Try offering a semi-monthly lease period to borderline tenants. Here are the reasons you may want to do this1. You can make the lates fees on each 15 day period.2. You will know 15 days earlier if there is trouble wit...

After using a good 10 hours of my time and having me pull the property off the market for a week a prospective tenant (in Chicago) signs the lease. 2 days later calls back and says he wants all his money back. The sta...

Hello BP! I finally closed on my first rental property in Michigan and have what I think is a fairly basic question.

Does a separate bank account need to be setup for each security deposit? Or, can this be deposited...

I am a new landlord.  I am renting out a single family home to a tenant.  I told her that she could install security cameras.  During my quarterly inspection of the property, I noticed that the security cameras were i...

I am starting to receive applications on my first rental property (all digital applications). I need some advise on what exactly I should be looking for to qualify each tenant please.Income: What multiples of the rent...

If a rental applicant falls a little short of our qualification standard of 3x income or favorable credit, we sometimes offer an option for the tenant to pay a double security deposit or pay 2 or 3 month's rent in adv...

Let me preface this by stating that I usually require the deposit (non-refundable) upon lease signing and 1st months rent prior to move-in. Not really looking to get into that discussion.An idea popped into my head th...

Hey BP! Our property management company has always charged a full month rent as security deposit as well as a pro-rated first months rent payment upon move in. I've been thinking why we would do this as opposed to jus...

Hello BiggerPockets Community,
I am currently exploring an opportunity involving a family friend who owns 32 rental properties comprising duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes. These properties are all fully occupied a...

Hi BP Community:  I may need to consult with an attorney on this, but I was informed by a property manager that collecting rent in advance (ie 3 months, 6 months, etc..) could pose a problem for Landlords in Chicago d...