All Forum Posts by: Julie Hartman

You can put anything you want in a lease but it may not be enforceable. A smart tenant + a tenant friendly judge = you pay. Most landlords expect to do a little bit of touch-up painting between tenants, that is simply the cost of doing business.

Quote from @Raj Kumar:

@Julie Hartman Yes, the person did provided the Drivers License, but no SSN, can we ask the tenant SSN to run the checks ?

I also called the tenant and notified the employer details that they provided are not valid and requested for a valid desk number OR HR details that I can call in.

Also, called couple of attorney offices to schedule a call to review and take a legal advise.Thanks for your insights.

You should be collecting SSNs on all applications as you need that information to run a thorough background check. Once you get this particular situation straightened out, I would strongly encourage you to hire a PM to take over management of this property.

@Christian Ehlers I would have the PM find out which agency the tenant is applying to and contact them to find out what information or documentation is required. Then see about sending it directly to them instead of the tenant, if possible. 

@Raj Kumar At the time of the application, did you get a copy of their drivers license? If so, I would encourage you to try running your own background check. Here in Colorado, we can use a drivers license/name/ssn to do a Colorado Bureau of Investigations online criminal background check for $6. We have a more thorough screening process but use CBI sometimes for extra coverage if we are in doubt about anything. I would do more digging before you collect the deposit. It sounds like you have a strong gut feeling something is off. I would contact an attorney today and possibly avoid a disaster later. 

Are you talking about a notice of non-renewal or an eviction notice? Those are two different things. Since he is month to month, I would send him a notice of non-renewal first, per the guidelines of the lease and state law. At that point, if he doesn't cooperate and leave by the vacating date, then you should proceed with hiring an attorney to get him out. And I don't know the laws of your state but generally an eviction notice needs to be in writing on an attorney approved form, not by a text. Going forward, it may be easier for you to have one person be the designated rent payer and the rest of them can pay that person internally. It would be less of a headache for you. Good luck. 

@Raj Kumar It sounds like you don't have a solid grasp of the background check information. Can you prove any of the doubts you have? If so, you should have something in your lease regarding an "out" for you if the information provided by the applicant is deemed to be false or misleading. I would take the advice of @Nicholas L. and hire a property manager to handle things until you have a better process in place for screening tenants and until you know what you are doing. Zillow does not do a thorough enough job, in my opinion. And depending on what state you live in, Zillow's application process may not abide by state law. I would not rely on them to be your backstop. 

Why have you waited so long to take action? You should have posted them the first month rent was late and started the eviction process. You waited and now they think you don't mean business.These people are trying to scam you. Get in touch with an eviction attorney asap.  

@Sai T. A good way to convince a judge to decide in the tenants favor is by neglecting repairs. You need to keep the unit in habitable condtion so you are holding up your end of the lease agreement and local habitability laws. Contact a plumber and either meet the plumber there yourself or have someone else meet them there so you (they) can see the condition of the property. If she is not paying rent, she may also be causing damage. I would want to see inside that property if at all possible to see what's happening in there. 

@Atul Mohlajee What does the lease say about early termination? There should be something in it about a penalty or paying rent until you can locate a new tenant. It may be best to talk with her and work something out to allow her to vacate early but she needs to cooperate in allowing you to show the property to get it re-rented quickly. If you can get it re-rented while she is there, you may not have a vacancy or missed rent. You may also be able to get more rent for the next tenant. It's usually best to work with a tenant rather than try to fight it and end up with nothing. 

@Robert Leitner It's not easy getting money back and I know you don't like the idea of a collection agent but we have had success using that avenue. They do all of the work which is why they take such a hefty fee. However, getting something is better than nothing. They have the resources and the time to locate people that you may not. If they can find them and if they are employed, they will most likely be able to garnish. Good luck!