All Forum Posts by: Lisa W.

Thanks @Theresa Harris and @Richard F. The tenant had been on a yearly lease and the PM was supposed to send them a lease renewal at end of May (for a September renewal). They dropped the ball though and didn't send the renewal until October. They screwed up on lots of other things too, so I severed our relationship in November and communicated the new management (me) to the tenant. In retrospect it would've been cleaner to wait for the new lease to take effect, but there were reasons for my madness. 

My understanding is that here when a fixed term lease expires it changes to month-to-month by default, so that's the current status.  Per your feedback I'll send her a new renewal notice with effective date in 90+ days. At least the security deposit transferred to me OK, and I promptly notified the tenant of the new bank info where it's held.

Thank you both for very helpful advice!

Hi there.  In mid-November I 'fired' my property manager and resumed self-management of my duplex.  The property manager had sent the tenant a lease renewal in October, to be returned by end of January.  I recently pinged tenant with a reminder, as I haven't received it yet.  She wrote 

"At no time in the process of separating from [mgmt company] did you mention that we were going to continue any of the contract elements. I recycled the rental agreement assuming that if you wanted to have one with me that you would let me know. I believe that you are obligated to write your own, one which identifies you specifically as the landlord."

I believe she's incorrect in her assumptions, in that the management company was acting as my agent. 

Would appreciate confirmation (or not) from folks here.  Thanks much!

Just tried FurnishedFinder's KeyCheck service for the first time.  Turns out it's pretty much the same thing as TransUnion SmartMove IMO....at least that's what appears to be the "engine" underlying it.  When you click the box to agree to the terms of service, what pops up is from SmartMove. Looks like FurnishedFinder licenses the Transunion technology, overlays their own interface and rebrands it.

KeyCheck is owned by the same company that owns FurnishedFinder (which I suspect is the company you mentioned that targets travel nurses).  Personally I would be wary of using their service without understanding how thorough their checking actually is, and their methodology. There have been stories in the news about Uber drivers who had been screened and background checked by Uber, only to commit violent crimes.  Turns out the screening company's methodology wasn't very thorough.  Not saying KeyCheck is bad or good, just that I'd look into it first before using it.  I do have a listing on FurnishedFinder myself but use a different company for screening. The tip from @ChelseaKline is worth checking out.  Also, many local landlord associations offer access to screening tools as part of their membership.  

Another consideration is your local law and how you'd be affected by creating a new lease.  For example, in some places rent increases are only allowed after the first year of a tenancy.  So creating a new lease for the remaining tenant would 'reset the clock' on your ability to increase rent.  There may be other implications for creating a new lease vs. keeping existing one with addendum for co-tenant moving out.  Probably simpler to do the latter.

Thankfully appliances are electric, not gas.

I believe CA has a $900 annual fee for LLCs.  For that reason I chose not to go that route for the single rental condo I own in CA.  Got an umbrella liability insurance policy instead to reduce liability exposure.

Tenant has requested that I provide rollers under appliances (stove, W/D) so she can move them to clean under and behind them.  Claims was not clean when she moved in. I said that appliances are not normally put onto rollers because they are designed to not be moved while in use, and suggested she move them by putting onto a masonite board or SuperSliders.  She replied that she expects me to provide them, otherwise she refuses to be responsible for any damage done to the sheet vinyl floor. In 20 years of managing three units I've never had this come up before.

How would you fellow landlords respond?  

@Jeff S., how did this project turn out? And did you put any sound dampening insulation between the floors in addition to the new CoreTec and underlayment? Curious minds want to know!