July 5, 2014
There are serious mistakes that most new landlords make in managing their rental properties. Most OFten it’s a result of inexperience, naiveté, and a trusting nature. Once you become a property owner and start renting out to tenants everyone must pass through a system; make sure never to make any exceptions for anyone. There are many kinds of people out there, you can get stuck with tenants that enter and destroy your property , don’t pay their rent, and inthe end can create a lawsuit on top of everything. That ends up costing you three times what they owed you in the first place!
Make sure you stick to these ground rules when dealing with applicants and managing your tenants
Don’t Discriminate
The Fair housing Act restricts Landlords from selecting or rejecting tenants based on the following classifications
Race
Color
Religion
Sex
Familial Status
Origin
Disability
If a landlord is found violating the fair housing act, they can be served with a hefty lawsuit by their tenant applicant.
The best way to get slapped with a Discrimination lawsuit is to not enforce that everyone follow your rules. If you allow certain people to follow rules and let other people go, that certainly can be used against you in a court of law.
Don’t take their Word for it
Whatever agreement you make, regarding anything that is going on in the property, always be sure to keep it in writing, there is no reason not to. Never rely on verbal agreements. Let’s say someone asks to pay rent 5 days late. REquest that they submit a letter and then write a response and keep it in their Tenant File. We also recommend that you NEVER let a tenant get away with paying rent late without adding late fees and always recommend sticking to the rental agreement. If they are more than 5 days late, serve them a pay or vacate notice.
Best way to manage Multiple Tenants is to keep files each and record all interactions.. If you have multiple tenants for a certain unit, get a cabinet and file all the tenants chronologically, it’s the best way to secure yourself against any false claims.
If they insist on communicating verbally rather than on paper, make sure you record any and all phone calls that happen between you two. Make a note as to who you spoke with, the time and date, and details of the conversation.
Don’t Hand over the Keys until you get the Check Cashed.
Never Make the mistake of allowing a tenant to move in before cashing their check first. Make sure that they are credible. Get the deposit and advance rent first, then allow them to move in by handing them over the key
You might come across one of these sham tenants at least once in your life, these people lie their way into living a month or two at your premises, and you have to evict them out later on.
This might also happen with people who pay upfront, it’s usually sound to have the lease state at least 2 months advance and deposit equal to a month’s rent. You also want to clearly state what part of the deposit is for security against damages.
Don’t get too Emotional
There is a thing called landlord attachment syndrome, you get too attached to the property and then start acting like the people who are renting are merely guests and that you are the host. This really puts a strain on the relationship between the tenant and yourself.