All Forum Posts by: Cindy Joseph

@Cindy Joseph if you had hired us and this person contacted us for your property we would not approve them. We require a 3x rent in verifiable income regardless of money in the bank.

They could have a loan that needs to be paid off in 60 days and then the $100k is $1k, and now they can't afford rent. 

Some companies will do 2.5x in rent, but I personally do not find that is enough, because we are not doing debt to income, we're just looking at their income. So it's not the same as bank which might do 2-2.5x once debt payments are factored in. 

Also, we require a 620+ minimum credit score for all applicants, and anyone 18+ must apply. Then we also look at background checks, and criminal history, and request a prior rental reference.

You should not charge for a pet that is considered a support or service animal. There is a company called petscreening.com you can use that is free for you. The applicant with esa/support animals pays nothing to sign up and petscreening will verify that they are properly registered as such and that they are not trying to claim that they are and save money on potential extra pet fees/rent. 

Yes the market is slower right now, we manage a portfolio of single-family homes in palm coast and palm bay, but we're seeing homes lease up in 2-5 weeks when priced for the market depending upon the market and condition and such. 

Trust me, an extra couple of weeks of vacancy to find the right person is much cheaper in the long run than missed rent and eviction costs; and that doesn't even include the extra stress and anxiety from it. 

Based just on income and rent, he can't afford the unit long term, and he likely knows that. My guess is he's having a hard time finding a place and using the cash in the bank and the upfront rent to get anything he can right now. 

Taking the rent upfront can be an issue. It's not a tax issue as you don't earn that money until the rent is due each month. You shouldn't put it all in your account day one. You or tenant need to have an escrow account set up that pays you monthly. It can become a problem if you need to evict them. 

There is no such thing as a non-refundable deposit. A deposit is refundable if conditions are met (no damage). The word you're looking for is "fee" if you want to keep the money no matter what.  Personally, I'd not charge anything for the cat. You can't charge for the service animal dog and the cat could easily become an ESA. 

People here will tell you to follow your standard rental qualifications no matter what. And that is good advice. They either do or don't qualify. Having said that, there is no problem having SMART compassion and taking safety measures (15 months rent in an escrow account). 

Because I'm in California and evictions are a nightmare and all laws are anti-landlord, no way do I rent to this person. Since you're in Florida and the laws are much more fair, I'd be willing to take a chance if his background/credit check came in clean. 

Hi @Cindy Joseph I can be a resource for both. I am an agent and investor in the Orlando market and have a few resources for insurance. PM me and I can send some recs.

Best of luck!

Hi Cindy, I have a great agent for insurance, feel free to reach out and I'll send you her contact. 

John

 That is a question for your agent - in Ohio the answer would be yes but you would also need a Renters policy for yourself to protect your personal property and personal liability. Your tenant would also need their own renters policy to protect their personal property and their personal liability. 

It can seem confusing so examples help.

Example 1

Tenant has a guest over who falls down the stairs due to no fault of the tenant - you will be sued as the property owner and a landlord policy provides coverage for this risk. (A properly endorsed homeowners policy may also work but talk to your agent)

Example 2

Tenant's dog bites someone on or OFF the property - if the tenant has their own renters insurance policy, and the policy does not have an exclusion for dog bite or exclusion for the dog's breed then the tenant's renters policy should be in first place in the lawsuit. However you will probably still get a letter naming you to the lawsuit while they sort out the claim thru the tenant's renters policy. 

If the tenant does NOT have a renters policy then your (landlord or homeonwer) policy is going to be in first place and get to pay for the damages caused by the tenants dog. I have seen landlords get named in dog bite lawsuits even if the tenant and dog were off premises. 

Example 3 

A large storm comes along and damages the building and secondarily damages both your personal property and the tenants personal property inside both units. 

The landlord policy will pay for damage to the building.

Your renters policy would pay for damage to your personal property.

The renters policy pays for damage to the tenants property.

I hope that helps - talk to your agent and if they seem confused print this out and show it to them (and maybe get a different agent lol)

In Ohio there are two ways to do this (talk to your Florida agent about this).

1. Insure the entire property on a landlord policy then also obtain a renters insurance policy for yourself to cover your personal property and personal liability. (Your tenant should also have their own renters insurance for the same reasons)

2. Some (not all) homeowners policies can be endorsed for a 2 up to 4 family set up where you rent out the other unit(s). You want to verify in writing if possible that the policy covers liability risks related to the tenant. Many policies have exclusions for running a business on the property and to me a very strict interpretation of that is renting out a unit. Same as above the tenant still needs their own renters insurance policy to cover their property and their liability. 

I highly recommend having a thorough conversation with your agent,  give them the above two scenarios in case they are not familiar with investors, and asking lots of "what if" questions. 

If you are allowing dogs - make sure the tenant's renters policy does not have exclusions for dog bite and/or dog breed. 

I saw one recently that stated vaguely that if the breed is banned or restricted by "any" municipality than it was excluded. The carrier rep was stating they don't exclude pit bulls (why is it always pitties?). I pointed out the language in the policy and the carrier rep still said it would be covered but would not put that in writing so the tenant had to find a different carrier.