All Forum Posts by: D J Burand

Thank you all!

We have a four plex in Anchorage, AK.  One of the units is currently occupied by a young male/female couple that is on a 12 month lease.  They’ve lived there for roughly 6 months.  Screening revealed no prior history of domestic violence, or any serious criminal history for either.

About 2 months ago I started receiving reports from one of their neighbors that the couple was arguing, and that he was acting irrationally when angry.  About this same time, he texted me out of the blue saying he wished to move out.  He also informed me he had damaged some interior doors and knew he’d be responsible for that.  I replied that since they were both on the lease that we would need all parties to agree to remove him from the lease.  Additionally this would trigger a reassessment of the remaining person’s income to see if they could handle the rent.  Next I spoke with her individually, and she said she thought he was going to stay.  I addressed what I had heard regarding his behavior with her, and she said he was a different person when angry but she wanted to try and make it work.  The move in/move out situation has gone back and forth a few times, most recently with both of them deciding to stay.  

I have learned he has been charged twice for minor property damage and “recklessly causing injury” since they moved in.  The female tenant isn’t voluntarily telling me this.  I am being kept aware of the situation by their neighbor and keeping tabs myself.  

I am trying to stay out of their personal business here, and let these two adults work it out.  I am also about the potential damages though, and for her wellbeing.  How would you handle this situation?

It sounds like you are spending a lot of time doing showings, which can really increase the frustration. Unfortunately, as said above, if you are going to be selective of your occupants then you are going to have to sift through a lot of folks. Here's one idea you might try that will save you time doing showings if you have a 'hot' unit: Schedule three to four showing times a week, each a half hour long, spread out over one midday, one after work weekday, and one weekend. When people ask to view, offer them those times. This means you end up with several people stacked on top of each other, which 1) saves you time by allowing you to conduct 4-5 showings in 30 minutes, and 2) makes the unit seem very popular, thus encouraging serious applicants to apply now vs. later. Oh, and it starts training your applicants that you aren't always at their beck and call. The last key is call everyone your supposed to meet the day before and remind them, like a doctor's office. This gives you a feel of who's really gonna show. I'm not sure if you're already trying this system.. But maybe consider it if you're really spending several hours doing showings. Have we lost a couple potential applicants that couldn't make or wouldn't make our set times? Yah... But having a huge chunk of our time back not doing individual showings over several hours was worth it for us. This may not work in your market or for your unit, and I would never attempt this is an occupied unit where you must watch visitors to make sure they don't take anything... But maybe worth a shot? Otherwise stay patient, and always keep improving your system. This screening thing is just part of the game.

Thank you for all the good thoughts all!

We have been at it for about three years, and though we have mostly established our basic screening criteria, we keep running in to new situations.  While I've found many references to looking for 'x' number of years of rental history in other posts, I can't find anything that directly answers this nuanced question:

We have a couple that meets our income, criminal (lack thereof), number of occupants, pet policy, etc.  

The catch is that for rental history, they have only provided two prior references, both in-laws or family, that they have lived with over the past year.  I have already contacted those references, and have verified that the folks lived there...  And they got good reviews.  The prospective tenants are 25 (so not just kids graduating).  Here's my question to you all:

When you have an otherwise good applicant, except they have no rental history or have only lived with family and friends, do you work with that?  Do you require additional deposits or guarantees?  I'm seeing a lot of references to just flatly looking for x years of good tenancy verified by a landlord, but what if this is their first move on their own, and they can tell you where they lived but don't have a non-family landlord to ask about them?

First post here, but I'm hoping someone with more experience can help me out with some advice on a new situation (to me anyway).

I own a fourplex in Anchorage, AK.  One of our tenants is asking to add an additional applicant (boyfriend).  She is on a 6 month lease, expiring in December.  She currently has 1 cat, which fits within our pet policy of 1 small pet up to 25lbs.  Here's the rub:

About two months ago she asked if we had any other units which allowed two pets, as she was thinking about living with her boyfriend, who has a 7yr old greyhound.  I explained that unfortunately all of our units followed the one pet policy.  She said that was ok, and mentioned that she would probably be moving at the end of her lease in December to a place that allows more pets.  That was the end of the conversation.

One week ago she told me her boyfriend wanted to move in with her, and asked for an application (as our policy is to screen all tenants).  I didn't mention the dog at the time, and just sent her the application.  She returned it to me today, and her boyfriend has listed his greyhound as an emotional service animal, providing certificates, and denoted that there would now be two pets in the unit (including the cat).  She has asked me to call her to speak about that, and we've arranged an appointment.  According to the dog's certificate, it was obtained Sept 24th of this year, meaning that the dog has been around  7 years but only now is a service animal.  I haven't had the opportunity to contact references or do a background check on the rest of the application, but at a first glance there are no reasons to deny the boyfriend (no criminal history, prior rental history, etc.). I'm guessing he will more or less check out.  Last piece:  this tenant is a more or less good tenant, and I've never had to take action for any issues with her.  

Finally, just to be clear, I don't have any issues with emotional support animals, nor do I wish to discriminate against those who actually need them.  I am also aware that I am not allowed to deny or charge for an emotional support animal.  Nor may I ask for something like a doctors note to prove the emotional need.  That said, we have a policy, and the whole thing smells as someone who went to one of the commercial websites and just purchased an emotional support animal certificate expressly to circumvent our pet policy.

So here's my question:  

Assuming the boyfriend does check out, how do I handle this situation with two animals??

On one hand, her cat is not a service animal.  I can say he can move in if the cat moves out? (Net 1 pet)

Do I just take it and hope she stays long term?

Do I just take it, and not renew her lease to resolve the issue?  (Leaving us trying to fill a unit in the middle of winter..  Not easy in AK)

And if we let the boyfriend move in, with now two pets in the unit, what message does this send to the other three tenants?

That was a long read, but I wanted to provide as much background as possible.  If you're still with me, I appreciate you reading and any advice you can give.  Of course, if this issue has already been addressed elsewhere please just point me in the right direction.  Thank you.