All Forum Posts by: JB B.

HI,

We have a property with a pool/spa and we take care of the weekly maintenance (pool/spa lease addendum). 

When we leased the property, the pool/spa heater was not operational/repairable anymore. Tenant moved in and asked if we were going to replace the heater. At the time I said I would look into it and probably replace it. Fast forward 2 months, I have not replaced the heater yet. The tenant keeps on asking my pool man about it and also has asked me again. I told him I was looking at it.

The reason I have dragged my feet is because I noticed that, eventhough we take care of the weekly pool maintenance, the tenant does not seem to keep up with the leaves clean up in the skimmer (we have many trees around the pool/neighbor, and the skimmer baskets fill up very quickly especially now). I had to replace the capacitator on my pump last week, maybe due to excessive strain on the pump (leaves restriction in the baskets). Hard to prove, but that could be a cause. This does not encourage me to replace the heater, since they can be very sensitive to water flow and other restrictions in the lines. Just added chances to have un-necessary pool repairs.

Unless I do bi-or tri-weekly inspections to catch the non maintenance of the skimmer baskets, would it be ok to tell the tenant that we will replace the heater, but any future maintenance/repairs would be their responsibility ?

NOTE : I know some of you will mention that I should never have agreed to replace the heater when I was asked; its been said and done. I have to deal with it. I am looking at some ideas on how to best deal with the situation.

Thanks!

Thank you all for the input!

LOL @Scott M. no, not at all a spur of the moment decision. I try to educate myself 1st; so my original question remains as is; all i am trying to do here is get information on how to do it, when to do it and so on. I am pretty sure there are Many small landlords that have similar questions and I am pretty sure some have a process is place, maybe a 3rd party they use, web site or any info that would be helpful. Credit reporting has legal ramifications, but at the same time we, as landlord, need to use available ressources to make sure we can continue to do business.

You can have the best tenant screening in place, you will eventually have an issue; there are always exceptions to the general rule.

@Jon 

@Jon A. No, just trying to get info together from small landlords on how to report to credit agencies, processes, conditions, rules, whatever can help.

hi. I am a small landlord with 4 rental homes. was wondering if i can report a non paying tenant to the credit bureau and how the process works for a small landlord ? do i need to use on online service ? looked up online, but did not really find anything clear and easy. most is suited to larger landlords.

Thanks.

Thank you all for your input. Have always used RE agents to list my homes and find tenants; never used a PM company as i do enjoy the management of the properties (at least I know what is going on). But for the screening, I always thought my agents had more responsibility. Maybe the one I picked this time is a little less "responsible". Going to look into NTN or one of these online services and do the screening myself.

HI. i have a RE agent to list my rental house. we got an application and now i asked my agent to do a background and credit check. I asked him to use a tenant screening tool i saw online that . he told me that he only does a credit check and if i wanted to use the screening tool online, i could do it myself (with approval from the applicant). 

question is : if i have a RE agent, is it his responsibility to do the credit check or can i do it  or both are ok to do this ?

Thanks.

JB

Thank you for your input. That was my original thinking to; times are not for renewing term leases. 

hi,

I have a tenant in a property who is starting to have difficulties making his rent payments. so far he has been paying on time, but recently, he has warned me ahead that he is waiting for client's payments (he is a contractor) to have the funds to pay the rent. His business has suffered due to the pandemic and the lack of demand for his services.

2 weeks ago he asked me that he would like to extend his lease for another year; the lease does not expire until the end of May (30 days notice). 

knowing the difficulties he starts to have with rent payments and the line of business he is in, i don't expect his financial situation to improve anytime soon.

In order to avoid an eventual non payment of rent and eviction procedure (complicated during Covid), I was thinking about doing a month to month lease instead of a term lease. That way, should he not pay his rent, i would not renew the lease going forward. Is that a viable option ? any input, help or guidance would be great.

Thank you all!

JB