All Forum Posts by: Tyson Luthy

Also, you could (probably should) charge a lease initiation fee or something similar to pay for your time.

This sets the precedence that a lease is legally binding and not easily changed.

As always, this depends on what is in your lease. If not already, it would be wise to add something similar to this:

"Occupancy: is strictly limited to the people named on the lease. If you have guests who are going to stay longer than 3 days, please get prior approval in writing from the landlord."

With someone wanting to stay 4 months, that long surpasses qualifying as a "guest"

They would need to fill out an application, then if they qualify, add their name to the lease and get signature.

Probably doesn't matter much. I'd say just try and match the quality of the house. Nicer home = ceiling fans, not-so-nice = no ceiling fans.

Overall, I have not seen that ceiling fans influence rents that much, or the quality of tenant.

I wouldn't do anything besides follow the legal process in your state for rent collection. As a landlord you don't need to cater to tenants, make exceptions or put incentives in place so that they will pay rent on time. 

Put a late fee in you lease and enforce it.

If they are late, charge it.

Then serve a pay or quit notice, and follow through.

Don't adjust the due date, or anything else. This only causes you unnecessary work and "muddies the waters" legally. You are ALWAYS better off to stick to what you have in writing (if the lease says rent is late on the 5th, then it's late on the 5th, etc.)

Go for an eviction instead. 2 month's behind on rent? He should already be evicted by now...

Or get from him in writing that he has left the property. Abandonment is always a scary area to meddle with, and like Sue said, I probably wouldn't take a chance on it.

@Randy E.

Gotcha. Then it sounds like there may have been a 3 day grace period. If that's the case then it looks like the PM company followed the legal process and was able to collect the rent. This is good!

I wouldn't get to worked up about them keeping the late fee. Just make sure that you keep getting full rent payments.

If the tenants turn out to be a problem, then I would look into their screening process.

That's normal. I would be less worried about getting the late fee, and more concerned about what actions were taken to get the rent.

Was a 3-day notice served? If so, how did it get to 13 days?

If a 3-day was not served, why not!

The 3-day notice is what gives them the option to just move out. Serve the 3-day and then talk to them.

Be friendly, but firm. Let them know that it will be a lot better for them if they move out, but stick to the 3-days. Always stick to what you have in writing. They may not take the 3-day seriously since you already let rent slip for a couple months. Let them know that you are serious, and that they can avoid an eviction if they move out within the 3 days.

Then, if the 3-days are up and they haven't moved out, they go to eviction.

Going forward I suggest not to ever let rent slide. Once a tenant gets behind a month on rent, they almost never get caught up. Bad things happen to good people, and it is hard to see, but you can't let it affect your real estate business.

Always stick to what you have in writing, making exceptions on rent payments or anything else just muddies the water and almost always makes situations worse than they have to be.

Good luck!

Get a deposit and signed lease. As long as the dates on the lease are correct you should be fine.

Then get the first month's rent before they move in.

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