All Forum Posts by: John Sanderson

If you have to dust, clean windows, sweep and mop, no, you can't deduct that from the security deposit. If you have to hire a professional to come in and remove some questionable stains from the carpet or remove trash and debris from the property, you can probably deduct some.

It's no fun when a tenant doesn't clean before they leave, but unless you have to deep clean and sanitize the unit, it's considered normal wear and tear.

That's my understanding, if anyone has anything to add, please do, I'd also like to know.

I'd say he oughtta go grab some mortar and a new tile. I have 2 questions:

1. How high up is that built in shelf? If it's not around eye level, I'd say his story sounds pretty bogus

2. Is it on the same side as the plumbing for the(I assume) shower?

If he actually did break the tile trying to hang up a picture, it sounds like it wasn't malicious. If he's a good tenant and you'd really like to keep him, maybe offer to pay half of the cost to fix it. If not, I'd tell him he's wholly responsible for the repair.

I decided to just remove the $15 fee for current tenants, and just increase the rent a little for new tenants. I'm not concerned with making money off the laundry, as long as the extra income covers the cost of buying them ($300 for the pair) and any water and electricity usage, I'm ok with that.

Thanks for the idea, and any current tenants will probably get a rent increase in the next year or so.

I'm not an expert, but I've been doing some reading(dangerous), but since you're new, I imagine one LLC would do the trick. I've got 3 rentals and no LLCs at the moment(going to change this in 2017), but I would assume 1 LLC would provide enough protection, as long as you manage it correctly. Meaning any expenses on any of your properties, rentals or flips, needs to come from the LLC and not from your personal bank account. There are other components(which I encourage others to elaborate on and/or you to read up on), but the main thing is to absolutely keep the LLC account separate from your personal account(s).

Here's a slightly interesting one(I think). I've got a 5-unit building, and I recently installed a washer and dryer in a storage room that can be locked. I gave the option for all tenants to pay $15 extra a month for use of the machines(costs about half as much as a laundromat in the area) and 3 out of 5 of my units opted to pay the fee via a lease addendum.

The problem I'm running into is that the storage room is not being kept locked, and one of the tenants(for good reason) is complaining that the door is either being left unlocked or propped open.

Now, I've looked into coin operated machines, and they cost about 3x what the standard machines cost, and they have HORRIBLE reviews for the low end models. My goal is to just increase rent for any new tenants, but I have 2 tenants(neither of whom opted for the $15 fee) who are still on the first 12 months of their lease that did not opt to pay the fee, so they didn't receive a key for the machines. Per their leases, I cannot increase rent until the expiration of their current lease.

Has anyone ever had an issue like this? Is there a loophole where I can add a fee, but not necessarily increase rent for current tenants with a lease? I think my only other option may be to just remove the addendum to current leases, grandfather them into the washer and dryer, and then have a slight rent increase on any new tenants.

Thoughts?

@James Wise

Thank you for stating that! I've seen about a half dozen people tell me or others to never accept partial payment, but no one has ever explained why. That right there is reason enough for me to never accept partial payment.

You do have to honor the lease, however, if there is a Sale of Property clause(or something similar), you may be able to terminate their lease. For instance, in all of my leases, it reads as follows:

SALE OF PROPERTY: If the Premises is sold, the Tenant(s) are to be notified of the new Owner, and if there is a new Manager, and their contact details for repairs and maintenance shall be forwarded. If the Premises is conveyed to another party, the new owner shall have the right to terminate this Agreement.

The new owner shall have the right to terminate only after providing 30 DAYS notice to the Tenant(s)

You would have to double check if this will hold up in court, preferably by contacting an attorney, but you may be able to glean some information from any Landlord/Tenant Laws for the state.

If this clause isn't in the current lease, you may be out of luck. If it's not in the lease, it still may be in your best interest to contact an attorney, as there may be a loophole in Texas' Landlord/Tenant laws that I'm unaware of.

Good luck!

@Varinder Kumar I'm confused by your question, how does disliking the BRRR strategy have anything to do with that? You could leverage properties using BRRR just as well as not using it. Owning 10 properties free and clear just means you either make a lot of money at your current, non-REI job, or you chose to pay down mortgages instead leveraging properties, or both. Either way, I think we're all wondering what you mean by comparing apples and oranges.

@Account Closed

Thank you, I sent the notice to quit out today, so I may be able to slip by without going to court, but I'm not holding my breath. I'll be looking up which court I need to file with and I'll be sure to read up on the PA Landlord Tenant Act. I've read through it before, but I'd like to be as prepared as I can.

Edit: I sent it certified mail with return receipt as well as just first class mail, so I'll have a record of when he receives it.

@Account Closed

Can you elaborate on the legal reasons for no grace period? 

And the reason I was leaning towards just giving him the non-renewal notice is based solely on his rent, $750 a month. I'll likely spend more on an attorney, or at least similar if I choose to evict. That's why I asked about needing to evict at the end of the lease, as in if I give him the non-renewal notice and he doesn't leave, will I still have to evict him? if that's the case, I'll get the the eviction started immediately.

Thanks for the help