All Forum Posts by: Joseph Torres

Originally posted by @Joe Splitrock:

@Joseph Torres I would avoid telling them you went to the bathroom and wandered around their house. Just let them know that you know there is a cat in the property and it must be removed within X days. Or option 2 is to add additional pet rent. My lease says if an unauthorized pet is detected that pet rent is retroactively charged back to the first month they moved in. Since there is no way to prove when the pet arrived, charge them back rent to day one. 

Either get more money or get rid of the cat. 

Also my advice is don't wander around in tenants homes when they are not there. It is creepy. Go to the bathroom before you leave home. Ownership doesn't give you rights to use the property when someone is paying to rent it.

One final point is you shouldn't be picking up rent. Get the tenant setup on electronic payment or have them pay cash at your bank direct into your account. There is no reason for a landlord to run a rent courier service.

You guys are killing me here with this bathroom thing lol. I did bring it on myself here by mentioning it. I was once again, attempting to paint a picture and wanted best way to handle the situation since they were clearly attempting to hide the cat and have been for a while.

Also, regarding picking up rent. I have no problem traveling for money if that is was works best for some of my tenants since they work in a cash business. Especially if it is on my way home form my office. 

However, that said. I am still new to this and learning. Appreciate all the info that has been shared.

Thanks!

Nathan, 1. Yup got it, had no control and glad it happened. In fact, my lease’s state I can inspect during normal hours. I mentioned it to paint a picture so I understand a good way to approach it. 2. Yes, clear violation. 3. Is that allowed? I mean, can a landlord “force” a tenant to pay for something like a carpet they damaged? This is a new one to me and I want to make sure I understand. To add, how I know they damaged it is because they were the only tenants since the units renovation.

Originally posted by @Caleb Heimsoth:

I agree with others that using the rest room there was kind of odd. I wouldn’t do that lol.

As to the cat, if these are inherited tenants I wouldn’t worry about it to much, and just not renew when their lease is up.

I bought a house and the inherited tenants had a pit bull, which no one even told me about until months later. Needless to say I didn’t renew but I’m just saying it could be worse.

If you do allow pets to new tenanrs charge a reasonable pet fee. I think 2-300 per pet is reasonable. That’s what I do, and it works fine. Adding monthly fees could get annoying. Just put the monthly fee in the non refundable pet fee.

For those that are wondering it was only number 1 so don't worry lol :). However, yes, I was not comfortable doing it but had no choice at the time. I have spoken with them and mentioned what I found and left it high level. I explained what it will cost and that this is a clear violation of the contract. They said they will get rid of the cat but I have heard this before so I will need to do an inspection over the next few months since they are clearly not trustworthy. We shall see. Their security deposit will be affected by the carpet destruction I found which was clearly visible from the location of the money.

Appreciate all the advice.

Originally posted by @Steve Vaughan:

I know these were inherited tenants, but to help address this issue going forward, I would add a high unauthorized animal fee to my leases. Mine's $500 and it doesn't care if 'your watching the animal for a friend'.

I like allowing animals where appropriate, but the grabbing an extra one whenever you feel like it mindset was tiring. 

 I was thinking the exact same thing. Thanks for the tip!

Originally posted by @Shaun C.:

Why are you using your tenants bathroom? Complete invasion of privacy unless you have permission.

How so?

Thomas. That is what I was thinking as well. I will address it with them today. 

OK, so I already know my rights and what I'm allowed to do I'm just curious on what steps I should take.

Scenario: 

Tenant has one approved pet (small dog) which is called out on the lease (even by name). There is a pet deposit that has been paid and a monthly pet fee which they pay. That is all fine but recently I went to pick up rent money they left it inside when they weren't home. I have a key and approval to enter the apt. This was the agreement for that day.

Issue: 

When entering apt. I had to use the bathroom quickly. I had to go through another room to get to the bathroom and noticed a litter box that was full in the bathroom. Upon leaving towards the front door I noticed there was a cat clear as day just lounging on the bed. This tells me this cat has been living there for some time. I did not take any pictures as it didn't occur to me until just now. 

Question:

What is the best way to handle this situation? I entered with them knowing but had to use their bathroom. I don't want it to be assumed I was snooping. Do I just bring up that I saw the cat and litter box (they will know I had to go through a closed door) and pull rank or is there a better way to handle this? At this point they are in clear violation and I can either have them pay more for the second pet or ask them to leave which I prefer not to do. I can tell you right now their security deposit is mine since the carpet in one room is ruined which is why I never allow pets.

FYI. I inherited these tenants.

6 units and counting across multiple properties. Purchased with all my own money in 7 months with great performance. Always looking and now researching the ins and outs of creating an investment group.

Is that what you really need? How big is the property? A sole proprietorship with enough liability insurance is all you need to get started and if the property/s are too big . If you go this route in essence you are the LLC. Unless you plan to have the mortgage given to the LLC your protection is not as ironclad as one thinks being that the contract/mortgage is written to you and not the LLC.

Good luck either way!

Can any size investor join? I have much to learn and I have a lot of questions on growth.