All Forum Posts by: Carolyn Fuller

We live above our short term rental so we usually can greet each of our guests but there are times we are out of town or the guest is arriving at an odd hour. We have a Yale Assure Smart Lock Touchscreen. It allows us to set up 250 guest codes remotely. I can set the code to work for a specific time period. So we can set up a code for a guest to be active just during the time they are scheduled to stay in the apartment. We LOVE it!!!

@Joseph DiNardi-Mack I ran into a similar problem with Zillow. I don't think they are really set up to handle separate unit owners in large condo association buildings.

@Steven Burke: Great article in the Boston Globe today. They go over what fees a Massachusetts landlord can legally charge and what they can't charge:

The City of Boston website tells prospective tenants to “know your rights.” It lists examples of things landlords can’t charge for, including an “application fee” and a “credit check fee.” A handbook on tenants’ rights put out by the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute says the same thing. And a 2014 court ruling explicitly deems illegal a landlord’s attempt to impose any extra charges, whether labeled as “application,” “amenities,” or “community” fees.

@Steven Burke I don't charge application or background check fees so I haven't researched their legality. We got advice from a lawyer on the security deposit. 

At first, we did not collect security deposits because we thought staying within Massachusetts laws, was more complex than it was worth. But one of our rentals is fully furnished with expensive furnishings. We discovered a tenant was leaving the designer wooden end table purchased at Design Within Reach (what a misnomer!) out on the balcony. We decided it was worth requiring a security deposit in the hopes that tenants would think twice before treating our furnishings that way.

The law is not all that difficult to follow. It took me less than 10 minutes to open an escrow account yesterday at TD Bank. This is the bank that the lawyer recommended. It is free and they make it pretty darn easy even though we don't do any other banking with them. They call these accounts Tenant/Landlord accounts. Here is what I had to do to open the account:

1- Had tenant fill out a W9 and send me his birthdate.

2- Gave the tenant a standard receipt when he gave me the security deposit (my name as recipient, amount of security deposit which can not be more than one month's rent, date received, address (aka description) of rental property)

3- Once the security deposit was deposited, I took the W9, copy of the lease and the tenant's birthdate into TD Bank along with my ID. As I said, it took less than 10 minutes for the guy to set up the account. 

4- Fill out and give to the tenant: a Security Deposit Certification which will include the tenant's name, landlord's name, date, premises (address of rental property), lease start date, security deposit amount, name of bank, address for bank, account number, along with the legal blurb about security deposits. I can give you a blank copy of this certification if you can't find it online.

5- When the tenant moves in, give them a statement of condition, detailing the current condition of the apartment. The Massachusetts law is very particular about this document - down to the font size!!! I can also send you a blank statement that has the correct wording and font size of the legal blurb at the top of the form if you can't find it online. The tenant has 15 days to sign the statement with any addendum they wish to add.

6- Schedule a walk-through with the tenant before they move out. 

7- Assuming all went well, close out the escrow account and send the deposit amount plus the interest to the tenant.

For this particular expensively furnished apartment, managing the security deposit is worth it. We have another rental, for which we do not think a security deposit serves any purpose. The furnishings are not all that expensive to replace and we live right above the rental so tenants tend to treat it better. 

The big advice we got from our lawyer was to avoid nickeling-and-diming our tenants. For instance, we make it clear to tenants up front that we don't charge for day-to-day wear and tear, including broken dishes, etc. The security deposit is for irresponsible negligent behavior only. The fact that we require it, will hopefully prevent such negligence. Replacing anything from DWR hurts!

One way to reduce the lag time is to go electronic. I use Cozy.co for both the application process and rent collection. You can also use Cozy.co for background checking. 

Also, I advise looking at other Zillow listings in your area to get a sense of what the market rate is. Being somewhat lower than the average rate in your area can attract good, long term tenants. If your listing is too much lower than market rate, you can find yourself with tenants who feel stuck because they can't afford to move out. That is never a good thing. 

@Sean Walton

What a great resource! The correct URL is airdna.co (notice it is dot co and not dot com).

@Account Closed

No matter what the scenario is, our best path toward a speedy and least painful resolution, is to keep our focus on our ultimate goal. Our righteous indignation might give us a high of sorts but it does little toward achieving the goal. In the case of the scenario above, I would recommend that the boyfriend find out what the local laws are and what rights he does and doesn't have and then move forward accordingly. 

@Jay Hinrichs

off-topic...

"problem with the phone these days is ... too many solicitation calls from random numbers so I now no longer answer the phone unless I know who it is.."

That was me and my cell phone until a few months ago. I got Hiya.app and it labels the tons of SPAM calls I get: spoofing, scam or fraud, robocaller, etc. Now I can answer a call from someone I don't know and 95% of the time it is legit. 4% of the time it is a wrong number and the other 1% is a SPAM call that I report to Hiya. It does not charge a monthly fee which some of these services do.

And yet another vote for Cozy.co. It is free. I have 3 rentals that are rented by the semester or academic year which means my tenants turn over at least every nine months and frequently every 3 or 4 months. None of my tenants have been late in their payments since I started using Cozy.co. I don't have to remember or remind them. Cozy.co encourages the tenants to set up payment schedules which means the rent is automatically deducted from the tenant's account each month. If they choose not to schedule their payments, Cozy.co sends the reminder emails, not me...

What is there not to love?

Also, as the owner of the property, you will be held liable if anything goes south. Generally, if the property is being rented on the short term rental market year-round, it can be considered commercial use by insurance companies and homeowner's insurance will not necessarily cover you.