All Forum Posts by: Bob Drew

My tenant in l sent rent payments for August and September in advance (he made the payment on July 26 and the August rent wasn't due until July 31 and September rent isn't due until August 31). Reasons he stated are not rational (something about his bank systems getting hacked and he wanted to get the payment out to me asap) 

He has been a problem tenant in the past threatening to lawyer up on trivial issues. Should I be accepting this rent in advance? His lease ends in February 2022 and I don't plan on renewing it. Please advise.

I usually have a no pet policy. I liked a young couple who saw the house and agreed to be open to them getting a dog as a pet in the future. 

Now they are asking me what dog breed is acceptable. They are willing to work with me. My understanding is that a smaller dog (weight restrictions?) is of lower maintenance and preferred from a landlord perspective. Thoughts on what I should tell them as an acceptable "dog list"?

Also I'll be charging additional pet rent a deposit. How much should I be charging and should I amend the current lease? 

Thanks in advance.

Fred, that's a bummer - Why wouldn't they return your capital in full?

Also what can I legally ask to make sure they can pay their rent. I do screen using smart move and am not sure if it checks this eligibility or not. In addition to smart move, can I ask for paystubs and bank statements?

Anthony - 3 times gross or net income?

Thanks Wayne. I only accept small pets. Since they are not sure what kind of pet they are going to get, I plan on doing a lease with them with a "no pets" clause and revisiting it in 6 months when they get a pet. I can't accept the pet deposit and/or pet rent without knowing the breed/weight of the pet. 

We require all adults in the household to have a minimum of 650 as their credit score. I had a young couple see the house and they are interested in moving forward with the application process. However, the guy says he has a score of 642 due to student loans. He says he has no debt. They also said the lady has a 720+ score. None of these have been verified by me yet. Since we require a 650 minimum, my questions are:

1. Should I accept the application once these scores are verified although one of them doesn't meet our requirements?

2. Should I ask them for their combined gross salary to determine the rent to income ratio? (What's the standard ratio used)

3. I am not sure if they are married or not. Does the relationship change the equation in some way?

4. On a unrelated question, they plan on getting a dog 6 months from now. I mentioned that there will be a pet rent and a deposit based on the breed/weight of the dog (they are not sure what they'll be getting). We didn't discuss numbers. When they get a pet and they are not willing to pay the pet fee, what happens then? Also, is there usually a 12 month renewal from the day they bring in a dog since the lease will need to be amended?

Thanks

As a landlord, I've never rented out to families with pets. My listing says that as well. However I had a family apply to see the house and they mentioned that they have a 20lb pug that's 11 years old. My listing has been up for more than a month and hasn't been getting a lot of traction. I am now considering if it's really such a bad idea to rent it out to this family. They have no kids and it's just the husband, wife and the dog. 

I never had any pets and am not sure what to expect. Is it a good idea to start allowing pets? Are pugs well behaved (they said it's old, blind and just lays on the couch). How much pet fee and/or pet rent do you suggest I charge?

An update. I called the tenant to discuss the items they had emailed. He was more understanding over the phone which surprised me. Not sure why the confrontational tone in the email while on the phone, he was appreciating my efforts.

We agreed to fix some smaller items. I'm going to find out what's going on with the water heater. It appears that they aren't getting hot water after 10 minutes even after waiting for 15-20 minutes later.

I told him that he'll need to understand that the house is not a brand new house and there are items that will be less than perfect. 

They said that they are willing to sign the conditional report after the items are fixed. I checked my lease and didn't see a clause that said that the condition will be "as-is" on the date of the move. I guess it's a lesson learned for me.

Hope they don't misconstrue me fixing the items as me being "too nice" and continue to complain. Only time will tell.

Thanks for the responses. Really valuable advise in this thread.

The tenants moved in last week and I had given them until now to make any objections to the condition report that I had printed out. They have come out with a list that ranges from cosmetic to something that hinders their day to day living.

The list is long and some of them are big ticket items. For example the dishwasher has a loose door but it works. The fan is a little loud but it works.

Am I legally required to agree to fix?