All Forum Posts by: Susan M.

I just wanted to share my experience with you since this is all new to you.  I've learned that when first listing a property for rent, 99.9% of the people that apply in that first "rush" end up being unacceptable applicants for multitudes of reasons.

I've heard the reasoning for this being that there are those tenants out there, with evictions and bankruptcies and bad credit and felonies and on and on and on, that are just waiting for a new property to pop up so that they have some prayer of convincing a newbie landlord (or any landlord) to take them in. They are hoping to find someone who won't do due diligence and check their background and verify their information.  These people are out there just waiting to pounce on a property the minute it is listed.  This happens to me EVERY time I list a property.  And EVERY time I get all excited at the great response, then after due diligence I remember "this happens every time".

From one landlord to another, my best piece of advice is to weather the storm and wade through this first round very carefully, even if that means turning down every one of them and waiting for a real, qualified, interested applicant to come along.  For me, that usually takes a couple of weeks and at least a round or two of showings, but it's been worth it in the long run to find great, respectful, qualified tenants.

You are correct that you have no way of forcing people to do anything.  All you can do is set expectations and keep an eye on your tenants.  It is not expected that pets are going to pee and poop on your floors and I would advise that you not just accept that behavior just because you accept pets.   We own three dogs and they don't poop or pee in the house because we are responsible pet owners.  Responsible pet owners do not allow nor accept having their pets pee and poop in the house.

You are setting yourself up for a world of hurt if you are just going to accept that pet owners are going to allow their pets to pee and poop on your floors.  You are going to lose a lot of money replacing floors if this is the kind of behavior you expect from your pet-owning tenants. An occasional accident if a pet is ill is one thing, but purposely leaving a pet behind with no option to go to the bathroom other than on your floors is completely unacceptable behavior.

However, we may be jumping the gun here because maybe they have someone coming over after work or something to take care of the dog.  That's why I would text them and ask.  If they don't answer and it seems like they just left the dog alone overnight I would be making a stop by their place in the very near future for an inspection and possible eviction notice if you discover that they have allowed this to happen.  Having pets does not automatically grant you permission to destroy the property by allowing those pets to pee and poop on the floors.

I wouldn't be so worried about the pet being loose in the apartment, I'd be worried about where that pet is going to go to the bathroom between now and when they come back TOMORROW.  That pet is going to pee and poop on your floors!  Unless they have made other arrangements, of course, like someone coming to take care of the dog at some point which is quite possible.

I would probably text my tenants to ask about their plans for the dog, stating that neighbors made you aware of the situation.  If nothing else, maybe you could go let it out  a couple of times to avoid having it ruin your floors.  

Landlord laws in Ohio can be found here:

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/5321

Ohio is a pretty Landlord friendly state so there's not a ton of laws/rules.  There may be city ordinances that you have to follow so you might want to check on that.

I guess I don't know what a "triplex" is, but if they are all separate units you don't need to notify other tenants that you will be in another unit, you only have to notify the occupant(s) of that unit, and you have to give 24 hour notice unless it's an emergency.  There are no laws that I am aware of about how notice is given.  You want to be a good landlord and you want your tenants to feel secure so do your best to notify them, whether that's by phone or email or text or a note on the door or whatever, you want them to know you're coming and you preferably want them to acknowledge your notice.  In your case though where the apartment is empty, no notice is required assuming your tenant has terminated tenancy officially.

You can mow grass whenever you feel like it.  A nice landlord might want to let folks know that you'll be there "every Saturday around noon" or whatever, but it's not necessary.

The suggestion about a local landlord group if you can find one is a good one.  A lease can be difficult, and sometimes local judges can rule differently on lease clauses so it's good to have a local reference if you can find one.  If nothing else, this might be the time to spend a little money with an attorney and have them help you with the official paperwork.

College students with no access to scan/email applications?  Of any group, I would think they would have the most access.  I guess "scanning" can be a bit outdated now though.

I have had applicants take photos of their applications with their smartphones and email them to me.  Every college student has a smartphone now, right?  I also have an online version of my application so no need to fill out anything on paper, it's all electronic.  I would be worried about having a receptacle that holds cash.  What happens when someone claims they put their money in, but you don't get it?

I'm pretty sure released can mean different things, either paid or the person filing the claim rescinded it for some reason.  Regardless, if that were the only blemish and it was from 5-7 years ago, I wouldn't care what it meant, I'd be jumping for joy that I found a qualified tenant.

MySmartMove provides complete credit reports and scores. I use them exclusively and have been very happy with their service, mostly because the tenant can pay them directly and I don't have to deal with having my office inspected in order to run credit and background checks.

That being said, I don't place a lot of weight on credit reports anymore.  Everyone seems to have bad credit to some degree, at least in my tenant pool.  I glance at it and make sure they don't have a ton of very recent debt, but other than that it's just another piece of the puzzle, and a small piece at that.

In your situation I would be more concerned about her income, and if what she's saying is true, I would require bank statements and/or tax returns to prove just how much income she is making from this investment. 

Wow, I never would have expected that outcome!  Good information here nonetheless as I'm sure I will deal with this one day.

I encountered a first for me last night.  Met a nice applicant.  She asked me at the end of our discussion "do you automatically disqualify if I've been treated for bed bugs?".  I asked her to elaborate and she told me that a lot of apartment complexes are automatically disqualifying applicants if they've been living somewhere treated for bed bugs within the last 18 months.  I didn't know what to say to her since I've not even thought of this, and have no experience with it.

This is one of those "rules" that's only as good as your applicant is honest.  I would have no idea she has dealt with bed bugs had she not told me, and there would be no way for me to find out either.

My question is, would you rent to her if she were otherwise qualified?  She said she hasn't seen a bed bug in her place since December.  She lives in a large complex.  I have no idea if she is responsible for bringing the bugs in or if it was just because of the large complex she lives in.  And since I've never thought of this before, any one of my tenants could be bringing bed bugs in with them and I wouldn't have any knowledge of it.  If she hadn't been up front with  me I never would have known about it, so I wouldn't use it against her.  And I don't know if I should now.  If I rent to her I plan to have her sign an addendum stating she was treated for bed bugs on <date> and that my place does not have them and if they are discovered after she moves in she is responsible for paying, but I don't even know how legal that is or if I could enforce it.

Any thoughts?  When I contact her current landlord for a reference I plan to ask about the bed bug situation and ask if it was a "building wide" event or specific to her but I have no idea if they'll answer that question or if it even matters.

Just looking for some opinions or suggestions here since this is a new one for me.

Thanks!

I have everyone do an online "pre-application" so that I'm not wasting my time showing the unit to people that would never, ever qualify.  I ask very basic questions and don't do any checking up on the answers.  Have you ever been evicted, have you filed bankruptcy, do you smoke, how much do you make, etc.  Then they can schedule an appointment to see the unit.  If they're interested then the real application with application fee comes next. 

I don't think I'd be able to get people to pay any money before even seeing the place, but that's my market.  Maybe some markets would support that.