the process at the same time. W
Developer · New Brunswick, NJ · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y
Oof, putting utilities on the landlord just makes for more headaches. They wind up reaching out to you when the Wifi becomes spotty, or even worse if it goes off. We recommend to our property management clients that they avoid doing that at all costs, it limits your headaches if it's on them.
Investor · Broward County, FL · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 938 votes
6y
They should be able to open their own account even without a social security number.
Most call takers are not aware of the option but by calling a few times to talk to a different operator there are different ways that most internet provider companies are dealing with it:
They can request prepaid payment instead of post payed.
They can ask for a security deposit.
On the other hand if you have students that are here for short time, you can provide the internet as a utility service and include it in the rental price.
In one of my property I do provide internet and charge my tenants for it. I am not really making any money on it, but I needed the internet access for my video surveillance cameras. I installed a good router/firewall with a few WI-FI AP and I segregated each tenant to its own subnetwork so I can ensure a throttling policy to keep all users happy. I could also choose later to offer different bandwidth option for a premium.
The only problem I haven’t faced yet is the illegal use of internet by a tenant. I should probably install a logging capacity in my router to pass the liability down to the right party.