All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

It's very important to have a good Landlord/Tenant Relationship.  This entails respect for each other.  When you have both, you automatically have appreciation for each other.  

Be human with each other. 

Disagreements and arguments arise due to misunderstandings on both parties.  However, Tenants don't understand the Landlord Business, just like most people.  So, even though we may have this or that in our Lease Agreement, I will always be patient when it comes to explaining why this has to be done or that, pointing to where it says this or that in the Lease Agreement, and explaining to them why it has to be that way.  

Even though some of my methods may seem "hard nosed" to some, and perhaps to my tenants at some time or another, they always said, My landlord is tough, but she's fair, and they loved me for that, and I loved them back.  

Nancy Neville

If you have a lot of properties you will want all rents to be due at the same time, otherwise you will be in court for non-payment of rent every single day of the week, if all your tenants have different due dates.

My rents were due in my office on or before the  1st of the month.  On the 2nd of the month the tenants would receive a Notice to Quit for non-payment rent.  (It is just a Notice.  It doesn't go against their credit report or good name  as a Notice to Quit is just a NOTICE.)

I charge a late fee if rent is not received in my office on or before the 5th of the month.   (Courts don't like the daily fees.  They consider it gouging).  

If rent isn't received in my office on or before the 5th of the month then on the 6th I send them a bill for late fees in the amount of $25.00.  They now owe for rent for the month and a late fee which all must be paid within 7 days or else that NOTICE will truly become a legal document if I have to file it in a court of law.  Until then, that Notice is just a Notice. 

In Michigan a Notice to Quit is a 7 Day Notice.  And we  must allow two full days to mail it to the tenant.  So they really have 9 days to get that money into my office.   If they don't we go to court and now they have in addition to everything they owe me, legal fees.

This is a business !!!  Did I tell you that this is a business!  Do you know that this is a business?

Why do we, as landlords, feel we need to give everyone a break.  Gosh I'd love to get a break on my utilities.  They went up $30 this month.  My medical bills are sky high, where's my break?????  

Yet if we don't give our tenants a break somehow we feel guilty!   Why?  

You lease a car, you have payments, does the repo man feel guilty because he repossessed the car when you didn't pay?

What about our Mortgage Company.  Hmmm, they dont' seem to care whether I have a ton of vacancies and nobody's paying their rent.  Where's my break!!!!  :(

The eviction process takes  along time.  Let me give you a time line in Michigan.

The first of the month tenant doesn't pay the rent.  (January 1st)

The second of the month I send a Notice to Quit - they have 7 days to pay or I file the Notice in Court.  (Actually they have 9 days to pay because we have to allow 2 full days of mailing and we can't count the day we mailed it.  So really it's 10 days that the tenant has to get their rent in my office.  (So that takes us to January 12th)

The 5th of the month I charge a late fee

If the rent is not in my office by the 11th then on the 12th I can start the eviction process.  But unless that Notice to Quit is sent, I wouldn't be able to file for eviction at all.  That notice must be sent first. 

So on the 12th of the month I file the Notice to Quit.  It takes about 10 days (sometimes longer) before we can get a court date.   This puts us now on the 22nd  the month and I still haven't received rent.

We go to court, and the Judge gives the tenant another 10 days to pay rent or move.  This brings out now to the second month (February 1st)

The tenant doesn't move so now we need to get a Writ of Restitution and pay a lot of money to a court appointed official to remove the tenant from the home.  That can take 3 days or 3 months)

We are now into our second month of no rents or money collected. (Maybe longer)

 The later you put off mailing your Notices the longer your eviction is, especially if you have a street smart tenant.

The tenant can appeal.  They can say you never fixed the furnace and is why they haven't paid rent.   The judge will believe them (Most times) and  give them another 5 days for you to fix the furnace even if the furnace is working fine and the tenant lied.  Then you have to come back to court.  

The tenant can postpone a court date because they may be busy, or out of town.  So your court time  has been delayed.  Sometimes you know about it and some times you know about it when you get to court.  Depends on your Court .

Have you ever heard the saying that "No good deed goes unpunished"?  It's true.  You give your tenants time and you are the one that suffers.  

If you want to do good deeds, and we all do, don't use your business to do it with.  That is your income.  Volunteer your services somewhere where you can help others, but don't mix charity and doing good to others, when you are a business, especially and Industry like ours, where time is of the essence.

Nancy Neville

I agree with  Enrique Jevons, but I will elaborate a little more.

When a tenant breaks a lease, and moves out without giving me the proper notice, I continue to bill them for rent that is due.  

She moves out on November 1st.  This begins a new rental month ( if her rent is due on the first of every month), which we should always have rents due on the 1st of every month even if it means pro-rating a tenants rent to get it there.

If her  Lease Agreements states that she must give you a 60 day notice (hopefully this is in accordance with your state law) this  means she owes you for November and December.

Send her a bill for November's rent along with a letter stating that you understand she has moved and therefore will owe for December's rent as well.  

If she turned over the keys it is a simple money judgment that you seek with the courts. 

If she hasn't turned over the keys you need to evict her, even though you know she has moved.  Legally she hasn't moved until she lets you know in writing and by returning the keys.  

At any rate, no matter how you do it, it entails receiving a Judgment.  As Enrique says, the Judgment is then turned over to the Collection Agency to pursue if  this tenant doesn't pay.  The Collection Agency will garnish her wages, or income taxes, and will  hound her until she pays.  

This is a business of evictions and going to court to get our money. 

This is a business of evictions, damages, fixing up our homes over and over again. 

If we don't go into this business understanding this, and don't go court to fight for what legally and rightfully is ours, then we deserve what we get.  And that would be nothing.  Why be in this business if you fluff off the wrongs that are done to us, instead of fighting for the rights that we work so hard for?   

This is a business!  This is what it entails!  And tenants are no different than we are.  WE are expected to pay our bills and to take responsibility.  When we go after tenants who us money, it's not to be mean, it's because they owe us money!  They signed a contract with us, just as we sign a contract to rent a car, or buy a house.  So this all falls under Training your Tenants.  When they see there is consequences they know not to do it again! 

If landlords all stick together and do what we need to do, we might stand a chance to eliminate some of the injustices that we face.  But we must stand together!

I just noticed that the tenant signed a one years lease.  In that case she is responsible for the full term of the lease, or try to find another tenant for your that you approve of. 

Nancy Neville

Have you ever had a problem with a product or a service and felt better about your experience when you called or visited the place where you obtained the product or service and found out that you were really talking to the Owner?  I never can understand why some landlords don't want to let their tenants know they are the landlord!  I WANT THEM  to know I am the Landlord.  This is the only way to establish a good and honest landlord/tenant relationship, which helps to keep tenants long term.

With that said and done, you will eventually get the "hang of" weeding out the "Looky Loo's" and the ones who are really interested.  

When I showmy homes I first screened them with my ears, via the phone.  You can tell by their voice, their mannerism when speaking to them, if they will be aggressive, shy, easy going or a little rough around the edges.  That's okay, that is just giving us a sense of them at first contact.

When I actually show the home to someone, I then screen them with my eyes.  If I am not busy at the time, I can see when they drive up to the property if they are considerate.  Do they park in the neighbors driveway or in front of the rental home or the rental home's driveway?

Do they have a ton of people in the car, with a ton of kids that want to tour my home, eating chips and drinking red pop, or smoking cigarettes as they approach the home, where I have a big sign saying, "No Smoking or eating or drinking allowed, during the Open House"  Too bad we need to say that sometimes. 

As they walk in the door, I shake their hands and welcome them.  Do they smile back at me?  Do they refuse to shake my hand?  Do they walk past me and head for the basement first?  If they head for the basement first, they most likely will have this other family that are with them be moving in with them.  In the Basement!!  And even if they didn't bring the family with them, if they head for the basement first, they still plan 99% of the time to have someone live in the basement.

There are "Fast Talkers", which always raises the hair on the back of my neck. Don't like fast talkers.  Then there are the ones that say, they love your home and how they can see themselves living their all their life, but under their breath really is saying, yea without ever paying you rent.  So "Cocky" is kind of a turn off.  

Then you've got the "White Glove" Tester.  She has to touch tops of door entrance ways to see if their is dust.  Fuzz on the carpeting, "Are you going to replace that carpet it's got fuzz" (well maybe not that extreme, but pretty much), and those that will be "Stone Faced" and you just don't know.  And they leave without filling out an application, and that's okay. They have a right to look and shop around.  

The ones that do stick around you interview while they are filling out the application form.  I love talking to the kids if they bring them with them.  Because kids like to tell YOU EVERYTHING.  LIke the pit pull they have that will be living in the basement! Or Auntie and Uncle going to be living there too.  Aah kids!  Ya just gotta love em!  

I never show properties that are occupied, especially if it was my own home.  I would move out first, then show it.  People bring their kids, and some don't control the kids.  Little hands touch and get into everything, quicker than you can blink an eye.  Oops something of yours went into their little pocket.  

But that's my intake.  

Nancy Neville

The questions is why did you not choose them if they qualified?  You need to be very careful because there are "Testers" out there.  

We are in the business of renting our rentals out, so why would you not want to rent to them if they qualified?  

There is always something in our Rental Criteria for selecting a tenant to disqualify them in some way shape or form.  And if they still qualify 100% then, WOW you've got a keeper!

My criteria was as follows:

*If employed, must be employed for at least a year, and make 3 times the amount of rent as income.

*If not employed, must make at least 3 times the amount of rent as income.(From whatever assistance it may come from) 

*Must not have any landlord/tenant evictions against you!

*Must have more good credit than bad  (Economy is bad so I allowed for that) 

*Must have no lawsuits against you.  

*If you had a Bankruptcy, must be at least over one year ago that the case was filed and completed. 

Nancy Neville

This is a very interesting topic.  Have you ever watched the movie "Pacific Heights"? It is about a young couple who fixed up a house, lived in the upper level and interviewed a man for the downstairs apartment.  The man moved in without their permission and took POSSESSION of the house.  The owners couldn't touch him with a ten foot pole.  They had to evict him as though he were a real tenant.  Why?  Because he was in POSSESSION of the home.  

Landlords face this many times with their renters.  We never know exactly how many people are actually in POSSESSION of our homes, that is why (when we do an Eviction), that we write John Smith and ALL OCCUPANTS on all legal documents when filing for Evictions. 

First you need to have some type of evidence that your tenant is no longer there, has actually left without notice.  You can't go by "word of mouth".  And, you can't just enter the premises without just cause.  You could perhaps give your tenant a 24 hour notice that you need to fix something in the house or unit in order to take a peek inside.  (Check your state laws on the procedure for proper notice to enter a rental dwelling).

When and if the time comes to evict this tenant, make sure you list the tenants name and these words "and ALL OCCUPANTS".  By using these words it evicts everyone that is in POSSESSION of the home including the dog! 

I've had this happen to me a few times, and it's tough to play the waiting game, but if you don't, you can get in trouble with the courts, and you don't know who these people are that are in possession of the home, so you need to be careful.  

Try to get inside the unit Legally, by giving proper notice to enter for some repair type thing, and if the people are still there just have  a conversation as to, Oh, are you visiting so and so?  Polite conversation.  Keep your cool.  Don't let on that you are "peeking" or "worried". 

If you don't receive rent on time, send out your Notice to Quit, with the words...WHAT WORDS?   John Doe and ALL OCCUPANTS!  And you need to add those words to the Summons and Complaint and the Judgment Form when you go to court. 

If you don't use the words ALL OCCUPANTS, and only use John Doe, then you are only evicting John Doe and not everyone in possession of the home.  

Just a little tip.  Plus if you really want to be afraid, watch the move Pacific Heights.  

Nancy Neville

There is some good news for you.  Once you receive a Judgment, you can turn it over to a collection agency.  Do a search in your area.  I have a collection agency that collected for me after eleven years went by.  The tenant moved back to Michigan, my collection agency found them, and I got every penny, less their profit for finding them.  

You can garnish their wages.  But a lien on their properties, but a good collection agency will do that for you.  

Find a "Hound Dog" Collection Agency.  And..what you don't collect you can write off, because those expenses and loss of income are expenses which you want to make sure you list when filing for taxes.

Nancy Neville

Before becoming a Property Manager you should know what it takes to be a landlord.  What it means to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into just one house and then try and trust someone to live in it, not to mention a person to manage it for you. 

You need to study the landlord/tenant laws of your state.  The City Ordinances of where the properties are located.  

The kicker is this.  There are not a lot of laws on the books regarding Landlord/Tenant Laws, and therefore the courts (the Judges) base their decisions on the facts presented to them during the hearing.  

Some Judges feel everything a tenant does in the rental home is just normal wear and tear.  Others will be sympathetic to the landlord and award him or her their Judgment.

A lot of responsibility to being a landlord let alone someone who wants to manage their properties.

You need to know how to work with tenants, and still keep within the lease agreement, and still keep them wanting to stay when you have to deny a request.  Too many things to tell you in a small post.

Being a property manager in all states but three require you to be a Broker,work for a Broker, be licensed.  The other three states (it may be five but I truly believe it's three) you must have a license, so either way, you need to be licensed. 

It is a very important decision and I've seen too many Property Managers, not have a clue as to what they are doing.  I feel so sorry for those landlords who don't have a clue either so much so that they too don't even know how to pick a good Property Manager.

Nancy Neville

There is an old saying in this Landlord Biz and that is never rent to family and/or friends!  So why try to make your tenants your friends or treat them like family!

Being a landlord is a business.  Our rental properties cost us a "mint".  It is a business of profit and loss.  It is a business of people management.  

We want to make our tenants happy and we want to have a good landlord/tenant relationship which will entail long term tenants.  

But we are not the tenants friend, family, or bank! Once you cross that line and establish that relationship, they will think it's okay to pay rent late, to tell you what they want in the rental, and expect you to do what they ask.  After all, you're buddies!!

A tenant should never be allowed to have the say so on anything that has to do with the Landlords investment.  That means, the color of paint, choosing the carpeting, etc. 

When a landlord purchases a rental home, they look for the best possible deals.  Then they calculate how much it would cost to fix the place up.  Yet, at the same time, getting products that not only look good, but last a long time.  That can weather years of wear and tear.  That might mean berber carpeting, painting the walls white or off white or eggshell.  

You can't treat this business as a friendship.  Our business has rules and regulations that tenants must follow.  Just like we have rules that we must follow when it comes to landlord/tenant laws. 

We don't want to go overboard and overstep the boundaries of the Contract, by trying to be pals with our tenants.  Not to say we want to be unapproachable, but we must draw that line of who is in charge in order maintain the proper Landlord/Tenant relationship and the responsibilities of each party.

It's a bad move. Treat this as a business.  Tenants should have no say so over what you, as the landlord, decides to do with his or her rental unit.  

Nancy Neville

Actually it depends on your State Law.  In Michigan we are allowed to charge one month and a half for a Security Deposit, plus one months rent.

Some states, only allow you to charge first and last months rent.  Check with your State Law regarding your Landlord/Tenant Laws, and also read your City Ordinances!!!!

Nancy Neville