All Forum Posts by: Kyle Meyers

I don't do holding agreements. When someone wants to rent from me, we sign the lease and I collect the first rent payment and the security deposit. Usually they are moving in the same or next day. If I am renting a unit that the current tenant has not move out of yet, I sign a lease with the future tenants and collect the security deposit. Then I collect the first rent payment when they are moving in. If any of these tenants decided they didn't want to move in, they are still responsible for the rent. I would offer them an option to buy their way out of the lease for an amount that would compensate me for the lost time of marketing and other hassles of getting a new lease signed.

As for whether you need to refund their money, I don't think you do. Check what your agreement says, you want to keep a fee, not a deposit, deposits are refundable. Since you said you would send a check, you should probably send one, decide how much you think you should keep for the time you kept the unit off the market for them. In the future, don't give in to yelling, and if you aren't sure what you want to do, tell them you will get back to them.

Thanks Steve Babiak, J Scott, and Steven Hamilton II.

Do you get W-9s from everyone you do business with, or just contractors? Are you getting them from Lowe's and Home Depot? Do you need a W-9 for insurance providers?

Also, I saw in the IRS instructions that you do not need to send a 1099 if you make your payment with Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, or other payment networks. Do any of you keep track of that, or just send the 1099 regardless of how you paid?

For those landlords and investors who have to send 1099s, they do not need to send them to corporations and non-profits. What records do we need to keep to prove the payee is a corporation or non-profit? Do we still need to get W-9s from companies to have documentation they are a corporation?

Call the cops, tell them these people broke in to your house and won't leave. If the cops tell you it is civil, then you can decide between eviction or cash for keys.

Smart Move requires the tenant to approve the credit check. I think they may have a phone option, but it is easiest if they go online. The tenant has to verify their identity to pull credit, you cannot just get their approval on your application. This is why Smart Move does not require the office inspection that most other credit check providers do.

There is no fee for appeal in Indiana and they are still working on appeals from 2007 in some counties. I am appealing the assessments for several of my properties, but haven't even made it to the initial discussion with the assessor because they are so backlogged.

There are many options for how to do automatic rent collection. There are services online that you can set up for this, or you can contact your bank about what options they offer. If you want them to deposit directly to your account, you can give them your account number and set it up as a deposit only account where you would have to authorize any withdrawals.

I do things similarly to Jon.

Sign in the yard and ads online at Craigslist, Zillow, etc. directing prospects to my website.

I have a rental hotline on my phone giving basic info on the available units. If prospects are interested or want more information they leave a message or complete an app on my website.

I set up appointments once or twice a week to show the unit.

Interested applicants complete their application on my website and I pull credit reports on all applicants. I review their app and let them know if they are approved.

Once approved, they bring a money order for first rent and deposit and we sign the lease. Take lots of pictures of move in condition and they get the keys.

If there are more rental units than in the past, you may want to try to get the screening rule changed. It will benefit the community to make it easier to rent the units because it will make it easier for landlords to pay their dues.

$100 is very high, I doubt many applicants would pay it. I would find out what the HOA's requirements are and then screen the tenants myself to make sure they meet those standards. Then, I would pay the $100 myself to get my approved tenant screened.

I would also try to see if there is any way around this screening charge or a way to get it reduced. Is this mostly an owner-occupied complex? What are the rents in this area?