All Forum Posts by: Jeff Carroll

I called both my personal insurance company as well as the company my tenants have their renter's policy through, and surprisingly, neither of them exclude trampolines!  It was suggested by my insurer that I get my tenant to increase their liability limit to $1mm on their renter's policy.  If I do that, should I feel safe enough allowing them to keep the trampoline?

I have read through lots of threads about tenants putting up trampolines and why this is a concern.  I drove past one of my properties today and found that my tenant was installing a trampoline.  I have already reached out to my insurance agent to verify that this is indeed a problem (which I know it is), and I expect to hear back from him tomorrow (today is Sunday).

My bigger question is, assuming they will need to get rid of it, how can I convince them to do so if there is nothing in their lease about NOT allowing trampolines?  I am not necessarily anticipating any issues, but what would you do if one of your tenants came back and said no, it isn't expressly not allowed in the lease, so I am not getting rid of it?

Hopefully there won't be an issue, but I just want to be prepared if they do refuse to get rid of it.  

Of course, I have now modified my lease so that this won't be a problem in the future.  

I had a very good potential tenant family for one of my properties apply today, and I ended up losing them to something I never would have thought of.  Their current landlord convinced them to stay after he got my reference call!

The family had been told that their current landlord was going to sell the house they were in once their lease was up on 8/31.  The owner of that house had given them the option to stay on month-to-month until the house sold, but they decided to look at other properties so that they wouldn't be forced to move with little warning once the house sold.

They viewed (and loved) one of my properties, and put in an application.  They were excited about my property, and all of their information checked out.  My final step was to speak to their current landlord for a reference.  He gave a glowing reference for the family, and wished me well in my business.  Next thing I know, the potential tenant, who just an hour earlier was ready to sign a lease, calls and says that they would be staying in their current house.  The owner had decided not to sell since they wouldn't stay on month-to-month until the house sold, and he convinced them to sign a new lease with him!

I certainly don't blame the potential tenant.  I understand not wanting to move if you don't have to.  My question is whether or not this is a common issue (the previous landlord convincing their tenant to stay after they get a reference call from a potential new landlord).  If this is a common issue, how do you avoid this?