Here’s a typical lease agreement nightmare. Make sure your rental lease agreement protects you in situations like this. http://www.rentingauthority.com/lease_agreement/

Patti bought a generic lease agree from an office supply store. It covers the basics: when rent is due, late fees and when the lease ends. Unfortunately for Patti, the generic lease did not cover 4 vital issues that created a nightmare.
1. Guests
2. Pets
3. Waterbeds
4. Rental insurance

Issue 1
Patti’s tenant Rochelle decided that her boyfriend Chris should move in her. Rochelle did not feel she needed to inform Patti because the lease did not mention anything about guest staying in the rental with her. Patti did not find not about Chris until too late.

Issue 2
Chris moved in and brought his two cats and 75lbs dog. Chris and Rochelle were irresponsible with their pets. The cats used the carpet as a litter box and the dog dug holes all over the yard. He also barked constantly at the neighbor’s children.

Issue 3
Rochelle liked Chris’s waterbed, so he set it up in the upstairs bedroom. Chris and Rochelle both worked and left the pets unattended during the day. On a Thursday, they left the backdoor slightly ajar. The dog came in the house and chased the cats throughout. Sadly, the tan cat jumped on the waterbed and the dog followed. This chase resulted in a punctured waterbed.

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Welcome back!

I am giving someone a 1 year membership upgrade for free.  That’s a $119.40 value.

In the holiday spirit, I wrote my own 12 days of Christmas.  I call it The 12 Days of Tenant Screening.  I wanted to sing and record it for you, but after one recording, I scraped the idea.  Your ears will thank you for this.  Here are the words.

Enjoy

On the first day of tenant screening

My reports returned the following to me:

1 And a perfect credit score

2 Forgeries

3 Late pays

4 Poor credit scores

5 Burglaries

6 Liars lying

7 Falsified Docs.

8 Tenants paying

9 Armed robberies

10 Dealers dealing

11 30 day lates

12 Rent checks bouncing

Contest Rules

Write and or sing your own version and email it to me.  The winner receives 1 year free membership upgrade. I will also post the winning lyrics on our site.

Here is my favorite 12 days of Christmas from Jeff Foxworthy.  Don’t watch it if you don’t want to laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suqWNk1vi0o

Have a great Holiday,

Troy Boldt

888-674-9181

tboldt@rentingauthority.com

http://www.rentingauthority.com

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The better and more information you have, the better decisions you make.  It’s really that simple.  The problem is getting good information for issues you have now!

Forum

Renting Authority has a solution.  We created an Independent Landlord Forum and Blog. The Forum is an on going discussion of issues that landlords deal with on a day to day basis.

You can read questions other landlords have and see how they have dealt with them.  Not only do you get our expert advice, but the advice of thousands of other landlords working in the trenches.  This is one of the most powerful resources you have as a landlord.  The best part of the forum and blog, it cost you nothing.

Here are some of the topics discussed today:

• Lease Agreement
  • Can the tenant break the lease agreement?
  • Room Mate Lease Agreement Problems
  • New lease questions
  • What are landlord’s liabilities if landlord breaks the lease?
• Background and Credit reports
  • Renting to someone who is in bankruptcy
  • Moneys up front
  • Names on lease agreement
• Landlord Advice
• Tenant Trouble
  • Feuding Tenants
  • House in a bad Neighborhood

  (more…)

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I had nearly identical conversations with two new landlords this week.  The conversations went roughly like this.

I found someone to rent my house.  I just need them to sign the lease. I am not sure if I want to spend the money on running a credit and background check.  I don’t want to change the applicant an application fee and scare them off either.

What do you suggest?

Of course, I suggested they run background and credit checks.  You might say, you suggest that because Renting Authority makes money from background and credit checks.  That is true, but it is a necessity.  When the economy is unstable, you must stick with the basics.

• Have applicant fill out and sign a complete rental application.
• Run background and credit reports
• Do employment and rental verification.
• Have applicant sign a rental lease agreement.

Here’s another strange occurrence.  Unfortunately, I keep hearing stories like this more and more. 

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Yes, the rental lease agreement is the single most important legal document you have to protect yourself and the tenant.  If it’s not in writing, it just doesn’t count.  A handshake is difficult to enforce.

I get calls daily from landlords telling me of issues with their tenants.  They say the tenant is doing this or that, and want to know if it’s grounds for eviction.  I always ask them is that issue covered in your lease agreement.

Your lease should spell out terms and conditions clearly for both parties to understand.

Let me show you some of the must have points in your rental lease agreement.

• Abandonment: Landlord remedies when Tenant abandons the premises.
• Alterations & Repairs: Rules governing Tenant alteration of the premises.
• Assignment and Sub-letting: Terms of leases often apply to the sub-lessees.
• Default / Breach: Remedies for tenant breach, including failure to pay rent.
• Inspection & Landlord Access: When, and how, landlords may enter the premises.
• Lawful Use of Premises: Tenant’s right to possession and its limits.
• Lead Paint Disclosures (42 U.S.C. § 4852d) Each state-specific residential lease agreement also contains federal lead hazard disclosure statements as required by 42 U.S.C. § 4852d. For a free EPA pamphlet, please visit http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/disclosurerule/
• Maintenance: Who is responsible and how maintenance is defined.
• Parking: Included or not?
• Rent & Late Fees: When, and how, to collect late fees.
• Security Deposit: Legal maximums and number of days to return to Tenant.
• Tenant Hold Over: Landlord remedies for unlawful retainer.
• Termination of Tenancy: Notice required varies from state to state.
• Utilities: Who must pay to keep the lights on?
• Surrender of Premises: How and when Tenants give up occupancy.

Once difficult, now easy. Create your own rental lease agreement
It’s easy to create your own rental lease agreement with Renting Authority.

Click the link below and follow the simple step by step process. It is stored online for future reference and you can edit it too. www.rentingauthority.com/lease/lease.php

If you need help, you can always call or use the online chat line.  I want to show you how easy it is to create a customized lease.  If you will let me.
Click here to start the process https://www.rentingauthority.com/lease/lease.php
View a sample lease at www.RentingAuthority.com under Rule Number 4

Here are a few of the additional features of Renting Authority’s rental lease agreement

• Rent/lease apartments, condos, basements, houses, etc.
• Select various fixed and periodic terms
• Choose number of tenants
• Flexibility with utilities, pets, insurance, parking, rent increases, signing incentives, rent to own, maintenance, and tenant improvements

Log into your account and see what’s new
www.toolbox.rentingauthority.com

To your success,
Troy Boldt

888-674-9181
tboldt@RentingAuthority.com
www.RentingAuthority.com

Landlord Extorted for $12,000

Consistently using a standard application can protect you from costly lawsuits. Let me give you an example why. Let’s say you need to rent an apartment. You have 5 individuals come by and look at the apartment. You choose applicant number four. It sounds like he has a great job and is clean cut. A few weeks later you get a phone call from applicant #2’s attorney. He claims that you discriminated against his client because she is a Mexican and has two children. The lawyer goes on to state that he will settle for $12,000 or he will take it to federal court and sue you for $55,000.

    Unfortunately, you have no documentation from the applicants. You have nothing standardized like an application or credit and background report to support your decision. The attorney knows this and knows he can win a settlement.

    Your insurance company will settle for $12,000 because they know the expense of going to court and the probability of loosing. They know you have no documentation and are very exposed. If you really want to protect yourself, please do the following.

    Using a standard application and running a background and credit check for all prospective tenants can greatly help limit discrimination lawsuits. Lawsuits are very expensive and time consuming. Store the application, either electronically, or a hard copy in a secure filing cabinet. Run a background and credit check

Who wants to get sued? None of us, so please take every precaution. Prevention is the best medicine.

Have a great day,

Troy Boldt  

www.rentingauthority.com

Every week I am flooded with hundreds of emails.  This is one I received last week that really stands out. 

Hi, Troy
I just rented my home to a couple on August 1, 2008.  I do not want to cause any trouble so early in the rental becuase they seem to be good tenants.

I found out last week that they put up a two-seater tree stand to hunt deer.  I do not want them to hunt on the property.  It does not state in the rental agreement as such because no one has ever hunted deer on the property.

 I called and told them I will not allow any hunting.  They said they would remove the tree stand to the neighbor’s property.  My lot is only 80 feet wide.  Other neighbors do not allow hunting either.

In the State of Ohio, they have to have written permission to hunt which I will not give them.

How can I get this resolved in a legal manner without causing hard feelings?  Also can I revise my rental agreement to state that no hunting is allowed?

Any insight you can give me on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

J.B.

I think if Jeff Foxworthy read this email, he would say.  If your tenant has a two-seater tree stand in the backyard to hunt deer, he might be a redneck.

All jokes aside, there are three issues to deal with here.

1. The lease
2. Safety
3. Liability

A lease can always be altered and resigned at anytime.  The catch is the tenant must agree to sign a new lease and any new provisions in the lease agreement.

Safety of the tenants and neighbors is always a good landlord’s concern.  I don’t think any of you want someone injured on your property or by one of your tenants.  Landlords need to provide a safe environment for the tenant.

Liability issues have kept thousands of landlords awake at night.  If there is someone injured on your property or by your tenant are you liable?  Very possible.  Our courts and attorneys will ultimately decide on that.

How do you solve the hunting issue?

If gentle persuasion does not work, you need to get tough with the tenant.  Most leases have a clause stating that illegal activities are grounds for eviction.  Hunting without permission is illegal.  You may have to evict the tenant. Contact a local attorney when you feel the tenants are not responding.

Most landlords will never have a hunting issue to deal with.  But the principles here can be applied to any activity that is illegal or threatens the safety of others.

Git-r done,

Troy

P.S.  We all need a little laughter in our lives.  I found a funny commercial from X Box 360 on www.youtube.com.  Don’t click on this if you don’t want a laugh or are offended by redneck humor.  Please remember, this is an advertisement only. It is not reality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StOJr2k5Y-U

This week I had some great conversations with many of you.  A couple of issues were brought up that you should all know about.

Issue #1
The applicant doesn’t want me to run his credit because he doesn’t want his credit score affected. What should I do?

When you as a landlord check a person’s credit, it is called a soft hit on their credit.  This means it will only stay on their credit report for 2 to 3 months.  Their credit score will not be affected long term when you check their credit.

I have found often that a person who does not want you to check their credit has credit issues that they are hiding from.  You need to establish your own rule that you check everyone’s credit. 

Another thing to consider is if an applicant is trying to dictate how you run your business now, they will continue to cause you issues in the future.

Issue #2

My tenant wants to pay cash.  What should I do?
Cash is king, but not in the landlord business.  This is big red flag. Why? People often want to pay cash because they do not have a checking account and they have money gotten from illegal means.  Drug dealers are some of the biggest offenders of this.  Now this does not mean that everyone who wants to pay with cash is doing something illegal nor is a drug dealer.  It is better to be safe that sorry.

Last week I received an email from a landlord who rented to a person who seemed to be a great applicant and wanted to only pay in cash.  The tenant paid the deposit and first month’s rent in cash.  That was all he ever paid.  The landlord is now going through the eviction process.

In summary, screen your applicants and don’t take cash.

Tell us about your worst, most interesting and strangest tenant experience.  I have heard hundreds of them over the phone.  Now it is your turn to tell the world.  Hopefully, we can all learn something from your posting.