All Forum Posts by: Kaycee Miller

If your house rules specifically say no tampons and the blocked pipes are from tampons that have been flushed in the past 3-months, it seems clear it is her fault. It might be an embarrassing situation for her, which is why she is claiming that she didn't do it. 

Since it's her fault, I wouldn't give her money for the hotel, but perhaps do not charge her for the plumbing expenses. It seems likes the roots needed to be found and fixed anyway, but her tampons made the issue come to light sooner, rather than later. Explain to your tenant that you are not going to charge her for the plumbing expenses but since she broke the lease terms by flushing tampons you cannot pay for her hotel expenses. I'd also have your lawyer review your lease to make sure the "house rules" are legal and she has no grounds to take you to court for the hotel expenses. 

In the future, if you have more plumbing issues or maintenance issues that require a tenant to stay in a hotel, give your tenants a daily allowance for a nice (but not the best) hotel in your area. That way you know what to budget for and she can decide if they want to stay in a nicer place. $900 for  week seems reasonable for a super nice hotel but high for say a Holiday Inn. 

I agree with @Ronald Rohde assessment of the situation as to why her rent would get paid upfront by the grandparent. A student living off of help from a grandparent is a different story than an adult who wants to pay rent up front with no explanation. I tend to advise against upfront payments because they seem suspicious as to why someone would have that much liquid income all at once. But this seems legitimate if she passes your tenant screening checks.

Congratulation are your new investment! 

The lease should automatically transfer to you with the sale of the house. Check with your state laws, but in most cases you will just need to inform your tenant that you are the new owner and maintaining the current lease. You can find examples of how to inform your tenant by googling New Landlord Introduction letter. If it is only for a month, you might not need to worry about having a tenant sign a new lease with you.  If you want them to move out within a month, check your state laws regrading "no cause evictions"/"termination without cause" for how much notice you need to give them (we require 90 days in Oregon!).

What a fun idea! You could also consider a raffle-type of contest to keep the budget affordable while still giving back to your resident community. Like get a raffle ticket for every A grade? And give out something like a Fitbit, Amazon gift card, or other prize once a term. This way you still encourage good habits but aren't committing to a big cash prize to every tenant.

You could also consider offering a one-time discount if your tenant signs up to pay you rent online. Renters you pay their rent online are less likely to pay their rent late, since you can schedule automatic, recurring payments. 

Even if the current lease does not have a clause regarding late fees, you can still follow your state's laws about enforcing on-time payments. You state will have information about how you can post a "cure-or-quit" notice regarding non-payment of rent (ie if he doesn't pay rent on the 1st, like the lease says, you can give him an official notice to Pay the rent or you will proceed with an eviction).  Perhaps the previous owner didn't care about late payments, so the tenant didn't realize it was a big deal to pay it late.  Cure or quit notices tend to produce action. 

But perhaps its not the best idea to start out as the mean landlord immediately like it may sound like I am suggesting. You should send him a "New Landlord Introduction Letter" (you can find examples on Google) and schedule a routine inspection to meet the tenant and go over the current lease with him. You could potentially sign a new lease with the tenant, but only if he agrees to it.  When going over the lease, explain that you expect rent to be paid on the 1st (or whatever due date the lease says) otherwise you will have to follow the state's laws regarding cure-or-quit. 

The important thing is to stick to the lease, know your laws, and don't let bad behavior slip through the cracks, otherwise you will be chasing down rent payments all the time.

You don't need to bend over backwards to accommodate a tenant's schedule for a showing. It is 100% reasonable to give yourself time to shower and change before meeting a prospect in person. If they are flexible and accommodating for your schedule it could be a sign that they will be a pleasant tenant to manage. If they demand that you meet them immediately you could be setting yourself up for a dramatic landlord-tenant relationship.  Think about if a non-emergency maintenance issue arises, would the tenant be ok with you coming on the weekend to fix the problem when it works for you, or insist that you drive over that instant?

In a lot of cases section 8 checks will only cover part of the rental amount, so your tenants need to have verifiable income to make up the difference. I agree with @Thomas S. that you need keep the income requirements as 3x the monthly rent, and include their section 8 in their income along with other sources. Keep in mind that some states will not let you deny rental housing based on source of income in an attempt to prevent discrimination against section 8 tenants. So to protect yourself, make sure you have created a written screening criteria and you apply it to all tenants, whether they are section 8 or not. 

Checking your state's landlord-tenant laws regarding Security Deposits is exactly what you need to do, like @Kim Meredith Hampton says. Some states allow you to return security deposit fund via electronic funds transfer, but only if both parties sign a written agreement. Other states only you to return security deposit via certified mail to an addressed provided by the tenant in writing. If the tenant complains that they wont be around to collect the funds in the mail, you can site the state statue that explains the law.

If she signed a year long lease, you don't have to change the terms. You dealt with the plumbing issue in a timely and professional manner, meeting your responsibilities as a property manager/landlord. I don't believe she has a legally reason to claim that you are not upholding your end of the contract, so she could legally terminate the lease on her end. Additionally, you do not need to give into her additional demands that she is making after signing the lease. However, if she is this demanding in month one, do you really want to set the expectation that she can call the shots from the beginning of your one-year relationship? I would consider reaching a mutual agreement to end the lease with her. You will be entitled to keep the first months rent she paid but you would have to return the security deposit, unless you can prove she caused any damage. Since you are getting new floors, you could potentially increase the rent amount and find a new easy going tenant. Good luck!