All Forum Posts by: Daniel Okeefe

Totally agree.. The lease i have been using doesn't have a penalty clause for breaking lease unfortunately.. Will be adding that in for sure..  Thanks for the advice. He paid me for the month in full at least and is leaving as i write this.. He has someone clearing it out and is mostly vacated now leaving pretty clean actually.. so all good i guess, just have to start the screening process and hope to fill for Nov 1st.

Thanks again

Thanks for the feedback. Agree with your advise, should not have let him stay on as tenant the way he did. He either purposely took advantage or he is unstable in some manner. either way want him out now.. Thanks

Hi BP members,

I have a 4 year tenant that has be fine, no problems and always paid on time. However, lol, in this last year of the lease he asked if he could get out of lease 4 months early because of financial reasons (IE: job restricted his hours wasn't making the money he used to). So i said no problem and he gave me 60 days. I lined some prospective new tenants kind of took my time, was picky, didn't find the right tenant yet, plus I had to get in there and paint/repair etc  but towards the end of the 60 days I was showing the place to some i thought was gonna fit and lo and behold the tenant calls me the day he suppose to be moved out and told me he changed his mind, going thru personal stuff and wanted to stay. I was confused as why he decided the last day he had to stay , he was mostly moved out , then he got very emotional but didn't offer any specific details.. so he paid that day in cash with slight increase of rent and had him sign a 1 year lease. All good until today, (2 weeks after signing new lease,)  he calls me and says he miscalculated his expenses, thought he could afford it but now he cant ect ect. He asked if he could get out of lease, I was a bit furious and told him he would have to find a way to stay 2-3 months, so I would have time to figure this all out and start the new tenant process again. We  just went through hurricane Milton and I have a lot on my plate.. BUT now i am thinking i should just tell him to get his belongings out by next week and move on..  Any one experience this kind of behavior with tenant and should i just let him go ?

Thanks for any input. 

Dan

Thanks for the feedback.. I realized after my post that she left the drivers license # field empty and when asked to supply a photo ID so we can verify spelling of name for the credit check rerun etc.. and get license # from her as well.. he took all day to respond and left message said she found another place and no longer interested.. Maybe I am paranoid but maybe dodge a problem to.. Thanks for responding and feedback

Dan 

Hi members.  was wondering if anyone had this experience or insight on credit history.

Met with a potential tenant for a class B-C type apartment I own and interview went very well, she asked a lot of questions about the unit and how things were run and who to call for utilities and Etc etc.. Almost to many questions really, but that's fine and viewed that as a positive. She was well organized as well ( almost to much so really ? ) any ways , she gladly paid the app fee, filled it out on the site, had paystubs ( she is in the service industry) makes enough money no problem. She had on demand PDF's of her last years tax return, bank statements and CC statements. She stated upon approval of application and back ground checks she would pay me the SD with money order the next day. All great, however, when we ran her background/credit check through Tenant Check LLC it came back No criminal, No eviction, No SO records but it literary shows ZERO credit.. no CC, no car payments , no nothing. She has supplied her CC statements , car payment statements all with her name on them and all current.. I am a little perplexed and feel a little red flag about her having all this information very well organized and immediately available, which seemed weird to me. The applicant is young ( 24) but looks completely presentable, obviously organized, nice car buy why ZERO

credit through transunion ?   Do these agencies ever make a mistake ? All financial papers she is sending me has her name on them exclusively  and she states that her previous apartments, CC, car payment are and all were in her name , no co-signors.. Her employer says she works very hard and is a great employee.

Thanks for any POV and what am i missing ?

Dan Okeefe

Thanks everyone for the advice & input and @James Hamling , that's exactly what i wanted to ask and get feedback on, i want to attract the best tenant possible and you opened up my mind about the MTM strategy and in the end like I said,  i am more comfortable with the year lease and will focus more on the Risk exposure , do the best screening i can do and get someone looking for more of a home that will care for the property that wants to stay !  thanks again  

Hi BP family,  Does anyone start off a new tenant with a MTM term or maybe a 3-6 month lease before committing  to a full year lease ? In an effort to make sure  you are happy with the tenant and is a good fit ?  I Have a  vacancy coming up and we are new at the screening process so was thinking a short term start with someone that passes the basic checks IE ( income, criminal, evictions etc. )  would be a good idea but didn't know if that may effect the quality of tenants I have apply for the apartment. As a landlord I like the comfort of a yearly lease but wondering if a shorter "trail" period would be wise and if other LL would prescribe to this approach. 

Any feedback or experience is greatly apricated !

wow.. thank you everyone. Sometimes it hard not to get involved in peoples troubles and then you end up down a rabbits hole. 

Great perspective from all, thank you.  Especially Wesley and Matt who i think i needed to hear and nailed it on the head. tenant threw a lot of stuff at me 

and need to step back and as the saying goes. it is what it is. and their personal issues are not my job, place or responsibility to try and cure. 

Thanks again. i do love this BP site !!   

Hi BP.  I don't post a whole lot but find the BP forums to be very informative so just looking for feedback or advice. Long story short, decided to not renew a 2.5 year tenant that paid the rent,

kept pretty much to himself but doesn't keep the unit in great shape in my opinion. He is very difficult when it comes to communications and very difficult to coordinate workers. So thought we not renew and get apartment rehabbed and up the rent which is currently $200 below +/-.  Before mailing notice i sent a friendly email ( 90 day notice ) outlining the non renewal ( did not give reason ) just non renewal. Well, he didn't take that very well and demanding reason. wrote a very lengthy respond basically calling me out as an ethically challenged slumlord and he is probably going to die in the streets and have to have his cats killed, live in his van, i could go on and on. health, financial issues, which i do somewhat believe just not to the extent he claims. So i plan on allowing him to stay as a MTM for 7 months with a small increase in rent and give him more than ample time knowing the rental market in FL is bad.  Sorry ended up being long story.  Anyways i attached a copy of what i intend to send to him certified mail and not addressing any of his claims against me ( there were many more ) I.E. claiming i am intentionally destroying his life ( his words) .  Does my response sound to wordy ? I want to be kind and have empathy for him if in fact he is in a dire situation and may have some mental health issues.. I want to be clear, direct and show empathy but do not want to renew especially after his emails.

SEE BELOW

NOTICE OF NON-RENEWAL OF LEASE

Date: 08/12/2022

To tenant:

XXXXXXXXXXX,

This letter is notice to you that your current lease/rental agreement for the premise located at XXXXXXXXXXX St, XXXXXXX FL, unit X will expire at midnight on 10/31/2022 and will not be renewed.

Our records show you have a security deposit in the amount of $1150.00 and a last month’s credit of $1150.00. Last month’s credit will be applied against the last month of residency.

All refunds due to you after deducting for any repairs / unpaid rent / any unreasonable cleaning conditions ( if applicable ) will be sent to your new address either with-in 15 days

( no claims against security ) or 30 days (claim against security) after you vacate and turn over property to us, as required by Florida law.

Please notify us of your forwarding address when known so that any refundable security deposit can be mailed to you.

NOTE: Per our e-mail correspondence on 08/05/2022 with Tenant XXXXXXXX, do to his stated extreme hardships, we agree to allow XXXXX to rent on a month-to-month term and extend him the courtesy to stay through May 2023. At that time, we require the unit to be vacated and available to us on June 1st. The amount of rent is set @ $XXXXX per month starting November 1st and remain for duration of period assuming tenant remains current and in good stature. No penalty for early return of unit/property.

This is NOT an eviction of any kind and should not be construed in any other way except owner taking control/ownership of unit. This is a simple Non renew of a contract.

We do thank you for your tenancy the last 21/2 years and keep us informed of any early departure before May 31st.

Sincerely,

_____________________________

landlord

Contact xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

PS: We inherited your original lease when we purchased the property, so please notify us if there are any discrepancies.

Thanks Caroline for that information.. I probably end up speaking with a CPA and lawyer to navigate through this to be safe although I not selling property, just transferring and membership make-up of LLC is remaining the same..Better be safe though.

Thanks again