You’re just a small time landlord with a big time headache. You’ve been stuck with a deadbeat tenant. There are two types of non-paying tenants, those who just don’t have the money and the professional tenant. Look out for the professional tenant; they know more about landlord-tenant law than most lawyers. It usually takes at least six months and a lot of money to remove a profession tenant. Do you have an iron-clad lease or tenancy agreement that will stand up in court? Was it one you downloaded off the internet for free or did you purchase a pad of 25 generic leases from your local book store? There are things you can do as a landlord to limit your exposure to becoming the professional tenant’s next victim.
Start by getting a copy of your local landlord-tenant laws. These vary, sometimes greatly, from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Read it carefully and know what your rights are as a landlord should things go wrong down the road.
When a prospective tenant shows up you need to have them fill out an application to rent. This is not a lease or a rental agreement. Always make sure you get references as well as employment history and contact information for their current and former landlord. You also need to get written permission to do a credit check. If a prospective tenant is unwilling to give any of this information then move on to the next prospective tenant.
Take the time to call the references and previous landlords. A professional tenant will often get a friend to pose as their current landlord. To verify this use a reverse look-up of the phone number and see if the name and address match the information given. You can also go and see the previous landlord in person to make sure the information is legitimate. Spend the money on a credit report, it will be money well spent.
Once you’ve settled on who you’re going to rent to you need to get all your paper work in order. You need an iron-clad lease in case you need to evict. You need a pre-occupancy inspection report signed by both you and the tenant before they move in. This is important if you need to sue for damages at a later date. You should also get the vehicle information of the cars your tenants will be parking at the rental unit, including the VIN number. This is useful if you get a court awarded settlement because you can then put a lien on the vehicle for some or all of the money owed. In some jurisdictions you can also force the sale of the vehicle to cover the awarded costs.
If they pay by check keep a record of their banking information including account number. You may be able to garnishee their bank account should it become an option to recover damages.
The costs involved with protecting your property and investment from unsavory and professional tenants can be quite expensive. You have the lawyer’s fees for doing up all the paper work to make sure it will stand up in court. The time you spend verifying the references and costs of a credit check.
My former employer owns several rental properties on top of his other businesses. When I first took over there were no written leases or rental agreements on any of these properties. It took well over six months to get rid of a professional tenant as well as over $3,000.00 in court costs and Sheriffs fees to have them removed. This doesn’t include the lost rent, unpaid utility bills and damages. The last professional tenant I evicted was quick and reasonably painless. It only took 10 days to get a hearing and the adjudicator ordered the tenants be out in 10 days. It’s amazing how much time, aggravation and money proper paperwork can save you.
One product that I’ve found that is extremely useful is the Attorney’s Landlording Kit. It contains all the forms that you need in electronic format, which is great because you can customize them to suit your individual properties. In all there are 27 different customizable forms. At a cost of less than $50.00 it is great investment for the small landlord. Whenever you need one of the forms you just print it off. For more information on this useful product please Click Here!
1 comment:
I found www.NoPayTenants.com is for reporting deadbeat renters. All rental property owners need to checkout that website and post their deadbeat renters. When renters find out their name is on that database they quickly want to pay-up. Also, it helps other landlords from getting burned and you can check if any renter has a record.
Post a Comment