All Forum Posts by: Khris Clymer

For my SFH's I had the tenants pay for their own water bill. HOWEVER, I kept the water bill in my name and the bill was sent to my office. I then billed the tenant(s) for the amount I was being charged for the water and I sent them a copy of the bill to show them I wasn't cheating them. When they paid the water bill, they sent in the water bill with their payment to me. They had to pay me, not the water dept, as I already paid the water bill as soon as I received the bill. (I also had it stated in the lease agreement that they are responsible for the water bill, and that all payments were to be sent to me at my office)

I also stipulated in the Lease Agreement that any money received in my office would be applied first to any outstanding bills, e.g., covering the water bill if it was still outstanding, and then rent would be late if they just happened to send in rent and not the water bill with the rent. So that covered the "If they don't pay the water bill scenario"

For my multi-families I paid the water bill. However I had stated in the lease agreement that if the water bill went over the average amount of water that this building normally used, I would raise their rents. The reason for doing this is when water is free (or included in the rent) they invite their families to do the wash, or they have a tendency to wash their vehicles whenever they want. So this nips it in the bud. Plus no fighting among other tenants over who uses more water, etc. etc.

The reason I had the Water Bills put in my name in my single family homes was due to the fact that if they didn't pay the water bill then the water dept. would place a lien on my property. So I nipped that in the bud as well.

Nancy Neville

Hi Nancy,

My water company works similarly to yours. Would you be willing to share the wording you used in your lease that cover the things you mentioned?

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Originally posted by @Bob Okenwa:

If you deny someone for their credit, it is the law you have to inform them why and by simply saying their "good" wasn't good enough may cause headaches and problems you don't really need.

That is a good point, Bob. I didn't think about needing to give a reason for denial. I think that opens doors for potential issues if the applicant asks for your documented definition of "good".

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Instead of listing a credit score of 600, could you say the requirement in the application is that "Good" credit is needed? It seems like this would give you some wiggle room for denying prospective tenants.

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Sounds pretty clear! I'll stop being paranoid!

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My wife and I will be renting out a house we own (first-time landlords). It's a small ranch house with a ~5.5ft high crawlspace. The crawlspace gives easy access to plumbing and house wiring, but its ceiling is low and I often hit my head (I'm 6'3").

While it is a great space for storage, I'm considering keeping the future tenant locked out of it. I think most people can handle walking on dirt slightly hunched over, but I can envision someone knocking their head on a joist or snagging a wire, or something else, and suing us over it. It'd be VERY hard to suffer any real injuries, but people are people.

My wife thinks we should keep it accessible for the tenant in case there's a water leak (the shutoff is down there), plus the extra storage can be a selling point.

Thoughts? Am I being overly paranoid?

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I am going to rent out my former house that has maybe 2000sq ft of grass to mow. The problem is much of the yard seems to have dead grass, so it's not very nice or appealing. There's a sprinkler system that I turned on which is helping revive some of the grass, but it's probably not enough. There is no HOA in this neighborhood.

Recommendations on what to do with the yard? Should I get the yard fixed up, replacing dead grass, or do renters typically not care about the yard at all? I was planning on including water in my rental charge to encourage using the sprinklers. Also, should the renter pay for lawn-mowing?

Thanks in advance.

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All Forum Posts by: Khris Clymer

Khris Clymer has started 3 posts and replied 7 times.

Post: water billing

Post: water billing

Post: Requiring "Good" credit instead of a specific score?

Post: Requiring "Good" credit instead of a specific score?

Post: Should you have off-limit areas when renting out a house?

Post: Should you have off-limit areas when renting out a house?

Post: First time landlord. How should I handle the yard maintenance?