All Forum Posts by: Arvand Sabetian

You'll want to file a claim with your insurance provider. They may or may not cover depending on the situation, but the earlier you file the better. You want to make sure they're involved early on in the process.

Depending on the state you could also be liable for anything that happens to the squatters while on your property. For example, if squatters or trespassers are injured on your property, they could file a claim against you. You'll want to protect yourself from a potential personal injury suit.

Lastly, you'll want to get the eviction process started with the courts. 

If there's missing rent based off the 10% I'd request a breakdown of everything. Usually, this would be in the form of a rent roll and contains everything related to your property related to vacancy, rent collected, expenses, fees, etc.

Since I'll be taking over in the middle of the tenant’s lease, what actions do I need to take with the previous property manager?

Depending on your situation, you may want to consider having the tenants sign a new lease. Before taking any action, make sure to request all pertinent info on your existing tenants. The property manager should provide a copy of the existing lease agreement, rent roll, other related documents, and notify the tenants of a change in management.

You should also be aware of any specifics outlined in the lease for your tenant's situation (e.g., pets).

How should the contract be handled moving forward?

You will want to consider having the tenants sign a new lease agreement if you believe that's necessary based on the existing lease agreement.

If you're referring to your agreement with the property manager, make sure there's no additional costs or hidden fees.

What is the best way to officially inform the tenant about the management change?

Phone call with email follow up or email so there's a paper trail. You'll also want to make sure the tenants know where they will be paying or sending rent to moving forward once the change has been made.

Do I need to draft a new lease with the tenant, or can I continue with the existing one?

You can continue with your existing one, but may want to consider having a new one drafted.

How should the security deposit be managed in this transition?

The property manager should transfer those funds to you. Those funds should be held in a separate account.

What specific responsibilities does the previous manager have to ensure a smooth handover?

They should notify the existing tenants and let the know to expect contact to be made by you.

Lastly, would it be better to introduce myself to the tenant as the owner, or as the new property manager?

As the owner or landlord you may be able to build a more personal connection with the tenants. In some cases, anonymity is healthy, but this depends on your preference.

Depends on your budget and location. Anywhere off the Beltline is going to be inflated. Think Historic Grant Park (Pratt Stacks comes to mind). Lots of homes around that area, but you're going to pay a premium. There's a lot of new developments in many areas to consider.

If you're considering areas that are a bit further out from Downtown or Midtown such as Marietta, Brookhaven, Sandy Springs, Doraville, Decatur, Duluth, you may be able to find reasonably priced homes.

I'd recommend reaching out to their support to investigate (e.g., login history). If they confirm that it's an isolated event, I'd also recommend enabling multi-factor authentication on your account moving forward.

You can always request income verification, pay stubs and bank statements, if they're willing to provide it.

Replacing small items such as those can often times build trust and keep your tenants happy. As @Peter Tverdov mentioned, you'll usually see that tenants don't replace these things. Out of sight out of mind.

If these were items you wanted to pass the cost down to the tenants--light bulbs, air filters, water filters, batteries etc. those should be defined in the lease agreement.

@Angel Peng you may want to consider registering an LLC to protect yourself from liability. However, as others suggested, you may want to also consider hiring a property manager.

Should you go the route of registering an LLC you could always choose to use a registered agent for anonymity on the LLC. Hope this helps! 

Wow! Could have been much worse. 

Welcome Ben! Tampa is a strong location for rental properties. My company Ziprent manages a few properties in the area for landlords with similar portfolios. Wishing you continued success! 

Welcome Dillon! It's a noble cause to want to build wealth for your budding family. I'm rooting for your success.