All Forum Posts by: Marcia Maynard

Stephanie, glad to share my wording with you. If I put it out there, and you like it, make it your own. I've borrowed ideas from many other landlords over the years and have shared mine. That's what we are here for. :-)

Have you heard of ambulance chasers? There are some public insurance adjusters who listen in on fire department radio frequencies, show up at the scene of a fire and then try to convince the property owner to hire their services for a fee or percentage of the claim. Be careful. You may or may not need the services of a public insurance adjuster, but if you do, you should be seeking them out, not the other way around. Check references before signing a contract.

If you are dealing with a reputable insurance company, you generally do not need a Public Adjuster. On the rare chance that you want to pay someone to represent you in filing your claim, then ask your attorney to recommend one. Do NOT just hook up with a stranger who chases fire trucks.

One of our tenants had a felony conviction ten years prior to renting from us. His crime was PCS Meth. That's serious and usually comes with a lot of extra baggage. However, he had a successful rehab, is a dedicated single father and is gainfully employed, recently promoted to foreman at his job. He is in his fifth year renting from us. He is one of our "all-star" tenants, meaning he consistently pays rent on or before it is due and doesn't cause us trouble.

We take into account individual merit before making our decision to offer to rent, we abide by fair housing law, and are thorough in our tenant screening process.

Washington State landlord-tenant law requires us to have written rental criteria that we show to prospective tenants before they apply to rent. Here is an excerpt from ours:

LEGAL/CRIMINAL HISTORY

1. Criminal offenses (misdemeanor or felony) of a violent nature against person or property will result in denial.

2. Applicants with a non-violent criminal misdemeanor that occurred more than two years ago or a non-violent criminal felony that occurred more than five years ago may be considered if restitution for their crime was made in full and all time was served. Also, we would require an additional security deposit and demonstration of good legal history, employment history, credit history, and rental history since the time of the crime. Applicants with a pattern of multiple offenses will be denied regardless of what the employment, credit and rental history shows.

We have a no pets policy too, after de-catting and de-dogging several of our properties. Damage can be quite extensive - thousands of dollars on one of our houses from damage caused by cats. Personally, I find the smell of cats and dogs bothers me quite a bit. Fortunately there are pet friendly places for people who want to live with pets.

As for tenants who intentionally break the rules and blatantly lie, there should be consequences. One needs to be firm, but fair. What is firm and what is fair can certainly be debated. I appreciate the original poster for being willing to be candid about what occurred and how he handled it. Many opinions and good points made by others too, but there is no need for name calling, please keep insults out of the forums.