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The credit report will provide you with much information about how your tenant handles financial responsibility and the house rules set out in the lease. If you are not using credit reports then we strongly urge you to begin now. This is your first line of defense.

This article will look at the basic information in a credit report and consider each area of information to help you draft a sample a credit policy.

Name and Address:

You should verify that the name and address on the rental application match the credit report.

Confirm previous address on the application against the credit report

Use a valid driver’s license or other picture I.D. to help confirm visual identity. Use the drivers license to confirm the birth date

Social Security: A warning indicates either a bad entry or an identification problem. Ask for some other documentation that confirms the social security number such as tax returns.

Financial Ratios Monthly income input should be verified by recent pay stubs, a letter of intent to hire on company letterhead or tax returns (if self employed)

* Income to Rent Ratio: A mathematical formula that compares gross income to rent. It is useful to determine if the prospective tenant is earning enough to provide a comfortable margin of income for rent.

* Income to Debt Ratio: A mathematical formula that is helpful in determining whether debt load might interfere with ability to pay rent on time. It is useful to know that your future tenant can manage finances. Look at income and look at debt. This ratio can be useful, but keep in mind a mortgage can really create a misleading picture. Look at the trade lines.

Trade lines: The codes that credit reports use may vary from company to company but there will be an indication as to the type of loan. Mortgage loans should be high and will skew this ratio. You should allow for this because home ownership is a plus. Other type’s trade lines are Installment loans and revolving loans.

Late Pays: These indications will help you decide whether your future tenant is able to pay without difficulty because of high debt. It can help validate a bad income to debt ratio. If there is enough money yet late pays are indicated you may consider whether this person has a willingness to pay on time. People manage money differently and you should look at money management skills as well as ability to pay.

FICO Score: This is a mathematical compilation of payment history, debt load and much more. There are more than one hundred variables used to provide lenders with a mathematical profile they will use to determine good risk. Score range from the low 300s to 800+. The higher the score the better the credit profile. * Different Credit agencies will use their own proprietary formulas, such as Beacon.

Public Records: This area contains federal district bankruptcy records and state and county court records of tax liens and monetary judgments. You should look carefully into this area but ask your prospective tenant what the circumstances were. Serious monetary difficulties are a sign of trouble.

Evictions/Unlawful Detainers: Eviction reports do not appear on the standard credit report unless there has been a monetary judgment. Get all the facts you need to avoid a problem. This area indicates serious difficulty with another landlord and is certainly grounds for rejection. Be sure that the name and address is an exact match. Often the scan will pull similar names and it may not be your prospect that has been evicted. read more…

The most common tenant – landlord disputes can be avoided by knowing the law and proper procedure. Here are some of the more common problems and how you can avoid them. Your tenants have rights and these rights do vary form county to county, but in a general way the following are the rights of the tenant and the obligations of the landlord.

Landlords must provide a habitable environment.

Local building codes and health and fire deptartments will provide minimum requirements. They generally include,but are not limited to the following:
1. Heat. Sometimes measured as BTU output per square foot. Sometimes heat and air vendors can do the calculation for you if there has been a complaint to the local rent board.
2. Running Water: Clear running water and no leaks that can produce moisture and mold.
3. Adequate electricity in every room with functional wall jacks.
4. Clean and sanitary premises.
5. Adequate ventilation.
6. Structurally safe premises.
7. Many cities require the installation of smoke detectors
8. Functional and secure locks on doors and windows that provide a minimum degree of safety against intruders. read more…

The new tenant called this morning, before I was in the office. He was very polite.

“Don’t you change locks on apartments?”

“Always.”

“Well, last night the old tenant came waltzing into the apartment using the key.”

“I don’t see how that is possible. I need to contact maintenance. I’ll get back to you this morning.”

So, I called the maintenance person. “Yes I did change those locks, and I don’t believe they are telling you the truth.”

It happens that today is payday, and paperwork was due in last Friday. So, when I got to the office, I pulled the work order. He had marked that he changed the locks.

So, I called the tenant back. “My guy insists he changed the locks, and his paperwork says he did. I have not known him to lie to me, but…” read more…

Landlords often ask me if they have to provide military clauses in their leases for those members of the military who might need it. Often, they are unclear on exactly what a military clause is, and why they should provide one.

Commonly, there is a situation where one family member has been deployed and the spouse wants to rent an apartment in the States, but wants a military clause so that they will be free to move to where their family member is stationed, if that becomes possible. Alternatively, a member of the armed forces wants to rent a place but might find it necessary to move on very short notice because of a deployment.

A military clause is a lease clause that gives a member of the US Armed Forces the right to break a lease on short notice if that is required by military necessity – typically due to a deployment or a permanent change of station.

You are under no legal obligation to offer a military clause. However, those who are in the military and might otherwise rent from you are often forbidden by their organizations to sign a lease at a location that won’t provide a military clause.

The reason is that the military is very demanding of its personnel in their dealings with civilian business people, and insists that they obey all provisions of their contracts. A military person who is subject to deployment would therefore find themselves with a potential conflict, in that they could not deploy due to their contract with you. This also applies to families; for many locations of course the family deploys with the person who is in the service. read more…

You have won your case in court and have the eviction notice in your hand. Finally, you think, you have finished spending time, money, and emotions on the eviction process. At this point, you probably don’t care what happens to the tenant’s belongings. You just want it out of your place. Unfortunately, this is the beginning of the next phase of your eviction – removing the tenant’s belongings from your property.

Before you start the eviction process, you should research and plan the process from the beginning to the end. Each phase of a residential eviction carries with it an action, a time period, obligations of law, and money. If you have won your case, the court will mail the eviction of judgment to you. By that time, you should already know the laws in your state regarding the removal and storage of an evicted tenant’s belongings. This is your responsibility and obligation as the property owner.

What I will discuss in this article are some guidelines and actions I believe a property owner should take as due diligence for his property. My comments do not over rule required legal action in your state regarding the removal of tenant belongings. Most states, such as Massachusetts, do not allow you to rent a U-Haul truck and remove your tenant’s belongings on your own. This is the job of the constable or sheriff you must hire and pay to do the moving of furniture. Do not even change the locks to the apartment, until the constable has completed the eviction, and posted the legal notice on the apartment door. read more…

Bad payers are a problem for all landlords and we’ve all found different ways to deal with the problem. The best solution is one that gets the tenant back on track and avoids a costly eviction.

I use the term “bad payer” to cover late payers, partial payers, check bouncers, and non-payers. There are a number of ways to deal with bad payers. First, you want to do everything in your power to ensure that all tenants pay on time, every time. For example, set up a schedule of discounts for on-time payments or late fees for late payments. Many landlords favor the discount approach because it is an easier sell to a prospective tenant, but you may find it is not as effective in reducing late payments. Why? Because there’s no stigma attached to not getting a discount.

Often people have good intentions about paying on time but don’t remember to make payments. Two ideas may help you here. One is to send out rent invoices. Your tenants get a bill each month for everything else they have to pay – why not their rent? Another is to offer an automatic payment plan. There are companies that you can use to set up automatic payments by direct withdrawal or by credit card. Again, these methods presume good intentions on the part of the tenant.

What do you do with a chronic late payer? First recognize that there are gray areas here. I believe your actions should depend on whether the lateness is consistent – for example, the tenant always pays between the third and sixth day of the month – or gets worse over time. A tenant whose lateness gets worse every month, despite your late fees and complaints about late payments, probably has little regard for your authority. When he is late enough to warrant an eviction notice, send it, and follow through. Chances are you’ve already seen other signs that this person is irresponsible- he doesn’t return your calls and may have misbehaved in other ways in the unit. read more…

To become a smart investor, it is essential to avoid the rental voids. Following are some more tips to avoid the down periods:

• If you are asked to furnish your property, prefer new furniture over the second hand one. Also, buy cheap and stylish furniture that will make your property look appealing.

• Besides, it is advisable to hire a professional to do the interiors for you. He can help you do the assembly quicker and to a better standard.

• Make sure that the DSS tenants are screened in the usual way. They have to make up the shortfall and also be trusted to pay the assisted monies.

• It is strongly recommended to obtain references from the landlord. Longevity in their past rental history is essential.

If you wish to rent ‘Room by Room’, your property would be classified as what is called as an HMO (home in multiple occupation). That is, a house that is occupied by three or more tenants who form two or more households and who share a kitchen, bathroom or a toilet.

Usually, each council has an HMO Officer. Running an HMO involves a lot of management even after the license has been issued.

During the down period, there are many other options that you can look at. These are as follows:

• If suitable, convert your property to self-contained flats so that they no more fall into HMO territory.

• Do a lot of market survey and research to know if it is best to sell up and buy something with higher yield in a higher demand area! read more…

No, absolutely not! Unfortunately, the law does not allow you to take such actions, and you could be liable to the tenant for damages, or unable to collect the past due rent if you illegally evict the tenant. In Johnson v. Howard, 92 Ga.App. 96 (1955), the Georgia Court of Appeals, upholding a 1933 case, decided that compensatory AND PUNITIVE damages may be awarded to a tenant who is wrongfully evicted by a landlord.While it is time consuming to go through the legal process, the Georgia legislature has made the process quicker than most court actions by requiring shorter deadlines in eviction cases. Once a tenant is served with an action for eviction, they have only 7 days to respond instead of 30 days like most court actions.

Further, the legislature, through the eviction law, states that the Courts are to expedite the hearing after the tenant files an answer, and most Courts set the hearing within approximately 7 days after the tenant files an answer. If the tenant has not paid the rent the court will ultimately issue a “Writ” of possession. This is an order to the Sheriff or Marshall in the County to go to the premises and physically remove the tenant and all of their belongings. Once you obtain the writ, the Sheriff will go to the residence and supervise, but will not actually remove any property. In order to have the property moved you will need to provide 2 strong men per bedroom or to hire an eviction company.

The eviction company will provide a crew of at least 2 strong men per room of the premises and will, under the Sheriff’s supervision, remove all of the tenant’s property from the premises. The actual time of the eviction usually is less than one hour. It is only after the Sheriff has “dispossessed” the tenant that you are legally permitted to change the locks, which most eviction companies will do, while the Sheriff is still at the property. In Georgia, for most cases you can expect to have the tenant out of the premises within approximately 30 days. While this may seem like a long time, it can take months in other states.As long as you follow the proper procedure, and ensure the Sheriff is present when any eviction takes place, you can avoid being liable to the tenant for any damage to their property. read more…

Save on heating bills, put them on the fire” I’ve heard one landlord remark. Landlords should clearly implement a slightly more responsible attitude. Seriously with the last vestiges of the ‘Summer’ disappearing, a landlord’s thoughts naturally turn towards securing their buy-to-let investment property for the Winter. This probably means a landlord trying to get the various outside jobs done before the weather turns.One concern for any responsibly landlord is to ensure that the tenants are warm. This is not only a concern but also a legal obligation under section 11 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985

“(c) To keep in repair and proper working order the installation in the dwelling for space heating and heating of water.”

Whilst this legislation does not set out any legal minimum in terms of the temperature, keeping tenants warm does make good business sense. A warm tenant is a more likely to be happy tenant and therefore more likely to stay longer. A cold tenant is very likely to be off as soon as they can, exposing the landlord to a possible void period and to additional letting costs.

There are two ways that a landlord can make their property warmer. Firstly a landlord can insulate their buy-to-let investment property more effectively and secondly a landlord can look to increase the effectiveness of their heating system.

INSULATION IN RENTAL PROPERTY

Many buy-to-let residential properties particularly the older buy-to-let properties have sub-standard read more…

For the purposes of tenant improvement requests we see three different kinds of tenants.

1. The New Tenant: Often the requests come during the approval process or at the move in inspection. All requests having to do with a clean and functional place should be done by the move in. You want to start of your new business relationship on a good note. Nothing worse than starting an argument you know you will lose…

Things we always say yes to:
Generally, electrical improvements are fixed and add value and marketability to the unit.

DSL
Cable
Hard wired outlets – Electrical needs have skyrocketed and we would rather hard wire than see too many appliances on one outlet
Smoke detectors – even if we are fully compliant with the law. Its good for everyone and its inexpensive.

2. The Existing Tenant: Much of the above applies. The difference is there is less incentive to pay for cosmetics unless you want that tenant to stay.

3. The Disabled Tenant: Here you are bound by law ans should be aware of the rules and avoid law suits you can only lose. As always, with ownership its local and the rules will be different for you area.

Reasonable Accommodations: Generally, the applicant or tenant must make a request for an accommodation. Your tenant will describe the need and it is a good idea to have any requests to accommodate in writing and kept for your records in case of any misunderstanding later on. Medications and specifics of the disease are a private matter and you cannot require more info than proof there is a disability. read more…