All Forum Posts by: Rebekah Nation

Hello everyone,

I’m a first time landlord and I just delivered a 7 day notice to pay or vacate to a tenant for non-payment of rent. I did get in touch with him afterwards and he said he would pay in the outlined timeframe, but he hasn’t and now I can’t get in touch with him via phone. I’ve talked to one of his neighbors who said it looks like he moved out and that no one has been there for a couple of weeks. When I drove by a few evenings ago, it appeared vacant. I have contacted the water company and of course, he hasn’t paid the water bill since October, but more importantly, he hasn’t used any water for the past 2 weeks. Everything is pointing to him abandoning the property. I live in Georgia and I want to act in accordance with the law so my question is, how do I determine from a legal perspective that he has in fact abandoned the property? I know I can’t just go let myself in. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to respond!

@Debbie C.

I do have a list of qualifications, but she by herself wouldn’t meet income requirements. My current tenant meets them by himself. Does everyone require each person to meet income requirements individually or total household income must meet it?

Hi! I was hoping you all could provide some input. I’m a nurse and bought my first residential rental a little over a year ago so this is all very new to me.

I have a decent tenant in place (was in place when I bought the home). He has some quirks, but he fixes small things, calls about big things, pays on time so he is really a good tenant that I want to keep. His lease is up so we are discussing lease renewal and he wants to add his niece to the lease because she is currently living in a hotel. I told him that she has to fill out a rental application so I can run my background checks on her before adding her to the lease. He isn’t happy about that, but from everything I have read, anyone living in the house (over 18) should be on the lease and I would like to know basic information about her. Is this the correct thing to do in this situation? From the things I do know about her, I can’t imagine she would be a model tenant, but if she passes the background checks, I would add her to keep my current tenant. HOWEVER, I want to add something in the lease to the effect of, “if either tenant vacates property for any reason (to include death), other tenant must meet income qualifications to keep lease valid” so that if my tenant dies (my biggest fear- he’s in his 60s), I can boot her out if she is a trouble tenant because she wouldn’t meet income requirements on her own. Is this legal and does anyone have an appropriately worded lease clause for that? Thank you for all of your time and input.

I'm coming up on my first lease renewal on my SFH rental. Outside of a new lease with updated dates, what other documentation do any of you utilize? I performed an initial move-in inspection and I have my tenant fill out a quarterly questionnaire (appliance issues? Safety concerns? Pests? Smoke detectors functional? Plumbing or electrical issues? Etc). I'm an ER nurse so I'm very pro-documentation and want to be thorough and appropriate with this documentation. Do any of you redo the move-in inspection? Thanks for everyone's input!

@Kim Meredith Hampton

Thank you for your input. I’m in the process of creating “company policies”. I might incorporate that so that tenants will understand and it’s a matter of policy.

Hi!

I am a new landlord so I’m still learning all of the things I need to know to be a successful one.

My rental needs a new garage door opener. My tenant is a mechanic and has requested that I buy one and he will install it himself.

What is everyone’s thoughts on this? At first, I was leaning towards letting him do it, but now, after reading some of these posts, I’m wondering if I would be opening myself up to liability.

Thank you all.

I personally cut the grass at my rental, but it’s bc I’m a new landlord so A. I don’t trust my tenant to do it and keep it looking nice B. He’s older and I “inherited him” and per previous lease, landlord is responsible and C. It gives me a reason to lay eyes on the property once a month. I pay someone to cut it once a month so we essentially alternate and it’s cut every 2 weeks. I don’t think it’s a one size fits all.