All Forum Posts by: Kasey Destache

@Alberto Furet Thanks for the suggestion! The 5K limit would work fine. 

Hi BP Fam! 

What is the best form of collecting rent from long distance tenants? I've read so many posts and I'm hesitant about using my personal Paypal account to collect and have read various negative reviews regarding erentpayment. I also think the rent amount is too high for a venmo transaction but I have the same concern for using venmo as I do for Paypal. Any feedback is much appreciated. 

Thanks! 

@David M. Makes a lot of sense! Thank you! 

@Jonathan Taylor Copy that! I'm going to speak to my accountant who happens to own some properties in LA. Thanks for your response! 

Hi BP Fam!

Reaching out for any recommendations regarding the best credit unions for investors and landlords located in Los Angeles. I’m a Los Angeles native and assisting my dad with land lording in LA but I also want to expand into long distance investing. I currently only have one bank account (Chase) and have a few credit lines but definitely want to open an account with a good credit union. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

@Joe Homs Copy that! Thank you! You were extremely helpful. 

@Joe Homs According to an article I read, "Effective January 1, 2020, landlords may not request a security deposit of more than one month’s rent for an unfurnished unit, and two month’s rent for a furnished unit." But then it goes on to say "California residential landlords may accept advance payment of rent for 6 months or more (but not less)." So I'm a little confused. All we're asking is for a total of $3,740 to move in (June proration, July rent and security deposit) which I think is more than fair since we are technically "holding," for this prospective tenant. Maybe I'm just being paranoid but I want to make sure I'm in compliance since I'm new to this and COVID has made things far more complicated. Thanks so much for your feedback! Very much appreciated!  

@Adam Martin To be completely transparent, she is a very qualified prospective tenant and my listing has been up for a month and have only received unqualified tenant applications, so I'm losing money due to vacancy. This week I've been receiving more leads - thank goodness - so I have hope I will find a more suitable and qualified tenant who will move in at an earlier date. June 1st would be ideal. She definitely has the funds and is understanding but writing this up in an agreement and addendum gets tricky and I don't want to run into any legal issues. However, I think you're correct and will write "that they need to provide Julys rent plus prorated Junes rent as well as a non refundable deposit at the time of signing that will transfer to deposit upon tenancy" in the addendum. I'm probably just being paranoid but Google and CA's arbitrary laws don't help much. Thanks for the feedback! 

@David M. I completely agree with your last statement "CA is a weird state" and the lease terms you provided. Basically, I'm unsure if I can ask for the total amount of $3740 for the breakdown I provided but I personally don't see an issue. In general, usually landlords will allow a "holding deposit" and a signed lease agreement, which is exactly that.."No backsies" and the landlord gets to keep your holding deposit if the prospective tenant does decide to back out last minute. If they move in and all checks out, the landlord has to refund the holding deposit, which doesn't make sense to me because I think the landlord should be compensated for holding since the landlord has to hault tours. Anyway, I'm not even sure if I'm going to choose this prospective tenant and I'm going to confirm with an attorney so thanks for your input. 

@David M. Agreed! What I want is since we're basically doing her a favor and holding for a long period is as follows:

Move in Date: June 25th (prorated month total $340) 

Security Deposit: $1700 

Month of July paid in full upfront: $1700

Total up front: $3,740 by June 1st along with signed lease agreement & addendum if we're going to hold for her. 

However, I cannot list any cost in this breakdown as a "holding deposit," because holding deposit must be refunded and we are not refunding anything. Personally, I see nothing wrong with this but I don't know California law regarding this particular situation so I just want to confirm to avoid any legal issues.