All Forum Posts by: Tim Baldwin

Look at the lease to see if there are any provision on point. If a tenant is damaging property or causing a hazardous condition, that would be something you can enforce (I presume your state laws have prohibitions in this regard, or your lease agreement as well). If the tenant requests a reasonable accommodation under fair housing law, the question is, what is a "reasonable accommodation" in this regard. While you may have to provide some reasonable accommodation for a tenant who qualifies under fair housing, the tenant cannot cause damage or create a hazardous condition. You may need to consult with a LL-T attorney in your area to get counsel on how to handle it legally. Best wishes. 

Florida, where I live, passed a great amendment to our "squatter" law. Although I'll lose revenue from the amendment, it is a great law to enable home owners to remove unlawful detainees. It's likely to spread throughout many of the states. I would imagine Texas would be one of them.  

AI is a great tool, but you should learn how to perform your own market analysis, especially if you're a licensed REA. 

-join asset owner and investor associations 
-network with sales-only real estate companies
-try to be a guest blog writer on relevant websites (e.g. "for rent by owner", investors)
-search for non-homestead properties in your county and send postcards to those owners that own homes that meet the criteria you want to focus on
-network with real estate attorneys 
-network with trustees in banks that offer trustee services
-look up court records of landlords who have filed their own evictions and send them postcards 
-network with HOAs that have non-homestead properties in that association 
-when you see a "for rent by owner" sign in your area, send the owner a letter 
-join Facebook groups (for rent by owner, landlords) and being to contribute 
-improve your SEO on your website
-find someone who can help you gather landlord info from Zillow, etc. 

to name a few :) 

In Florida, the answer is yes, though there is an exception if the property owner hires onsite managers at an apartment. 

These situations are unfortunately not uncommon. I don't know if the situation with the "nasty" tenant is salvageable or if there is any legitimate basis for their treatment of you and your staff. Typically, in this situation, I advise my property management clients (in Florida) to terminate the month-to-month tenancy of a tenant who is causing problems like this and to place a better tenant in the unit.

As for the tenant who is requesting to get out of their lease, of course, you do not have to release them from a lease term on that basis, but look to your lease and state laws regarding their ability to terminate the lease (whether a lease term or month-to-month). But if they really want out, you could make an offer to them that if they want to buy out their lease, you will terminate their tenancy early.

In Florida, other than unlawful discrimination or retaliation, the landlord can terminate a month-to-month for any reason. Maybe it's the same where your property is located. Best wishes. 

I would add, make sure you have good landlord resources as you enter into the landlord domain

-lease agreement fitting your situation

-resources for your tenant application process 

-needed landlord forms and notices

-education resources

-management tools (e.g. software to keep all records, pictures, payment history, etc.)

Best wishes.

Consider more than just rental income, such as, prior tenant history, civil and criminal background, employment history, number of occupants for the size of the home, desired move-in/move-out date, etc. When all factors  are considered in totality, the applicant's 2.7 income factor may be a "safe" risk, but if the other factors indicate a problem with this applicant's qualifications, he may prove to be riskier than you should permit.

A fairly common way that self-managing landlords handle this is to create a company that provides services to your properties. The company's services need to be within market value for that area and for the services provided. Separate books are kept for the service company and your rental property asset. Research your area for what market values are for the services you're providing. There is liability protection when you setup a company to provide services to your properties. You would benefit to consult with a corporate attorney and CPA in your area before making a decision and to come up with your plan. Best wishes. 

Good to hear some progress is made. Unfortunately, there are some property management companies that simply avoid clear and obvious obligations. I get about 1 call a month from property owners upset about the way their manager managed the property and who want to take some kind of legal action against the management company. Hopefully you can get remedy quickly. Best wishes.