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Landlord Newsletter August 17, 2010 - Tips

The LPA Newsletter
August 17, 2010

Dear Fellow Landlord,
A quite common question I hear at The LPA is "Can I run a credit report to track down my ex-tenant?" In these times, we have more and more tenants on the run and more landlords learning how to chase their money. My advice is to "avoid bad tenants", but also know how to collect when they go bad on you.
Enjoy the newsletter ... and thanks again for supporting The LPA!

In this issue:

Article: Can I Run a Credit Report to Locate my Tenant
Ask the Attorney
FREE Tenant-Finder Pre-Screening Worksheet
Landlord Tips

Please e-mail us if you have any questions or would like to add or share any material / information.
John Nuzzolese
John@theLPA.com

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Credit Reports for Collection Purposes

Can I Run a Credit Report to Locate my Tenant who Owes me Money?

by John Nuzzolese

A common misconception landlords have is that they can run a credit report on a tenant if they have the tenant's social security number. You must have the applicant's written authorization explicitly for running a credit report. It is illegal to pull a credit report without the tenant's written authorization according to the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act). There could be very serious ramifications if you order credit reports without written authorization.

What if you have written authorization on your tenant's rental application to run a credit check? ...

click for the full article on how you can run credit reports for collection purposes...

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Ask the Attorney

The Landlord Protection Agency® is proud to introduce John Reno, Esq., a highly experienced Landlord - Tenant attorney based on Long Island, NY.

If you have a landlord tenant problem you'd like to ask a question about, please feel free to e-mail me your question.
Submit a landlord / tenant question for Mr. Reno
Please try to keep your questions as short and to the point as possible.

Dear Mr. Reno:
Are Section 8 tenants more difficult to evict than your run-of-the-mill derelict tenants?
Charles Wieder, CT

A: It's not harder, but there's an extra step: You have to give notice to the agency when you start the eviction. Consult your lease.

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The LPA's Tenant-Finder™
Pre-Screening Telephone Worksheet

"It is better to have no tenant than to have a bad tenant."

I've been asked many times to create a form to help landlords ask the right questions on the telephone to help determine if the caller is someone you'd like to set an appointment to show your rental to. The LPA's Tenant-Finder™ Pre-Screening Telephone Worksheet has developed from a simple prospect card into a handy and more complete screening tool for telephone interviews.

Free Download!
The LPA's Tenant-Finder™
Pre-Screening Telephone Worksheet

Have you ever met prospective tenants at your rental property, shown it to them, had them fill out a rental application only to find that they were nowhere near qualified? A simple pre-screening telephone interview can be a major time saver. Why not focus your attention on the most qualified prospects?
Before giving out the address of your rental property and committing your time to a doomed appointment with an unqualified renter, you have a chance to more carefully evaluate which prospects are worth meeting with.
I feel very strongly about strict tenant screening, which begins at First Contact with the tenant. First Contact is when you speak with the potential tenant for the first time, usually when they respond to one of your rental ads. At that point, you have the opportunity to learn what you can about this person's current situation. Are they employed? Can they afford your rental? Do their moving dates correspond with your rental's availability? Is their credit rating acceptable? And so on.
After completing your Tenant-Finder™ Pre-Screening Telephone Worksheet, you can use the scoring area to evaluate your new prospect. Print up a pile of them to screen your next tenant!
Eliminate bad tenant risks before spending your valuable time on them.
"Eliminating a bad tenant before I even have to meet him is what I consider the cheapest eviction I can have!" - John@theLPA

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Landlord Tip

Eliminate Move-Out Problems in the Beginning.
When executing a new lease, remember to staple an "Intention to Vacate" form on the back of the tenant's lease. Reminding the tenant to give proper notice and proper move-out procedure can make your life a lot easier when it's time to start looking for a new tenant.- Dan A., OH

Give Legal Notice Legally
An official dated notice should be delivered / "served" to the tenant,

in person (preferable)
sent by certified mail- return receipt requested
regular first class mail combined with the above. We recommend getting a certificate of mailing receipt from the post office whenever you mail an official notice by 1st class (regular) mail.

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Quick Check Credit Reports, Inc. is proud to announce its affiliation and partnership with The LPA in helping landlords protect their interests by better screening tenants at lower costs!!

NO sign-up or set-up fees,
NO membership fees,
NO compliance fees
Just lower prices!

Special Tenant Screening Discounts for LPA members. See our price list!

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FREE LPA Gift with Book Purchase!

Click here to order Dani Babb's Book,The Accidental Landlord

Fellow LPA Member, Dr. Danielle Babb is a national real estate expert and author of the new Landlording Book, "The Accidental Landlord".

Get your copy now... with a FREE BONUS! from theLPA.com

Not only is Danielle Babb one of our county's most knowledgeable real estate analysts, she also shares excellent landlord information and advice in her book, "The Accidental Landlord". Plus she's a super nice person! - John Nuzzolese

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FREE BONUS - FORMS DISK
comes with all 2 - 5+ year LPA Memberships
Be a more powerful landlord - able to handle just about any landlord / tenant situation in a professional way, saving you time and money.
ALL FREE with LPA Membership!

Yes, this offer also applies to LPA membership renewals!
Having all the forms all on disk is a handy time saving convenience.

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NEW SITE FEATURE: PICTURES!
Worth A Thousand Words!
The LPA's Rental Advertising division,"Landlord's Corner" allows you to include up to 6 pictures (thumbnails and full size pictures) in each rental ad.

(UNLIMITED FREE ADS come with LPA membership!)

LPA members: FREE!

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LPA Membership Expiring?
Take Advantage of the Renewal Prices!

How to Check your LPA Membership Expiration Date:

Be logged in with your LPA username & password
On the "Main Menu" (top right), click on "Your Orders" (right below your name)
The beginning date of your membership will be listed to the left of your membership order # in this format: YYYYMMDD

NEW! Save Money with our Promotional Membership Renewal Prices! *Your Membership Expired? No Problem!

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Electronic Rent Collection

LPA members have been asking me for a while now about how to set up automated rent payments with their tenants. I'd like to bring your attention to ClearNow, the leader in electronic rent collection. ClearNow enables you to have your rent automatically withdrawn from your tenant's bank accounts and directly deposited into your bank account.

If you haven't done so already, please check out