All Forum Posts by: Peter Christensen

 Fair point.  I guess that bit of attitude from the wife I am choosing to ignore because the husband has always been very cooperative and responsive. Rent is paid on time. They take care of small issues themselves and don't need their hands held and seem to want to take ownership somewhat of where they live and don't want to let it fall apart. Perhaps my standards for a good tenant are too low.  I have just had some tenants in the past who couldn't make rent or wouldn't mow the lawn or insisted we needed an electrician when they had just tripped a breaker.  Dumb stuff like that.  I am still a novice compared to most folks on here, so that is why I seek advice.

@JD Martin - I've been thinking that I will end up just having to deduct from their deposit, but I'm afraid if this goes on long enough the bill will get so big it might be larger than the deposit.

They've actually been great tenants otherwise so far, so I just signed them for another year recently because they told me that they finally paid this bill.  I guess I should have requested a receipt.  I will be doing that now.

The wife had a sassy response the one time I was asking for it to be paid. Something like "I'm sorry you're confused about this, but it's not your business that we're using a third party payment plan".  Ugh, I'm not confused, I just want this taken care of, per your lease!  So I've been talking to her husband only since then, haha.

I self manage a SFH in St. Paul, MN. The tenants signed a lease that requires them to pay all Utilities other than trash/recycling. They put the water utility in their name, as I required, but it seems like they don't think they have to pay the bill. I keep getting notices from the city utility about it. When I call and tell them it's my tenant's responsibility, the City acknowledges that the account is in my tenants' names. But for whatever reason, I am still notified by the City so that makes me worried that I will be on the hook when they move out one day and this will destroy my credit. Whenever I confront my tenants about this, they either claim it's being taken care of by a third party payment plan they set up (probably some sort of debt consolidation program, presumably) or they tell me they have taken care of it. Yet I keep getting notices.

Anyone else have experience with this?  It's just odd to me, as the rent is paid on time each month and that is a far bigger bill.

I own both units of a twinhome that has been a cash flowing property for me the last 4 years. Currently one unit is available for rent (see Zillow link) starting July 1st. I haven't listed it on the MLS yet because with the higher interest rates I'm afraid it wouldn't cash flow unless you made a much larger down payment. However, I'm still throwing it out there to this community, because it could be the right investment to someone off market if you're looking for something close to Lake Minnetonka. Nothing wrong with the property, I just am in a season of life where self-managing this duplex that's 45 minutes from where I live is an added stress and I'd like to pull my equity out for other investments.

https://www.zillow.com/b/2595-lydiard-cir-excelsior-mn-5sKyC...

Wow, that's a great tidbit on the W-2.  Looking up the owner of the property is also something I didn't think of.  Thanks.

Is there any way I could get in trouble for scrutinizing this tenant more than my usual screening criteria?  I am only doing so because during my normal screening I found these red flags.  Normally everything has appeared to be on the up and up so I didn't go to these lengths.  But in fairness to everyone and to be in good standing with the laws, should I be scrutinizing everyone this much?  Or is there going to be understanding for digging deeper when the initial screening process produces these apparent inconsistencies?

Yeah I called her rental reference this morning and it was fishy once again.  She said the tenant was basically a perfect tenant for the last 11 years with never a late payment or noise or damage complaint.  That in and of itself isn't fishy, per se, but what was fishy was the person picking up didn't sound like a property manager to me.  When I mentioned the property, she muttered "oh yeah" or something like that.  I even asked her why she had a Minnesota area code for a rental in Miami, and she said she's the owner and self manages properties all over the country, and she's currently in Texas.  It's hard to articulate everything, but it just was nothing like the other experiences I've had when I've dealt with references.

I tried calling her employer, and that number just says "the number who have dialed is no longer in service".  So I guess maybe she figured I wouldn't call that reference? 

Thanks for the advice.  I'll ask for some other verification or simply move on.  I'm 100% sure this woman is a fraudster at this point.

I have always used Zillow's tenant screening application process to screen tenants in the past, and it's worked out for me so far.  I am currently considering an applicant that looks kind of fishy, but I wonder if I'm being paranoid.  I've heard of people just putting their friends or family down as rental references and such, and forging pay stubs, but always hoped I would never encounter this.  Right now, I'm pretty suspicious.

The good news is that her credit score is over 750, and I usually want over 700.  Everyone over 700 has never given me any trouble, but as you'll see, I now am doubting that's her actual score.

I went to call her rental reference, and right away, I was suspicious.  I'm based here in Minnesota.  The applicant told me she's relocating from Miami, FL.  I gave her a virtual tour of the property via Facetime tonight and asked her if she was ready for a Minnesota winter, and she told me she's actually from Minnesota and moving back home.  So when I saw her listed address in Miami, I was confused as to why an area code for the Twin Cities was the number for the rental manager for her apartment.  I googled the address, and it comes up as a condo for down there, but why would a 952 number be the rental manager for an apartment in Miami?  Oh well, perhaps that's another person who relocated.

But then her work reference was for a remote job based out of Pennsylvania, and the number for her reference there was also a 952 number.  The coincidences are adding up now to where I'm very suspicious.  I checked her paystubs, and I can't find the company listed on it, other than one that has a slightly different spelling.  The paystub also has misspellings of the city the office is supposedly located in.

So then I tried googling her, and a woman in Miami, FL with the same name does exist, but she looks nothing like the woman I facetimed with tonight.  I'm now wondering if this woman stole her identity, and that woman is the one with the good credit score.

Am I crazy paranoid, or on to something?  Anyone else caught someone cheating the application process?

I am self managing a SFH in St. Paul, Minnesota. The tenants are boyfriend/girlfriend and under a 12 month lease that started July 1st and so far have been all star tenants. They pay on time, they notify when things go wrong, etc.
Out of nowhere I got a text this past weekend from the girlfriend saying they have broken up and the boyfriend is moving out soon, but she plans to stay and promises that her parents will help with rent until the end of the lease.
I imagine this stuff happens all the time, and it really wouldn't bother me at all if they had handled this all privately and not involved me as long as rent kept getting paid, but she is saying she wants the lease amended so that his name isn't on it anymore.  I explained to her that he is a tenant with rights just as much as her, and I can't just remove him from the lease.  I got his side of the story, and he didn't want to involve me.  He knew he technically was still on the hook for the rent, but apparently he trusts her and her parents enough to make rent and the situation not to cause any issues for him down the line.

Since first talking to them, they have now come to some agreement where he is fine with signing something saying he's not on the lease anymore.  I guess her parents don't want him to have the ability to turn around later and say he wants to move back in or something like that so they want him off the lease.  I told them I can see what I can do, but I haven't made any promises, and that I have to protect my investment.

How would you handle this situation?  I use the standard Minnesota lease agreement and I don't see anything in it about removing individuals from the lease but keeping it active.  I don't even know how to terminate the lease mutually if I wanted to, which is an option I explored, because she said she would then sign a new lease that would last until the end of the original lease.  I really would like to avoid involving any lawyers since that would of course be very expensive.  Anyone else encounter this situation before?

**Update**

I received the rent yesterday evening, so all is good, for now at least.

I'm still a very inexperienced renter and all of my other tenants have always paid in full and on time.  I've been lucky.

Just another situation I've had to encounter for the first time that won't be as scary next time.

I appreciate all of the sage advice.

Thanks everyone for your advice.

**Update**

Texting the whole group and mentioning the late fee seemed to do the trick.  The other two tenants have already reached out and promised that I will receive rent today.  It hasn't come through yet, but I can tell they are serious and very apologetic.  I suspect they will kick their roommate in the butt if necessary to not screw up their living situation.

I think I should have involved those roommates from the moment I only received 2/3 of the rent and reminded them that they all owe rent in full, and there are no "portions" of rent from my perspective.  I will provide more updates as they happen.