All Forum Posts by: Amanda Paugas

Hi Sarah, I personally haven't had any issues with a tenant breaking the lease early. Either they're a poor tenant and you'd be happy to see them go (cut your losses and be thankful you didn't have to spend money on an eviction) or they've been a good tenant and you're doing something nice for them. I'm actually going through this now, with tenants that had 3 months left on their lease. They are a young couple who asked me first if I'd allow them to break the lease if they were able to find a house they could buy. They have 2 young kids and are renting a 2 bedroom condo from me. They have never been late on rent, haven't called me for any repairs in the last 2 years and they had given me more than 30 days notice. So I'm happily letting them out early with their full security deposit (unit only needed minor repairs) and a congratulatory gift card to Home Depot! With that being said however, you need to make sure that letting someone out early isn't going to put you in a financial bind.  People sign leases for a reason and they need to know what the consequences are if they decide to break it. If your relationship with the tenant isn't so good, I would consult your attorney about enforcing the lease. Some states have very strict laws when it comes to landlords keeping rent, security, etc after early lease termination and you don't want to find yourself in court. Then you'll be wishing you just let them out early, lol!

Hi Mark, I always give a minimum of 24hrs notice before entering a unit, preferably 48. You could do a phone call, but the problem with that is you don’t have a ‘paper trail’ to prove that you gave notice. I like to either text the tenant (or have PM do it) so there is a back and forth dialogue showing they understand you’ll be entering the unit. My understanding for entering the yard is that it a common area and you do not have to give notice before entering. 

I believe BP has some documents you can use, although I have not used them. Never hurts to have your lawyer look things over to make sure you’re not violating any landlord/tenant laws, especially if your state has specifics that a general contract may not cover. 

As far as going up to the second unit, you don’t have to give the other unit notice, but it’s good common courtesy just to let them know that you’ll be doing some repairs and that contractors may be going in and out. You don’t want the other tenants calling the police thinking someone is breaking in!

Best of luck!

Hello BP members! I am looking to purchase and flip a REO, but the bank (WF) is requiring that it be owner occupied for at least a year. I am not looking to move myself, so does anyone know if there is a way around this stipulation? Thanks!

Thanks everyone for your input. I have already given the money back and explained that the decision was based on the current eviction for non payment of rent. 

Thank you! The only reason to keep the fee would be to fully complete the application process. I guess I’m under no obligation to do that if I determine that she’s not a candidate based on the recent eviction. I haven’t gotten the money yet anyway as it’s being held by her agent, so I will make sure she returns it. With all of the laws now, I just wanted to be sure I wasn’t violating anything! Thanks again for the input!

Just want to be sure I’m crystal clear on this and not violating any laws.... I just received an application where the tenant was given a notice to quit for non payment of rent. She also scribbled put her annual income to make it exactly 2.5 times the rental amount. I found the eviction in 2 minutes on the state judicial website, so I know I’m not renting to her. I haven’t done the credit check yet, but don’t feel it’s needed at this point. She did give the $25 money order for the credit check fee, which I guess I’ll keep? I always feel funny about keeping that money when I know I’m not going to run the credit/background check. Does anyone else give the fee back? Any other steps I should take before I say no to this tenant? Thank you BP followers!

Yes, but we just did a refi 2 years ago, so there is minimal equity left at this point. 

I have 3 rental properties with approximately 100-115K of equity combined. I currently have conventional 30 year mortgages on all of them, so some of that equity is the 25% down that was originally required. I have no cash on hand and my 401k was used to purchase one of the properties. Is there a way to use the equity in these rental properties to buy additional units? Thanks!