All Forum Posts by: Marcia Maynard

I'd start with a visit to your local reference librarian and also to the City of Houston planning, building, permitting office. Find out what's required in your area. You don't need to tell them about your specific project at this point, just find out where you can get accurate information about this as you consider it for the future.

What you should do and what you're required to do may not be the same. Always put SAFETY first. What would be prudent to do? There may be different requirements for new builds, full-house renovations, or partial renovations of rooms or systems.  Find out what projects require permits and which don't. 

Change to M2M and you won't have to do the lease renewal dance every year. M2M rental agreements also allow you to change terms more readily when you need to.

Here's our rent raise letter... works well, even for those who initially feel they can't afford a rent raise. If you raise rent by $30 that's only a $1 a day and an easy number for tenants to wrap their head around. So I suggest a $30 raise instead of $25.   :-)  Note, we invite tenants to call our office if they have special circumstances they want to discuss, rarely does anyone do this. If they do, they have a chance to express their concerns and we have a chance to listen. Since we are already under market, we've never had a tenant decide to move instead of paying the increase. If it has been more than two years, tenants expect to see a rent raise at some point. It shouldn't catch them by surprise. If we think it will, we send this notice 60-days in advance for them to be able to get used to the idea and/or check-out the market competition.  For us, they always stay and adjust to the new reality.

30-DAY NOTICE OF RENT INCREASE

RCW 59.18.140  (reference to our state's landlord-tenant law, replace this with yours)

Tenant: ____________________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________

Dear Tenant,

As I’m sure you’re aware, during this past year rental rates have increased significantly in our area.

We have personally experienced increased costs for taxes, utilities, maintenance and repairs.

Therefore, we must increase rent for the dwelling you occupy.

This notice is given on the date of:_______________________

Effective date of change in rent:____________________

New rent:____________________

We value you as a tenant.  If you feel you have special circumstances that you would like to discuss with us, please call our office.

Sincerely,

(our signatures)

Fischer Properties

(address)

(phone number)

Why mess with it? I doubt you would see a good return on your money if you are not adding extra square feet to the overall footprint of the unit.

Sounds like the house is fine as it is.  Large walk-in closets (storage) and real laundry rooms are a favorable features. Much more desirable for working professionals than a tiny extra bedroom.  What market are you aiming for?  

Also consider the maximum occupancy that is possible. We set two persons per bedroom, which is reasonable and unlikely to be challenged. HUD properties allow two persons per bedroom plus one. Adding another bedroom will make it attractive to households with more people. Is that what you want?

Even though you may be able to do a no-cause termination with a 30-day notice, you can give them more time. We prefer to give at least 60-90 days notice to terminate. Packing up a family and finding another suitable place to live on short notice is difficult to do. Try to have an open and honest conversation with the tenant. Maybe they can find another place to move to sooner, maybe not. Consider giving them a incentives to give up their home earlier. Negotiate a win-win.

Find resources to bridge the language/cultural barrier. Don't underestimate your ability to communicate effectively and the tenant's ability as well. If you deliver something in written English, the tenant will need to find a resource to translate/interpret it into their preferred language. In our jurisdiction we're not required to translate our documents into any other language than English. But for good measure, verify that your tenants understand your communications, both verbal and written.

@Cameron Riley

Not at all, as long as the number of people you will accept is reasonable for the size and type of unit. We accept up to two people per bedroom and/or up to four people per bathroom and/or up to one person per 200 sq ft of living space. So our 780 sq ft 2BR/1BA apartments have max occupancy of 4 people.

Title of your post threw me.  Are you talking about the Real Estate Investor's due diligence prior to purchase?

Here are some things to check:

• Property ownership and the seller's legal right to sell the property to you.
• Possibility of liens or other encumbrances on the property
• Property information, such as tax history, permits pulled on the property, and other property details
• Utilities that service the property and condition of the sewer lines/septic tank
• Complete inspection of the property, inside and outside.
• Repair history, including records from the current owner and blue prints if they are available.
• If currently tenanted, information about the current tenants. Ask for a copy of the tenant file, including the current lease and rent payment history. Don't sweat if this isn't available. You can get an estoppel from the tenant as to their personal information and current rental agreement if necessary.
• Adjacent properties, including property lines, and neighbors
• Neighborhood, including crime history
• Visit the property and neighborhood numerous times at all times of day and night and observe what you see and hear
• Also, look at current zoning and anything in the pipeline from the city planners office about the area
• Public transportation accesss
• Police and Fire District info regarding services provided
• Insurance you will need
• Financing you may need

As to what the property management company may need or want.... ask them!

Good thing you have ample documentation of the unit condition from start to finish while this tenant lived there. Seems it may help your case if you have documentation (or even affidavits) of the unit condition from the tenancies of the tenant prior and the tenant after this particular tenant.  I do believe the court will take into consideration the policies and procedures that were in place at the time, the notifications of problems received from the tenant, and the adequacy of your response. Demonstrate that you (or your designee - the PM) provide habitable housing and respond appropriately to problems as they arise.  They will be looking for timeliness and effectiveness of your response. Was a good faith effort made to keep the property habitable? What specifically is it that the Health Department is finding at fault? Your attorney and your insurance company will be able to help you with this matter.

You need to know all the landlord-tenant laws for your jurisdiction better than your tenants and about as good as your lawyer. Then be sure to do everything in a legal manner. The rental unit is in California, is that correct? In what city/county? You will need to comply with federal, state, and local laws for your jurisdiction.

Few questions/observations/comments:

• Was the tenant renting a room only or an entire place?
• Did you have a written rental agreement signed by all parties?
• Did you do an inspection of the premises prior to the tenant moving in, document your findings, and have all parties sign/date this?
• Does your jurisdiction require a final walk-through inspection with the tenant? It may be recommended, but I doubt it's required. It's not uncommon for tenants to skip a final walk-through, especially if they know they have damaged the place.
• Did you give the tenant proper legal notice to pay rent or quit? What was her response to that?
• Did you give the tenant proper legal notice to enter? Have you seen the inside of the unit lately?
• Have you attempted to contact the tenant by all means? Of course you can call her and text her.
• You can not enter the rental unit without either the tenants expressed permission to do so or having served a legal notice to enter. Why the delay of four days?
• She could have moved out. She could still be there. What do you know of the tenant's intentions?
• You could call the police to do a "welfare check" if you have good reason to believe the tenant is still in the room and incapacitated. The police will typically knock three times and then allow you to open the door with a key if there's no answer. They will go in and check if there's a person there, but not allow you to enter.
• She is not "squatting" if you entered into a rental agreement with her. She may be "unlawfully detaining" on your property if her lease has expired, hasn't been paying rent, and/or you have filed for an eviction and the judge upheld your claim.
• It's a tough situation no doubt, but not a crisis. Sounds like you have already taken legal steps necessary to evict this tenant. Consult with your attorney. No need to delay.

Perhaps your state has a standard form that you can use. Check with your local rental association. Also, you need to know all the landlord-tenant laws for your jurisdiction better than your tenants and about as good as your lawyer.

All applicants deserve notification in a timely manner if they are approved to rent or denied. You don't need to go into great detail about the denial, but there does need to be a valid reason that is legal and tied to your rental criteria. It's standard practice for all legal notifications to be in writing, preferably by regular mail, but these days email notification may suffice. Why not cover yourself and do both?

Be keenly aware of fair housing laws. You don't want to give a "chilling effect" to any applicant, especially those in protected classes. When you deny an applicant, you need to have solid footing to do so. Start by establishing clear and legal rental criteria. Evaluate all applications against the same rental criteria and ask the same pre-screening questions of each applicant.  

If prospective renters are aware of your rental criteria prior to submitting an application, they are likely to eliminate themselves if they don't have what it takes to be successful and will not apply in the first place. If you're in a position of having to deny an application, perhaps the applicants don't know what you are looking for or you're processing too many applications at the same time.