All Forum Posts by: Liz F

Most tenants barely have for the first month and deposit, so it is difficult to get more.
What I have done with two tenants that had "a checkered financial past" was to make them pay the last month in parts, like $50/month. I tell them how great it will be when they move out, they will have extra cash. The first tenant payed about half the last month's before he started to come up with excuses. The second payed about 1/3 before he too did not have enough.

I have a prospective tenant who is moving to our area to work as an air traffic controller. He seems very responsible, but he has a pit bull. The dog seems very friendly but I am afraid to be opening myself up to liability. It is a single family house and it has a fence all around. He plans to get renters insurance and any additional insurance. I live in Florida and Pit Bulls are not banned in our county. Would you rent to a Pit Bull owner?
My other prospective tenant is a family with 3 kids which would probably be a safer bet.

In the end I charged her for 8 days, (she got 6 free days), she paid for the carpet cleaning and I did process her security deposit in 5 days. She left the place clean and some minor damage such as picture holes on the wall. If I had charged her rent for the full month I was afraid she would stay until the end of the month.
After she left I dropped paint, laminate flooring for living room/Dining rm, new water heater and my new tenant did all the work at no charge. Please know that I never ever let tenants do any work, he is the exception because he is very skilled. Overall I lost some money with Lulu but I saved labor costs of preparing the place.
Thank you all for you input and different perspectives.

Thank you both for your responses. After checking the rules I realize that there was not enough time to make her leave the hard way, so I offered a few incentives. If she moved by the 12th: 1) I would not charge the prorated rent for May 2) Would process her security deposit in 5 days as opposed to the 30 days I am allowed, and 3) She did not have to have the carpet professionally cleaned as is required in the lease. Then I called the mother-in-law and I appealed to her, once again she came to the rescue and had them moved by the 14th.
My new tenant is in place and I could not be happier, he is the only tenant that actually leaves the place better than before, if you can believe that.
Thanks again.

My tenant Lulu called me couple months ago to tell me she was moving out. Lulu has been there for one year so the lease term was no problem. I sent her a move out checklist. The end of the month came and Lulu showed no signs of being ready, she asked for another month. I said yes. During that time a prior tenant who is moving back into town wants to rent the house. Lulu told me that was moving on the 7th(tomorrow), but I just drove by and there is no way. Lulu always pays the rent (courtesy of the mother-in-law who is a delightful lady who I wish adopted all my tenants).
What can I do to make Lulu move? Can I refuse the rent? What to do?
My prospective tenant is as close to ideal so I do not want to loose him. He wants to move on the 25th, of course I have to clean, paint, would like to replace flooring, etc.

I appreciate any suggestions.