All Forum Posts by: LeeAnn Owens

Limit your involvement, tell them that you can’t control what someone else does on their property, especially if they’re already being compliant with local laws & regulations.

Sorry to hear you’re dealing with that! Have you looked up the property owners information to find an office location/ owners mailing address? Since they aren’t being responsive to you I would reach out to the county. They will be more responsive once they get a citation from the county!

Rent Spree! And take a copy of their ID’s when they come to look at the property. 

Quote from @Amy Lee:

Quote from @Colleen F.:

@Amy Lee so does the lease specifically say they pay utilities but not address the turnover or is it silent on utilities?  Regardless  tell them the utilities  is not switched over and how to do it. If you get pushback because they think utilities are included you could be in trouble. This is one instance where I would pay them to leave. 

 correct. I added it for my template for future uses (although I would just enforce that it should be transferred prior to giving them the keys) but the current only has language that tenant is responsible for XYZ utilities. It does not address consequences or the period that they should transfer these. They technically slacked only a few days but with the holidays/new year and their time to get a tech out to "start" service, I'm probably looking at late next week if not the following week. I wasn't sure if I am to eat the cost for paying for their use for like 2 weeks or if there was a way to bill it back to them (like if the utility company was able to give me an exact amount some how)

@Amy Lee if it states that they are responsible for the utilities that would begin at the commencement date of the lease. Are they refusing to pay the utilities? When they call to transfer service they can have it backdated to their move in date. If they’re refusing to pay utilities, then they’re in violation of the lease and you can terminate the lease agreement. There are probably some differences state by state but you should be able to. 

Quote from @Daniel Suarez:

Thanks @LeeAnn, 

A lot of the tenants break the lease because they cannot pay the rent and just endup leaving. Just foudn out actually one of the tenants that broke the lease ended up being a crack addict that was stealing from another tenant (smh) 

Definitely need to do a better job verifying income/ employment then! Sorry to hear you’re dealing with that. I use rent spree for tenant screening. Cheap and easy

Quote from @Greg M.:

Quote from @LeeAnn Owens:

Assuming they’re both on a fixed income, it makes sense that they wouldn’t be able to afford a rent increase.

We need to stop this "seniors are on a fixed income" lie. I don't know how it got attached to seniors exclusively, but it isn't accurate. It's just something that everybody says without actually thinking about it.

Seniors get an inflation adjustment every year with Social Security. However, many active workers are actually on fixed incomes as their wages don't increase with inflation. 

@Greg M. do your research, it doesn’t actually keep up with increasing costs of housing and other necessities 

Quote from @James Wise:

Quote from @LeeAnn Owens:

Quote from @James Wise:

Quote from @LeeAnn Owens:

@Brandon Thurman thanks for posting this is a great question! Unpopular opinion- I would have passed up on this property because I wouldn't want to raise the rent on the these tenants. Yes you're running a business and not a charity, but you also want to be able to sleep at night with the business decisions you're making. Assuming they're both on a fixed income, it makes sense that they wouldn't be able to afford a rent increase. I think the best win-win option is helping them identify a program to subsidize their rent. Maybe there's a program through HUD. I'm in MD and I know we have a program like that here.

If you wouldn't buy it because you would lose sleep raising these tenants rent, why wont you buy it to prevent someone else from raising their rent? Does their self imposed situation only bother you if you have to hear them whine directly to you?

Personal preference, I’d expect most to disagree with me and that’s fine!

 You do see how hslypocritical it is though?

What makes these forums so helpful is that everyone is coming with a different perspective and therefore different opinions. I may not share your opinion, but I appreciate you taking the time to comment and adding to the conversation. Have a great Saturday! 

Quote from @James Wise:

Quote from @LeeAnn Owens:

@Brandon Thurman thanks for posting this is a great question! Unpopular opinion- I would have passed up on this property because I wouldn't want to raise the rent on the these tenants. Yes you're running a business and not a charity, but you also want to be able to sleep at night with the business decisions you're making. Assuming they're both on a fixed income, it makes sense that they wouldn't be able to afford a rent increase. I think the best win-win option is helping them identify a program to subsidize their rent. Maybe there's a program through HUD. I'm in MD and I know we have a program like that here.

If you wouldn't buy it because you would lose sleep raising these tenants rent, why wont you buy it to prevent someone else from raising their rent? Does their self imposed situation only bother you if you have to hear them whine directly to you?

Personal preference, I’d expect most to disagree with me and that’s fine!

@Amy Lee great question! Let me start by saying I LOVE the “my (insert family member) is a real estate agent” game. I’ve dealt with this. All you need to say is “This lease is a contract, __ does not have privity of contract”. 

Interesting issue with the service dog, I don’t allow dogs but would obviously have to if it was a service dog, but I never thought to add something into my lease about picking up after pets. I will now!

Do you have something in your lease stating they must keep the premises clean? You could probably fall back on that. Also, most towns / cities have regulations around poop in a yard. It’s a health and safety issue. I have friends in Baltimore who got a citation for (not a lot) of dog poop in their yard. 

You should just give them two options, they can pick it up or they can pay for a service to pick it up. If they refuse to pay it can come out of their deposit. 

@David Lee you can have preferences as long as they’re not protected under fair housing laws. There’s a very specific set of criteria you can use to screen tenants. You can (and should) deny them because of the credit score. It’s better to go another month without a tenant then ending up with someone who isn’t paying.