All Forum Posts by: Dana Holland

@Jessie Tetreault

Interesting thought about the key pads, but I thought all of them have a physical lock as well to be used as a backup in case the battery dies in the keypad?  Seems like you would still have a lock to rekey anyway.

I had all the exterior locks rekeyed on the house this morning after tenants moved out.  They were very high-maintenance tenants and things did not end on very good terms so I needed to make sure the locks were rekeyed immediately.  I called a company last week who quoted a $29 service call, then between $15-$29 per lock.  I asked what the difference is between the $15 and the $29 as that is a pretty big range.  I was told that the price varies based on the condition of the lock and type of lock.  I figured some locks are conventional and then there are fancier smart locks (which I don't have), or maybe a really old lock would cost more, but it seemed reasonable to expect the cost to be closer to the $15.  This morning when the guy came to change the locks, he looked at my key and said there are 5 points on it, so it is  a more complex and safer type of lock.  He said that a 3 point lock starts at $15, then they add $10 per point, so $35 per lock.  I told him the owner quoted $29 MAX, so he backed down and charged $29 per lock.  I was not happy still and would have called someone else if it weren't for the urgency of getting the job done.  Now I'm looking at places like Home Depot and am finding entire locks for $15-$20!!  I feel like I got ripped off.  Anyone experienced in locksmith services know if the 5 point vs. 3 point locks are really that much more complex and should cost more??  I'm going to talk to the owner and ask for a refund, but would like some facts to present first.  Thanks!

My tenants are moving out and I sent them a letter informing them of the process for the move out inspection as well as returning their deposit.  I asked for a forwarding address to send the deposit via certified mail.  They don't want to give their new address for whatever reason and are asking me to deposit funds in their bank account instead.  I wanted to do certified mail so that I have proof that it was received.  Will the bank deposit be as safe of a method?

I have my first move out inspection coming up next week.  The tenants have requested to be present which by law in Arizona we have to allow them to be if they request it.  Throughout their lease they have been combative and argumentative and several times have tried to manipulate their way into getting what they want.  A month ago when giving notice they said they want to be present for the final walk through as they expect to get their entire security deposit back.  Last week they told me they had vacated the property and requested a final walk through the following day (20 hours later) which I told them I didn't have time for on such short notice.  I replied telling them the day and time of the inspection and that they are welcome to be present if they want to as it is their right under AZ law.  I also told them that I won't be returning the deposit to them at the move out inspection, or giving any written or verbal confirmation of the amount due back to them as I need to compare before/after photos, get repair quotes if necessary, etc.

My question is, how would you handle a final walk through with a difficult tenant like this?  It seems like a very awkward situation to have them hanging over my shoulder the whole time.  Also if I do see something that isn't as it should be and point it out to them, knowing them it will turn into a heated argument of "it was already like that", or "someone must have done that between the time we vacated and now" and it will be a no win situation. 

Any tips on how to best handle this type of scenario? 

@Kristina Heimstaedt

Thanks for the input!  It is much appreciated! :)

Thanks everyone for your replies! 

@Mike Cumbie, @Kristina Heimstaedt, that is great advice.  I was thinking along those lines, but nice to have some affirmation from people a little more experienced than me!

I was going to tell them that we will continue to provide 24 hour notice for showings, but from now on we won't be asking permission we will just be advising them that people will be entering the property.  We also want new carpet installed so I was going to tell them that will happen with 48 hours notice (required in AZ for landlord to enter property).  I will also tell them that the move out inspection will occur on August 1st.  I know with 99.9% certainty that they will not like this and will argue that they don't want us to be able to access the property after their lease ends but before the inspection.  They are clearly overly paranoid about this.  Should I just tell them, that's just how it is because it's within our rights and they are welcome to take as many pictures/videos as they want before they leave for the last time?

Thanks again for all the help!!

Tenants lease is up on the 31st (next Monday). They have been overly-entitled and argumentative throughout the lease.  We have the home on the market to sell and their lease states that they will allow us to show it when given 24 hour notice.  Throughout this month they have refused to leave the house for any showings and on a few occasions have told us that a showing request wasn't convenient for them as they are packing and moving.  We have been understanding about this and let it slide even though we feel as though they are not holding up their side of the lease.

Now they tell us that they have moved out of the house completely, and they want us to meet today to sign off on the condition of the home.  They gave us less than 24 hours notice about this move out inspection request.  They go on to say that if we don't meet and actually provide a signature affirming the condition of the home, that they won't let us show it for the next week as they cannot come back to the home to check the condition after each showing (as if a prospective buyer might take a sledgehammer to the walls??).  

So what to do?? On one hand we really want to take possession back asap, but this week and the next couple of days in particular are not convenient at all for us.  We would have to really rearrange our schedules to make it happen and even then we could probably meet for 20 minutes and do a quick, non thorough walk through.  If I tell them that we can meet but we won't sign off, I'm sure they will vehemently argue that it is required of us to sign off (I don't think it is).  

Any tips appreciated!  (By the way, in AZ the tenants can be present for the walk through if they request). 

@Corby Goade - Thanks for the response.  Makes sense.  In the event that they leave it in really bad shape where I could reason that it cost me more than $300 to get it clean, do you think I could I take extra out of the deposit?

First time landlords here.  The person who helped us set up the lease put in a non-refundable cleaning deposit of $300.  Since it is non-refundable and the tenants have nothing to expect to get back, does that mean that they can essentially leave the place trashed?  (Not damaged, but filthy).   Or can we expect them to do a basic level of cleaning (refrigerator, stove, bathrooms, etc)?  Having the carpets cleaned and stretched before they moved in was over $300 and we will have them cleaned again once they move out.  What would be reasonable for us to expect from them?

@Kaycee Miller

They didn't directly say why they wanted to be present, but likely they are just doing it to be a pain.  Actually, when the first showing was requested and they stated they would be present for that showing (and all subsequent showings), in the same response they also stated that they had supposedly just found out that they could be out of the house earlier than the agreed move out date if we would be willing to prorate the rent.  The proration would have amounted to about $900 off for them, so we said no way.  This has been their MO throughout: they act like a total pain, then "offer" us something that makes it seem like they are somehow doing us the favor. 

The lease only says that they will allow showings the last 30 days, not that they will leave the property for the showings.  Not sure we could enforce it anyway.  I'm more concerned with the times that they are denying showing requests when given more than 24 hours.  Seems like that is in violation of the lease agreement.  I think this will only continue to get worse as it gets closer to their move out date.  I can see them complaining about frequent showings and it interfering with them moving their stuff out.  Just not sure if there is really anything I can do about it other than the bribing techniques you mentioned.