All Forum Posts by: Laura Stayton

Hi, I have a Tenant who is good but have paid a few times (only a few days) late in the past on occasions. So to discourage this behavior I have increased the late fee on the renewal of the lease to $250 (if rent is not paid by the 5th) AND $50 per day starting on the 7th. He makes stupid excuses.,like I reached my limit on Zelle or ..today my mom is in the hospital and the bank is closed..I'll pay as soon as I can etc.. Which I hate. I would have prefer a much more open and honest communication like "I can't pay today but I will on the  6th, etc" Because In the past I have not applied the late fee, I sent a reminder at the beginning of the year (2025) that rent needs to be paid on time and I will enforce the late penalty. I also sent a reminder on the subsequent months about this. Now he is late again and have paid half of the rent. (its the 7th as I am writing this) This is the first time I am dealing with this situation. The question is HOW do I enforce the penalty if he does not send the money? what is the standard and formal procedure. I don't want to take it out of the security deposit. I want the money.  I sent several reminders and a clear message about this and need to stay firm and set the boundary clearly. Suggestions? Thanks

I'm with Chris. The law requires you to accept their late payment, so eviction is out of the picture. I would let them know it's clearly unaffordable. I would let them break the lease early just to get rid of them. If they insist on staying, keep playing the game until the lease ends.

Having a terribly hard time choosing between two tenants, for a vacant apartment in a duplex that must be rented as soon as possible.  I wondered which of these other people would choose.  First:

Here's the Apartment:
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1 BR upstairs loft unit, in a duplex. Its one long room, and a bedroom off on the side and bathroom.    Outside deck stairs.
Neighborhood: Blue collar.    Not the best but clean... there have been some car break ins and stolen bikes over the years, but no house break-ins.   Neighbor is a good guy, but he has bars on his side windows and he has a rotweiller.   A bit of a red neck but keeps a very clean yard.   That kind of neighborhood, lol.
Some say its the wrong side of town, some local residents proudly defend it.
Public golf course a few blocks away.
Apartment rents for $635 + utilities.


The Downstairs Tenant
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The already existing downstairs tenant:  Keeps to herself, pays rent ontime every month and keeps apartment immaculately clean.   However, she smokes pot-- and sometimes you can smell that upstairs.     She also plays her stereo occasionally kind of loud.    She may turn it down if asked.    Or she may get mad and turn it up..... depending on how the person asks, lol. Has family members coming over a lot. But, no damage, no problems.

Here are your Choices:
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PROSPECT 1:  A retired professor.  Makes around $4000 a month in SSI & benefits.  Has a large, 9 year old dog he swears is well behaved.   Sent picture, looks like a nervous dog, but cute.   He likes to golf.
Coming from a small town where he lived in a house owned by his brother, nice house in a nice neighborhood, but the house was sold.   I talked to said brother. Found out he lied about paying rent--- brother said he lived there for free but he was selling the house.  
Anyway, he wants to move into bigger city for next phase in life.
Apparently has no idea about the city he's moving to, or the neighborhood, but looked at apartment and likes it.


Concerns:
He may not like the pot smell or stereo.
Being retired, he'll be home all the time. He may find the neighborhood is not for him, not knowing the town well.
What if his car gets broken into?
Also, would the dog work in such an apartment. He says it will, but I just don't know.
No rental history
Lied about paying rent

PROSPECT 2:  Home healthcare worker.    She's had a job 6 years, and its only 6 minutes away from the apartment.
So she knows the neighborhood.
She quoted $1300 a month as her income.   Not enough of course.    But-- I talked to her employer and got a great reference. Employer says she can get plenty more work if she needs to.   I told her employer the rent and she says she can manage it.
Tenant applicant also says she has about $5000 in savings and says she saved up so she could pay rent.
She has two cats, but claims to be a great pet owner and keeps everything clean.
She has a rental reference:  Has rented a room and bathroom from a senior citizen for a number of years,
Talked to old landlord, she says renter was a 'good person' and paid her rent, but the senior wants to retire from leasing.

Concerns: She'll move in, then say she can't pay the rent

WHICH IS THE BEST GAMBLE?
Which prospect would you rent to.
You're not allowed to say neither, lol

As I’ve received valuable advice from this site, I’m back for more Biggerpockets wisdom.

A rental property of ours had extensive water damage from a burst pipe that took place while the tenant was out of town.

Thankfully, the damage was discovered the same day it began, but the water affected the main level ruining the kitchen, bathroom, hardwood floors, carpets, drywall, and the finished basement which contained the furnace.

A remediation company practically gutted the damaged areas, and we have an estimate from a construction company, which is ready to go when given the go-ahead.    

I filed an insurance claim with my insurer, and they sent out an adjuster to the home.    
   
The adjuster than informed me that the home's HOA policy is the primary, and because of that, my insurer would cover the hefty deductible of the HOA's policy, less my deductible to them.

Since the home is in Minnesota, the insurer suspects the damage is due to frozen pipes. 
 
At the insurer’s request, we provided utility bills proving the home was reasonably heated.  

Now, over two months after the damage, and claim was filed, and apparently because they can’t deny the claim for not heating the home, the insurer hired an investigative firm a few days ago to see whether we neglected to care for the furnace (the furnace stopped working from the water damage, as the water reached the ceiling in the basement).  
 
I need to mention that the tenants are amazing, patient and responsible, and have been very understanding during this time, and their renter’s insurance is providing temporary accommodations for them.  

Another important piece of information is that the immediate neighbor of the home (it’s a townhome with common walls on either side) filed a claim with my liability insurance for some damage to their wall.  

My insurer denied the claim, as they explained it to me, because in order for liability insurance to kick in, either the tenant or me had to have done something wrong. My insurance rep further stated that since their investigation deemed that we had no fault as to the damage, they are denying the neighbor’s claim.
 
Please note that all this insurance jargon is new to me, as thankfully, I haven’t had to deal with these type of matters before.  
 
I’m wondering whether we should begin reconstruction while the insurer is taking their time, whether beginning repairs could affect the claim in any way, and whether what the insurer is doing is reasonable.   
     

Hello all,

I’m new to renting out my property and facing a challenging situation with my tenants. Initially, they were paying rent on time, but over time, they stopped making payments and now owe $20,000.

I issued a one-month notice, but they are refusing to vacate, claiming they have nowhere else to stay. Meanwhile, I’m struggling to cover my mortgage, and they don’t seem to care.

I’d appreciate any legal guidance on how to proceed with eviction and recover the unpaid rent. Your suggestions would be extremely valuable.

Thank you,

Cindy 

Hi everyone,

I am new to the rental business and just purchased my first rental property. I want to make sure I screen tenants properly, but I am not sure where to start.

-What steps should I take to screen tenant applications?

-How do you conduct background checks, and which services do you recommend?

-What key criteria should I use to evaluate tenants (e.g., credit score, income, rental history)?

-What are the best ways to attract more quality rental applications?

Any advice or resources would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

During our pre-scheduled quarterly inspections, most of our tenants just go about their usual activities—cooking, watching TV, working, etc.—and don’t get in the way. However, we’ve had some different behavior from a newer tenant couple. The husband follows my husband around, and the wife closely trails me throughout the house. This doesn’t really interfere with the inspection, just makes it longer, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s a sign that they’re trying to distract us from something they might be hiding. Has anyone else experienced this or found it to be a red flag?

My tenants just notified me that their unit got broken into and money was stolen. This is a first for me, so I'm not sure whether there's a protocol or this isn't my responsibility. Any advice?

Wish I didn’t have to post this but I am torn on what to do. I bought my first rental in June of 2024 and have had a tenant that has been making late payments since day 1. I have been trying to be understanding but it has been pushing too much. 

My goal was to just take his month late payments and give him a non-renewal when his lease is up. At this point though it is almost February and he still has yet to be December and January. 

What are the best courses of action here? I have sent multiple 14-day possible eviction notices and still nothing. Tenant is profusely sorry and stays in contact, but that does not pay the mortgage. Any advice would be much appreciated thank you. 

I have a single family house in Detroit (I'm out of state) for past few years. This october the tenant left without warning and house went vacant. Repairs were needed and were finished by early december. Now the house has been sitting vacant for over one month despite PM putting it on zillow and other sites.

I'm curious, at what point does this reflect poorly on PM and suggest I should get antoher PM? On that note, any good PMs anyone would recommend in Detroit area?

Also concerning, I just looked at zillow post and the pictures are very grainy and unflattering, even though they should have access to the nicer photos (I have had these for years, see below)..

I've also been getting lots of calls form companies wanting me to sell my house. Anyone familiar with PMs who collude with house-hunting companys to purposefully make me more inclined to sell?

The picture they have on Zillow vs one of the several I have with the same view: