Renters - Why are some idiots!?!?!

After I posted about evicting my tenant on Countryside Families everyone here knows my business. I'm evicting my tenant because of several violations of the rules, but the straw that broke the camels back was when she moved in another tenant without approval.

Sometimes it can be a giant pain in the hiney having tenants, but right now there is a shortage of rental properties in this area, and rents are high. High enough that when this tenant is out of our Mother-in-law apartment, and I re-rent it, it will cover the mortgage for the whole house!

Plus, we get tax deductions for our costs for the apartment, get to deduct part of the mortgage, etc.

Hubby is close to retirement, and stressing over how much his income will diminish after he retires. I'm trying to develop other income streams to make it easier financially for him to retire.

Eventually, I want to move the two of us into the apartment,and rent out the main house. That would provide a nice amount of positive cash flow. I've been suggesting that for years. We could spend more time at the ranch then, but still have the apartment in sunny Orange County when the snow on the road to the ranch is too deep to drive on. Hubby just suggested this to me as though he came up with the idea himself!

So we will be screening prospective tenants carefully. As much of a pain as it can be dealing with tenants, there are good reasons to rent out your property.

I hope this eviction goes smoothly for you.

__________________
I yam what I yam and that's all what I yam.

Popeye

I've been a landlord since 1995. In the beginning, I didn't know how to really manage the rental units or the tenants that we inherited. I had 2 tenants that walked over my good nature. That was it!

I learned to put everything in writing and to enforce the rules. I also learned to be more discerning about the people that I rented to. That isn't to say that I've never had a tenant that was late with the rent, but that I now have better judgement about how to deal with the situation.

No accusations are intended, but usually, a tenant will only get away with what you allow them to get away with. A good landlord should be on the premises once a month and NOT just to collect rent. Gutters need cleaning, furnace filters need changing, grass needs cutting, etc. Also, the landlord should build a rapport with the tenant to encourage dialogue. A tenant needs to feel that they can approach the landlord when something goes wrong financially. If they don't feel like this, then they will duck and dodge.

I rarely charge a late fee, though I reserve the right to do so. The reason is that I want my tenants to call me when there is a problem and give me a definite plan of action as to when I can expect my rent.

Being a landlord can be extremely lucrative. In all of the years that we've had our rentals, we've never been called out in the middle of the night. The repairs are minimal if you keep the property maintained and select good tenants. For our 2 family properties, one apartment pays the mortgage and all expenses and the other goes into our pockets as profit. It is a good and legal racket if you can make it work. You cannot be your tenant's friend or listen to every sob story.

Now back to some of the negative things that happened early in my career as a property manager with our inherited tenants: One tenant poured candle wax down all of the drains prior to leaving and her cousin deliberately put her foot through a heating vent and broke it.

We had Tenant Rental Agreements through Social Services and were able to retain the security amount that was pledged on their behalf. Also, one had ordered up new furniture through a rental place and moved leaving them to wonder where she went. She left behind an uncashed money order made out to the company so I called every local branch of the furniture rental company until I found the right one. I mailed them them the money order and gave them her new address that just happened to be on the TRA paperwork. They immediately went to her new house to get the furniture and (I hope) that she ended up sitting on milk crates. I wasn't concerned about giving out her address...The furniture rental company already had my name with an incorrect phone number. It seemed that someone had vouched for her character using my name and some other phone number.

__________________
~TheMartianChick~

My latest novels:
Bystander: A Tale of the End of the World as SHE Knew It!

Christmas in Bystander & Other Village Tales

Coming Soon: A Slice of Heaven

We had that happen once when I was in college. My roommates and I always turned our rent in on time to the property manager, but about 6 months into our lease the OWNER of the property called to tell us he'd been using the rent money to renovate his current residence and he hadn't paid the mortgage, so we had 30 days to vacate before the bank was repossessing the house .

Even better was that a few days later, the bank called and asked to speak to the owner, I told them to hold on a minute because I had his (out of state) phone number in the other room and I was asked "Wait, who are you?" I told the banker I was the tenant and was told that the owner had used VA financing for the house and that it was a violation of the terms of their loan to rent the house out .

We did manage to get our deposit back from the property management company and they didn't charge us for any rent as of the day we were told to vacate. In fact we managed to get them to allow us to stay there closer to 45 days (instead of the 30 we were originally quoted) by mentioning we were thinking about talking to an attorney about our rights as tenants in this situation, and that gave us enough time to find alternative housing arrangements.

If I'd known what I know now, I would have stayed there until they legally evicted me... because our lease would have been up in 4 or 5 months anyway and I ended up having to commute 2 hours each way to school for that time because there were no places to rent locally mid-way thru the school year

__________________

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Miniature Bull Terriers
www.PatronusMiniBulls.com
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I disagree. Do you want the mortgage company coming to your house every 30 days to "check on things?" We're not children and we don't need to be micromanaged - we're renters and, as long as we pay the rent and take care of the property, a landlord/landlady has no reason to intrude. We handle the gutter cleaning, the grass cutting, etc. It's crazy to rent out a property and then "visit" your tenant every month. I would never rent from someone who felt they needed to "check up" on me and my family.

__________________
~Trish~
http://harvestmoon-farm.blogspot.com/

We have several rentals here in Texas and have always had great renters. I think part of the secret is to be a great landlord. Have always checked out all the applications and rejected any of them that had anything suspicious. Two of my renters had such a great experience living in the houses that they fell in love with them and offered my outrageous amounts to buy them.. I sold them the houses and had enough profit to upgrade on the next purchase. Only buy property in great locations with good school districts. Never sign up for any for the government assistant programs or take smokers or pets. I pray alot and have been blessed.

Ditto ! What Andy says, he and I are on the same page on this one.......been there done that, and sold em.

Don't want no part of it again.

Several other posters have pointed out, that your tenant will get away without paying as long as you let them. They may choose to put you at the bottom of the financial food chain, and you will remain there as long as you choose to.

Sometimes you can find the appropriate forms online for free. I don't know what the laws are in your state. In California, this would be when you serve your tenant a three day notice to pay rent or quit. Then follow through!

As you pointed out, he still has money to pay for the nice extras in life, and he could have used that to pay the rent.

Here is a sample of he form you could use. I found it free on the Internet. http://www.wimer.net/landlord/free/3daypay.pdf


I find that tenants get serious about paying the rent if they are facing eviction.

Edited to add; I do think the landlord should make periodic inspections of the property. Otherwise, how will you know about problems? How will you know if the tenant hasn't been violating the rules? Causing waste and destruction? Tearing out landscaping or other fixtures?

I actually want my tenant to think I'm nosy. She has violated the rules enough times,that I want to know the instant it happens. So she has to deal with frequent inspections. Good. The sooner she is gone,the sooner she will be dealing with professional property managers,who won't tolerate violations of the rules either.

__________________
I yam what I yam and that's all what I yam.

Popeye

Why no smokers or pets? If people smoke outside, it's not affecting your house. And as far as pets, what sense does that make? We've been lucky and have found landlords who allow not only our pets, but our livestock as well. Renters have just as much right to homestead as anyone else IMHO.

__________________
~Trish~
http://harvestmoon-farm.blogspot.com/

Ditto. Rentals (and tenants) have been very, very good to us.

eta - we do allow pets though...I would never stop anyone from having a pet.

__________________
I'm not easy to live with, I know that it's true. You're no picnic either baby...

Don Henley

Animals can be very destructive! And people care more for their own property than they care for the property of others.

There was a house down the street where the people had a dog. They abandoned the dog when they moved. The dog urinated all throughout the house. All of the carpeting had to be pulled up, and a special sealant applied to the slab foundation to contain the strong smell of urine.

Plus, there are numerous cases of tenants having dogs that attack someone. Even if the dog was there unbeknownst to the landlord, guess who gets sued when the dog attacks someone? The landlord!

You can read more here. http://dogbitelaw.com/landlord-liabi...ants-dogs.html

__________________
I yam what I yam and that's all what I yam.

Popeye

Dave Ramsey has a saying "A cat in a rental house is a $10,000 bill".

We no longer allow cats in our rentals, they make a mess and stink up the place.

Boy do I agree.
And I GO TO HIS HOUSE to pay my rent, he has Never ever stopped in here.
My landlord has not stepped one foot in this rented mobile home for 14 YEARS. He TRUSTS me. And the way he sees me keeping up the yard etc. he KNOWS I am doing the same thing in the house, because in that 14 YEARS I have ONLY asked him to fix two things that were acting up. PERIOD.
Everything else I TAKE CARE of it myself.
He even came and picked up the old refrigerator after it went bad.
I had bought a new one myself. Never asked him to buy it nor would I ever ask him to buy a new AC unit either.
My rent is so low that I can buy a few things myself, and that way the rent Stay at a rate I can afford to keep renting form him. I have never had a lease either. LOL
He has even driven by and seen me washing the outside of this trailer. Getting it nice and clean. He KNOWS he has a good thing going with me renting this place for the last 14 years.
The rent has only been raise three times and the last time I DID ON MY OWN I added more to the rent check. He thought that was so great that he didn't have to ask me for a increase. I just felt it NEEDED to be higher. LOL

__________________
Oh my, dishes yet to wash and dry

See My Pictures at
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/0903/arabianknight/

I have cats (outside), I have dogs (inside), as well as horses, goats, pigs, chickens...and you know what? I carry my own farm renter's policy. We also fix anything that breaks and don't bother our landlord with anything. You can go on and on and on about bad experiences, but there are just as many bad homeowners out there. The house we're moving into has to be completely gutted and renovated because the previous OWNERS destroyed it. Not all renters are bad people, and many of us DO CARE about the place we live in. If my family and I live in a home, I want it taken care of - whether it's mine or someone else's.

__________________
~Trish~
http://harvestmoon-farm.blogspot.com/

Unfortunately, not all renters are as good as you are. You know the saying about one rotten apple spoiling the bunch, right?

I always had dogs and it made it a lot harder for me to find rental properties when I was in college. I even found a nice house on several acres with a nice fenced-in yard and they didn't allow any pets . So I feel your pain on this one.

That said, I also know lots of people who let their animals tear up floors and baseboards, shred carpet, and sharpen their claws on the banisters/walls because they figure they aren't going to get their security deposit back anyway, so they don't need to bother reining in their pets .

The kind of idiot renter who's going to refuse to pay rent on time, sneak in non-listed tenants, and be jerks about mowing the lawn are the same idiot renters who are going to let their cat pee wherever it wants and when their dogs tear the house up. After a landlord spends to refurbish their rental a time or two because of irresponsible pet owners, I can't say I blame them for not letting people with pets move in.

My FIL rents out the house he lived in before he and his current wife got married. He rents under the Section 8 program and has had nothing but good things to say about it - he gets his rent on time and if the tenants damage the property he gets reimbursed for the work. It's a nice house in a decent neighborhood, and he's been renting it for about 15 years now with no issues. He's also a huge animal lover, but doesn't let anyone with pets move into his house (he let the last person have a beta fish in a bowl, but that's the limit!).

__________________

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Miniature Bull Terriers
www.PatronusMiniBulls.com
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

We've been late on our rent twice. Once because I thought husband had paid it when we first moved and another when my automatic banking didn't setup properly. Both times I was a day late. We got different paydays through the year so we called the owner a month in advance and asked if we could change rent from Thursdays to Fridays [it's weekly here].. They were fine with it, so we changed it. Automatic, out of account. Am I running low on money? Guess I'll eat less so rent gets paid. Guess I'm not going anywhere except work until rent is paid. I might just spend a week eating jarred foods and watching Hogan's Heroes [seriously love that show, don't I?] and working if I don't have enough money for food and rent. I'll use scrap yarn, I'll cook all week, I'll kill a chicken, I'll play with my dogs. I'll pay rent. I have a savings just to pay three weeks rent I don't even dip into in emergencies. Above everything else, rent happens. If I am dying and cannot work another day, I'll call you as soon as I know so we can negotiate something.

Isn't that what you just...do?

__________________
Hockey puck, rattle snake, monkey monkey underpants.

A good landlord should be on the premises once a month and NOT just to collect rent. Gutters need cleaning, furnace filters need changing, grass needs cutting, etc.


I fully expect my tenants to do all of the above. I have one rental with a 30 year tenant that I haven't even driven in front of for 2 years. LOL

__________________
Boldly going nowhere.

You want to exercise your rights to do whatever you want at your house then buy it yourself. I dont allow smoking in our rentals nor do I allow pets because experience has shown me that its a losing proposition for me who carries all the risk, put up the money to buy it and is on the hook when it gets damaged and I have had rentals since 1980.

I would and have considered livestock at one of our rentals because its set up for it but you can bet I am checking on how things are going. I have found there are things you can do to reduce problems though, we have a high deposit requirement, I tend to only rent to older people with no kids, and I have a deal with the renter that if they pay rent on time 12 months in a row they get the next month rent free.

Is the no smoking, no pets, only renting to adults with no kids fair? Its fair to me and no one forces people to rent from me so if they dont like it they are free to rent elsewhere.

__________________
www.salmonslayer-simplelife.blogspot.com

we moved in to a craphole place with cracks in the walls, carpets so dirty our feet stuck to them. and cabinets painted a peeling purple. We moved in with permission to have a kitty steamed the carpets, repainted the entire house, put in a lovely garden. When we moved out the property looked 100% better, we didn't get our deposit back because the jerk said that he had to replace the carpets, keep in mind that they were 20 year old carpets....... uggh.

__________________
http://thegreatfallarizona.blogspot.com/

http://argentallc.wordpress.com/

Not only is not fair, it illegal.
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?...sing_equal_opp

__________________
http://thegreatfallarizona.blogspot.com/

http://argentallc.wordpress.com/

This is why we don't own rentals anymore, it cost me more for Lawyers and repairs on the homes than I got for rent. I must say we had some good renters, but most were not. I don't care how much of a backround check you do, doesn't mean much. Now, I don't know about your State but it could be 6-9 months to evict a renter in my state. Why do renters go here? Because they can. The last time I asked this question to a renter, I got "You own homes and have big Bucks in your bank account." NO! because of you and many others, Sold the houses to someone who wanted rentals, Don't need the problems anymore.