All Forum Posts by: Joe Abughazaleh

Hi @Lisa Y. yes absolutely you can! I would be clear on the utilities if its not built into the rent price. Unless they are separately metered which I'm going to guess they are not, be clear on how they'll be divided and who's responsible for what. 

Hope that helps.

-Joe 

@Nicholas Natale I believe you should be able to deduct the costs it'll take to remedy the cabinets and also the cleaning. I would send them an itemized list of costs that where taken from the deposit. Also for any future tenants you could give them a move out sheet with the cost of items line by line that you'd have to charge them if they don't clean certain things or have missing or broken items. I think there's one on the BP website under tools/forms. 

Also found a pdf online by The Housing Council in Rochester NY that states the following:

 There is no specific time frame for return of a security deposit under New York State Law. A deposit must be returned within a “reasonable” amount of time after a tenant moves out. If you move and more than three to four weeks go by without return of deposit it is probably not “reasonable”.

Most landlord-tenant disputes over deposits arise over the issue of damages versus normal wear and tear. A landlord can deduct from the deposit actual cost of damages including labor costs. If a tenant leaves an apartment unclean the cost of cleaning can be deducted. It is illegal to deduct repairs for normal wear and tear (repair needs or defects not caused by the tenant). You may contact the Attorney General’s Office in Rochester at 546-7430 to file a complaint against your Landlord if there are problems with your security deposit. The best way to protect your security deposit is to do an inspection of the apartment with the landlord when you move in and when you move out. It is wise to use a “condition and inventory checklist” to note exact conditions of the apartment. A sample of such a checklist is available at The Housing Council upon request. If signed by both parties it is binding.

Hope this helps.

-Joe 

@Hen Ley There are lots of forms you can get from BP website under tools. You'll have to work with a title company regardless of using an agent. I would find a title company you want to work with and ask them if they happen to have a checklist for FSBO and any forms you can use. An attorney involved is going to depend on the state that your in if it required or not.

@Mary Jay I understand what you're concerns are now. Good question I'm not familiar with your state laws on evictions and if you could evict only one person off the lease unless its a Domestic Violence issue. Hopefully someone familiar with Arizona eviction laws can answer that particular question. You may need to do the separate individual new lease as you mentioned in you're original post.  

Hi @Abdul Hassan I don't think you'd have any legal ramifications if the renewal hasn't been signed, it's just a proposition at this point in my opinion. You could just tell them that you're not the only owner and the other owners have decided to go a different direction unfortunately and cannot renew the lease. If you think they're going to give you a hard time in the future or break the lease you're going to have more problems in the future.  

Best of luck.

-Joe

Hi @Mary Jay I would just create an addendum to the existing contract adding that new person. There's no need to create a new lease since the terms are staying the same. I personally would take it a step further and have them fill out an application and credit/background check. You want to know who is living in your rental home.   

Hope that helps.

-Joe

@Cristin Andrews sorry to hear you're going to have to deal with this. I think it's going to depend on a few things such as- what type of hardwood floors you have if its laminate or real wood, age of floors. It's possible the wood has absorbed the urine. If its real wood you might be able to sand down and refinish. If its really bad I would consider take the floors out and they have a Kilz odor blocker you can apply to the sub floor if its plywood these floors are on. Document all you're costs so you can keep the deposit hopefully that'll help with costs and for any future tenants I always tell them there will be quarterly inspections of the home. Its some what of a deterrent I know its impossible to control or predict what they'll do but I think it helps. 

Best of luck.

-Joe          

Hi @Bryan M. here are a few tips I have for you: 

I would ask the current PM company to send you everything they have on that unit- Tenant application, lease, any violations, history of payment and repair requests.

 - Inheriting tenants is challenging the majority of the time but they could be good tenants I think once you get the whole file from the PM company and you have a conversation with them you'll get a feel for the type of tenants they'll be. I would knock on the door and introduce yourself. I would raise it straight to the $650, you can justify that to them if you'll be making some repairs or beautifying the building maybe. Not saying it has to be justified but it helps them understand when you have a reason. Make sure you get their deposit transferred to you from the previous landlord or PM company. 

-  If you have any utilities that would place liens on your property if they aren't paid I'd make sure that's built into the rent price and make sure you pay for it. Any other ones I'd make them responsible for. For current or future tenants I always say I work with the owners or am only 1 of the owners. If you say you are the landlord you'll get all the sad stories, and when you have to deliver not so favorable news to tenants you can explain that's what the owners are asking for so you're never the "bad" guy. 

Hope this helps.

Joe  

@Matthew Kissane I'm not familiar with FL warranty companies but my suggestion would be to look up a few different ones and read the fine print on coverage and deductibles. That's the biggest difference between warranty companies. Most of them have their pdf brochures online you can pull up, zoom in..lol.., and read. Hope that helps!   

@Anthony Atiase I don't know that there's those types of lists out there. But it might possible to get a list of homes that have city or county violations and that will sometimes be an indicator that property is vacant.  Best of Luck!