All Forum Posts by: Bob H.

The tenant has made unreasonable complaints about dust, carbon dioxide and dryer exhaust. I agree with @Derek DeGuire that it would be good to get rid of this tenant. Short of that, you should not feel obligated to respond promptly to every minor issue. Maybe not for my tenants, but for this tenant I like the idea mentioned in another discussion here of making maintenance $100 deductible. If the tenant had to incur a cost, a lot of this would go away. I don't think your rent, even if considered high end for your area, gives the tenant permission to be unreasonable.

I assume you hold a security deposit and have some contract language that says you will deduct from the security deposit for things that are not left as clean as they were when the tenant moved in. If you intend to require that the place be clean when the tenant moves out, with the possibility of cleaning deductions if it's not clean enough, then you have two options:

1. Require the tenant to do the move-in cleaning to a standard that you expect when the tenant moves out, so then you can deduct from the deposit if the place is not left as clean as it was when the tenant began post-cleaning occupancy. Do a "move-in" post-cleaning inspection with the tenant so you can agree on the starting condition of the house.

2. If you don't intend to require the tenant to clean much as a condition of early occupancy, then in some other way you have to define the acceptable move-out condition. Otherwise the tenant can leave it as dirty as it was when the tenant moved in, but then you get nothing in return for allowing the early occupancy.

You could ask for income-tax records. Then, if she has been hiding the tip income from the government and her income appears too low to qualify for a rental, she knows whom to blame.

Call the police yourself to verify this story.

Wow. I don't know those Eastern and Northern markets, but I find it amazing that by 2015 utility metering has not been adjusted everywhere so the cost goes directly to the people who use the utilities. Anything else is like much of medical insurance, in which costs are hidden and those consuming services don't have an incentive to ask about prices and limit their consumption. We know how well that is working out.

If I accept one tenant before running a screening report on a second tenant, I refund the second tenant's application fee. Also, if I look at an application and decide the tenant can't afford the rent or there is some other problem before I run the screening report, then I refund the application fee. There's no guarantee of first come, first served, and there's no guarantee that an application fee, once paid, will be refunded. I just try to pick the best tenant available within a reasonable time and charge others only when screening them costs me money.

Definitely get landlord accounts if you can to prevent service from being shut off between tenants. You always need utilities for cleaning between tenants.

Typically, utilities charge a much higher fee to restore service after a shutoff than they do to switch service from a tenant's name to yours, which may be free, and then from your name to the new tenant's name.

One further thing I've done: The gas utility charges $19 to switch service from the old tenant to my account and another $19 to switch to the new tenant. If I have only two or three days of vacancy, I offer the new tenant $10 off the rent to take the service on the date the old tenant discontinues it. Then I'm ahead a little and the new tenant is, too.

I fully sympathize with your wish to avoid unnecessary vacancy. I always show a house when the departing tenants still are there, and I've been burned only once. Those tenants were such poor housekeepers that the condition turned off everybody who saw the house, although the eventual new tenants did come back for another look when it was vacant.

I usually have reasonable tenants, and if they have nice furnishings the house may look better than it does vacant. (I realize your current tenants won't have anything nice, though.)

Others here can give advice about preparing for eviction, but you have a security deposit, right? The threat of losing that is the incentive for tenants to have the place in reasonable shape for you to show it.

Remind them that you have the deposit and let them know that, if they don't have the house clean and easy for you to show to prospects, you will charge them for every little thing that is not immaculate and working when they leave, assuming it was clean and working when they moved in. Indicate that if they are willing to work with you, you'll be more lenient about the deposit.

My guess is that these losers won't understand that and have mentally written off the deposit already, but maybe it's worth a try.

In Pearland people might be running the AC nine months of the year, but I'm sure you have a few nice days when it would be good to open the windows without letting bugs in. :)

I think it's a reasonable request. It's easy to build the screens from frame kits if you're handy. If not, it couldn't cost that much to have someone help you out. As a compromise, you could ask her about the three or four windows that are most important, and provide screens for those. Most people would not open every window in the house.

It's a very rough guideline. Regardless of dependents, someone who bought a fancy car and is making big payments on it and has huge student loans is a greater risk than someone who paid cash for an affordable car and doesn't have any debts. Typically on your rental application you would ask about all recurring obligations. The income doesn't necessarily have to be three times the rent plus other payments, but you need to take those into account.