All Forum Posts by: Alexis Garcia

1. Don't waste time worrying about how much you're losing because that's only cuasing you to lose more. Start looking for a new Tenant and place someone as quickly as possible.

2. You can only hold the departing Tenant liable for lost income. If they left May 1 and you place a new tenant May 20th, then you can hold them responsible for 20 days of lost rent, not the entire three months.

3. Once you determine the amount lost, try to contact them and bill them. If you can't reach them, then the next step is to (a) sue them (hard to do with no address), (b) send them to collections, or (c) write it off.

You are unlikely to find them or squeeze anything out of them, so I would focus on filling the unit and writing it off. In the future, consider a hefty deposit to cover your losses in situations like this.

Thank you, Nathan! Really appreciate your input as this is my first experience dealing with this situation. Will learn from it and keep moving forward.

1 Vote

Dallas, Texas

Quote from @Michele Fischer:

Agree, this is to be expected.

If they left belongings, research the law in your area about storing them and try to get them to agree that you can dispose of the items.

Stop trying to enforce the lease, you likely won't get any further compensation. Do the deposit itemization according to your local laws, withhold a lease breakage fee or lost prorated rent until you get it rerented. Move on, put your energy into finding a better replacement tenant.

Thank you, Michele! Yes, I will learn from this and try to move forward from here.

0 Votes

Dallas, Texas

Quote from @Melanie Thomas:

Hi Alexis,

I'm sorry to learn about your current predicament. However, please take comfort in knowing that such challenges are part of property management, and this likely won't be the last time you encounter such a situation. Great real life lesson here! It's crucial to document all your efforts to contact the tenant. You should consider conducting an occupancy check for record-keeping purposes and deem the property as abandoned, if your lease allows for that.

In terms of credit reporting, I work directly with Transunion to keep track of both responsible and less conscientious tenants. Although you might not recoup the owed amount immediately, tenants will eventually need to maintain their credit and might reach out to settle their debts. On the plus side, you can take some relief in the fact that they've vacated the property, sparing you the hassle of eviction proceedings. Good luck & happy investing!

Thanks so much for your input here. I can assure you that I will learn from this experience and move forward. I guess sometimes you just have to learn the hard way, unfortunately.

0 Votes

Dallas, Texas

I am currently house hacking a single family home and had a signed lease agreement with a tenant. The tenant had been staying in my house for a few months now. But, I recently found out that he just got up and left months before his lease term ended. He left behind the keys and took some of his personal belongings with him. I've tried to communicate with him as he still has 3 months left per the signed lease agreement, but no answer.

What approach should I take here since I am now missing out on 3 month's worth of rent that I was expecting according to our lease agreement? Is there any way that I can report this to the credit bureaus and have this broken lease shown on his credit history? Any way I can enforce the lease so he pays me back the rest of the lease term?

Any and all thoughts on how to handle would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

0 Votes

Dallas, Texas

Quote from @Richard F.:

Aloha,

Of course it depends on what local law allows/requires, but drafting something from scratch is a lot of extra work. We typically use a standard (Board of Realtors) Rental Agreement, although for the "premises" we insert "1234 Main Street, Room 4", and identify it as single room in the shared house/apartment as appropriate. You do need to place a number decal on each room entry. Then you have your separate addendum of "House Rules" which spell out what exactly are common elements (Kitchen, Hallway, Bathroom 1, Back Porch, Laundry Facilities) and any specific restrictions regarding use of each (no laundry between 10 PM - 8 AM; clean your dishes before leaving the kitchen area; no storage outside of your personal room; no pets; electrical usage restrictions in the room if any; quiet hours 10 PM - 8AM daily; etc.). Be sure to include yard and parking rules as applicable, including numbering and specifying parking stalls where possible, and Guest parking rules.

This is great! Some of these items I did not even think about so I like how detailed you were here. Definitely have some things to consider on my end. Thank you!

0 Votes

Arlington, Texas

Quote from @Ryan Thomson:

@Alexis Garcia find one that is a bedroom lease with common areas shared. I have on for Colorado. You could look at that and see if it works.

That would be greatly appreciated if you don't mind me taking a look at it and going from there. I'll reach out to you directly.

1 Vote

Arlington, Texas

Quote from @Hamp Lee III:

There's a couple ways to go about it:

1. Rocket Lawyer or UpCounsel. You can go to these sites to help you draft a lease agreement specific to you. I've recently used UpCounsel to review a corporate lease agreement I purchased to ensure it covers everything I need.

2. Purchase one. Places like Etsy or even Fiverr will have vendors providing the documents or their services.

3. UpCounsel. I would tell you to ensure you have a lawyer quickly review the document. Though you might spend a couple hundred dollars as it's cheaper for them to review a document than create one, you'll know you're covered legally.

I hope this helps.

I wish you all the best.

Thank you for the pointers! I have at least heard about Rocket Lawyer as I've come across it multiple times online. I will look into all of these and go from there. Much appreciated!

0 Votes

Arlington, Texas

Hi all! I just started my house hacking journey with the purchase of my first property - 4 bed/2 bath. I am going to be living in one of the bedrooms and renting out the others. Excited but nerve wrecking at the same time. One of the main concerns that I have is regarding the use of an appropriate lease agreement with each of my tenants that I'll be having. I've seen the Texas standard lease agreement for a landlord/tenant relationship, but it does not really fit my house hacking situation since I'll be renting out a portion of my home and not the entire property.

Any recommendations on house hacking specific lease agreements that I could apply with each of my tenants? How did you find a lease agreement that best suits your needs? I understand that BiggerPockets has some available leases for use for Pro members, but not sure if those available are house hacking friendly leases as well?

Would love to hear thoughts from those who are currently or have previously been in my shoes. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated as I am still a newbie to the house hacking venture. Thanks!

1 Vote

Arlington, Texas

@Kenneth McKeown I will definitely keep that in mind. Thanks for all the advice you're sharing with me.

0 Votes

@Kenneth McKeown That is great advice! I think I am leaning more towards the SFH to start off with and later work my way up to a duplex/triplex once I got my foot in the door.

0 Votes

All Forum Posts by: Alexis Garcia

Alexis Garcia has started 3 posts and replied 12 times.

Post: Tenant Moved out Prior to Lease End Date

Post: Tenant Moved out Prior to Lease End Date

Post: Tenant Moved out Prior to Lease End Date

Post: Tenant Moved out Prior to Lease End Date

Post: House Hacking Lease Agreements

Post: House Hacking Lease Agreements

Post: House Hacking Lease Agreements

Post: House Hacking Lease Agreements

Post: Newbie Looking Forward to Begin My Real Estate Investor Journey

Post: Newbie Looking Forward to Begin My Real Estate Investor Journey