All Forum Posts by: Sharon N.

Thanks Chris. My company has in excess of ten tenants and we were instructed to purchase a real estate software. I will definitely look into this.

We need to enter information such as the start and end date of each lease which is not possible in QuickBooks.

I will attend the next webinar to learn some of the features.

I contacted Sierra Judgement Recovery[PHONE NUMBER REMOVED].
For $10 she got me the tenants new address which was a P.O. Box. I guess my tenant was on the run. See if she can help and then you can take the tenant to small claims court.

George,

I totally agree with you that tenants should be treated well. I treat them with respect and work with them until it is no longer possible. They allow me to be in business when rent is paid as agreed. Of course, there are times when you get a bad apple.

Thanks for the information and sharing your expeiences.. I did take her to small claim court and won the judgement. She made it very clear that she was now uemployed but I will still send it to her previous employer in case.

One thing I have learnt over the years, is that at the start of a new lease it is a good idea to have them update their personal information. I have 2 cases where they no longer work for the same company and always made rent payment by check.

I have contacted a judgement recovery service but with all the out of pocket expense and vacancy I am trying to collect as much on my own.

In such case, I will check if it is possible to garnish income tax returns in GA as Patrick suggested.

I hope I will be as fortunate as Andy, I have lost so much rental income on account of bad tenants.

How soon after non payment do you start court proceeding? Do you send the 3-5 days notice or file with the court immediately?

I had a similiar experience where the property manager made himself the landlord, signed the lease, and collected the rent. Always gave me the run around. He finally gave me a check 30 days later for less than the actual rent and told me he had to make repairs on the property.

I canceelled the agreement. He did not turn over the security deposit. I went to the tenant, showed them the deed that I was the owner and gave them a new lease.

For me it pays to collect the rent myself and seek a skillful handyman for my repairs. Also, purchasing properties within an hour or more from home makes life a lot easier to deal with problems whenever they arise.

How do you go about collecting a judgement for unpaid rent? Have you ever been successful?

Thanks for all your responses. QuickBooks seems to be the popular software so far. I also find QuickBooks to be very helpful. In case a claim is made for unpaid rent, the customer details provide all the billing and payment to date. This allows the information to be readily available for each tenant. I keep a spreadsheet with the tenants name for security deposit.

I also print a copy of the deposit and attach to my bank statement in case there are any questions about deposits made. Recently a tenant moved out and claimed that she had made the payment. I was able to show copies of all her deposits showing that she had an outstanding balance.

Would you hire a bookkeeper? What are pros and cons?

When do you prepare the infomation needed to file your taxes? Monthly, quarterly or year end?

How do you keep record of your income and expenses for your rental properties?