All Forum Posts by: Sandra Holt

One thing I want to mention that I wasn't clear on is that the rent is $2000 a month, not $600 a month which is why I have a $2000 deposit. 

That doesn't change anything but a lot of people were surprised I have such a big security deposit when they assumed that the rent was only $600 a month. I'm just clearing up that misconception. 

The tenants came by yesterday and gave me the full amount of rent for October in certified funds.  Hopefully it will be the same going forward. 

Well, I feel like a heartless ***, but I told my tenants "no deal" and that they owe the full amount of rent.  

Thanks to all who gave me opinions on this issue (even if the advice was hard to hear :).

@Russell Brazil, I am only accepting cash or certified funds and they've agreed to that.  

Thanks for giving me the website to the evictions company.  I'll definitely check them out.  

@Joel Owens, I thought about what you wrote and because I have $2,000 as a security deposit, if they don't make up the $600 snowballed amount, then I'll evict and take the $600 from their security deposit.  Am I missing something?

Thanks so much for the thoughtful responses.  Here are more facts of the story:

The mother of the husband looked at the house since she lived in the neighborhood already and told me that both prospective tenants are nurses.  Two weeks before tenants move in, mother calls me and tells me that she is flying to be with her son who is in the hospital with meningitis.  The tenants move in but a few days after their move in date.  I speak with the husband and he is in terrible shape.  He couldn't walk and could barely speak.  He's much better now but because of the meningitis, during his recovery he couldn't work at all and his wife couldn't either because she had to stay home and take care of him.  Wife has a full time job staring in November as a nurse and Husband will be cleared to work full time in January and he currently has a part time commission type job. 

Tenants say that they will be fine by January because Wife's new job covers all their fixed expenses; they just need a few paychecks under their belt to get back to normal.

I am not a sap but I know that Husband was very sick since I saw it with my own eyes. 

I think that by asking them to sign an addendum stating that they will move out if they are more than 5 days past their rent due date should show them that although I'm sympathetic, I'm not a pushover. 

Thanks @Amanda Davis for the advice.  I just met with the tenants and we've agreed for the rent to be lower by $300 for November and December and for them to pay $100 more in rent for January through June to pay back the $600.  I'm also asking them to sign an addendum to the lease (thanks for that advice Amanda) stating that if they cannot pay the rent within 5 days of the due date then they agree to move out by the end of the month.  It is a better solution than going through eviction proceedings and besides this family really is trying to get back on their feet.

Thanks again for the advice.

My tenants just called asking if they could meet with me regarding payment of their rent. They have been in the property for three months and twice their checks bounced. The husband has recently had some serious medical issues and because of that he is not able to work. The medical issues occurred right after they signed the lease. I understand their hardship but this is a business for me so any advice on how to handle what I should do regarding their non-payment based on a medical hardship is appreciated. Thank you!

Thanks for all the responses. @Account Closed, there is just one crack so I agree that it must be heat related and not something dropped. Thanks for pointing that out because I now feel better about fixing or replacing the stove. 

My tenant just texted me saying that the glass cracked on the stove in one of my properties from when she was cooking on medium to high heat. The stove is only five years old and I bought a good one. It seems to me that something was dropped on the stove rather than it breaking from normal use. Does anyone have any thoughts on this or has this happened to anyone else? Thanks for the responses.

I have a group of women who just moved out of one of my rentals after four years.  The carpet everywhere still looks great except for one bedroom where there is a huge stain that I can't get out with the two carpet steam cleaners I have.  I would like to take the cost of the carpet and installation out of the security deposit since the stain is such an eyesore. Is there anything else I should consider before doing this?  What is the best procedure for taking the money from the deposit?  I've already taken a picture after the carpet cleaning and sent it to the tenants to put them on notice that I plan to do something with regard to the carpet.  Thanks for any anticipated advice!