Landlord Survey Feedback

Yes. It is one of the best ways to prove the condition. Before & after. A picture is worth a thousand words. - Jack Klein

Do you use an attorney for landlord - tenant matters?
[Added 3/14/05]

No, I've been doing my own evictions for the last 20 years.
- Janine C., Massapequa, NY

Yes. Always.
- Dutton S., Port St. Lucie, FL

Yes. Ever since I had the worst tenant nightmares doing it myself. The judge did NOT like landlords in my local court. It cost me way too much each time he made me start over. I'm now more than happy to pay the attorneys fee to get it right the first time.
- Jack Klein, Ronkonkoma, NY

Should landlords report tenants to major credit bureaus?
How important is this to you?

Yes, for sure I would report bad tenants. If I had access to that database a few months ago, it would have prevented me a lot of headaches. - Julie

The LPA /AMSties combo membership is one of the best things for landlords to come around in a long time. It allows the landlord to be able to post delinquent rent and other charges against the tenant directly onto the tenant's credit report with the 3 major credit bureaus. You don't even need to go to court for a judgement to make a report.
Keep in mind that if you have already filed a money judgement, it will automatically go on the tenant's credit report. I've been a member of The LPA for a few years now and I'm very satisfied with what John has been doing to give landlords a better advantage in tough situations.
Jack Klein

Re-Posted 7/1/03

I know tenants prioritize their bills like most people. Of course we usually pay the most important bills first. The most important ones are the ones that go on your credit report right? It is likely that your tenant will apply for credit a few times a year. If he thinks I will report him, I bet the rent payment will become much more important!
Louis C., BVR Mgmt

Absolutely! How do I report a tenant who violated a court order, skipped out owing me thousands of $$$? He has the sheriff looking for him with an eviction notice etc. I hear he bought a house. He must have lied on his mortgage application. How do i inform the credit ratings companies that he passed bad checks and skipped out of owing $5000.
Travelperfect10@aol.com

Yes! I have a dozen past tenants who owe me money. I am so glad I found the LPA site. I joined LPA and AMS and am now reporting onto my tenants credit reports. The warning letter already got one of them to contact me!
Lou

Question Posted 5/21/03

Will you accept tenants who smoke?

Yes, I do because I am also a smoker but smokers must pay a non returnable deposit that is used to have the place cleaned and steamed from top to bottom, I have had smokers in the past who stated that they would not smoke inside but would go outside on the front or rear deck to smoke, I live in Pa. and winters do get cold here, they lied and the placed stank after they moved, now smokers pay the deposit or keep looking for a house for rent elsewhere.
Michael B.

From past experiences, No. I will not rent to smokers again. To repaint and get tead off burn marks in the bathroom sinks, bathtub and holes all over the house is too costly and time consuming.
GRETECEOLA

No. We just can't do it anymore. Most of our tenants don't smoke, so the smokers bother them and they complain. We have to try to keep our best paying tenants happy. Another thing is it is harder to rent to a nonsmoker if smokers just moved out. Even after repainting, you can't always get rid of the stench.
AJ

No. Our lease (LPA) states that No Smoking is allowed on the premises.
Lou, BVR

I'm allergic. We live in the same house as our rental unit and have to smell and breath the same air as our tenants.
Mary W.

I can't stand it. Over the years we have had to paint when tenants move out, even if they stayed for 6 months because of smoking. With non-smokers, the paint lasts much longer and we get the rentals back much cleaner..
Albert

It's easier to rent to nonsmoking people because they seem to me to be the more qualified tenants in general. We find that more lowlives smoke than non-lowlives.
Marty S., NY

Yes. My husband and I feel more comfortable with tenants who also smoke. We drink coffee together and smoke cigarettes. We've become good friends with all of our tenants.
Laura M.

Question Posted 3/10/03

Do your tenants make deductions from the rent?
Authorized or Unauthorized?

Not anymore. Our lease states that all repairs require the landlord's written authorization or it will be the tenants full responsibility.
Lou, BVR

Absolutely. I always allow my tenant to make deductions. He takes it on himself to fix things that need repairs. He saves me so much trouble and money. He hardly complains about anything. The only way I know anything has gone wrong is when the rent has something missing from it. Last month he replaced the kitchen sink, faucet and the plumbing under the counter. He didn't even charge me labor.
Harvey

I'm glad Harvey is doing so well with his tenant. Is he really? Does he know what the tenant is really fixing? Does he have receipts. I think Harvey might be too trusting.
Cindi

I will not allow deductions. If the rent is not paid in full, it is a violation of the lease.
Jack Klein, NY

My tenants have made a habit of making deductions. It started last year and has gotten worse as time went on. It started as small items I didn't ant to make waves over and now I'm lucky if I don't owe the tenant each month. Now I am starting to ask for receipts!
Arnell , Toledo, OH

Question Posted 1/15/03

How much of a late charge do you charge tenants?

Whether the rent is 1 day, 3 days or 10 days late, I charge an initial late fee of $50., and then a daily fee of $10. per day after that.
Arnell , Toledo, OH

7% of the amount of rent. This is what is legal in my state.
BlueGiraffe315 , Indiana

$60. on the 6th, and $10. per day thereafter..max of $150. per month
StewProp

We charge $25 if rent is received (not mailed, not postmarked) after the 4th in our PO box plus $1 a day retroactive to the first of the month.
Lisa W, Fl

I charge a 10% late fee after the 10th. I will start legal procedings on the 2oth.
Jonathan J., Charleston, S.C.

My office will charge a 10% late fee if rent is received beyond the 4th day after due date. The tenant is then responsible for a $20. per day fee for each day rent goes unpaid after the 6th. Most of the time, I will make a deal for the daily fees if the tenants are doing their best.
- Jack Klein, NY

$5.00 per day.
- blletrud

Question Posted 11/18/02

Do you use a broker or rental agents to rent your properties?
If so, are they landlords or have landlord knowledge?
Might they even be LPA Members?

Yes. I know how time consuming it is to market a rental and find new tenants. The agents around here are wonderful, so I always ask them to rent my properties. Of course I do all the screening. (The agents really specialize in home sales.)
Jonathan J., Charleston, S.C.

NO. Absolutely not. Most Rental Agents on Long Island are DANGEROUS. I do the advertising and the showing. I find that when agents are involved, it gets very complicated. Almost all of them have zero landlording experience, which means they are trying very hard to make a real estate fee and rent to whoever they can. Almost every eviction I've had to do was because of an agent's unethical or uneducated interference. By the way, none of them are LPA Members. I've asked many of the rental agents in my area if they are and why not. Most of them are more interested in the tenant rather than the landlord.
J.J., NY

Yes. I don't have the time to do it all myself. I insist that the brokers provide me with the credit reports, so I can do the screening. I will not rely on any agents for screening. I've already learned the hard way that the screening needs to be done by an owner or manager- not someone who will wash their hands of the deal once they are paid. The LPA has helped me a lot. The tips on screening was great. The application and the right attitude does the rest.
Lou C., NY

Question Posted 10/9/02

Do you warn tenants that you report good and bad behavior to a national tenant reporting bureau, such as the National Tenant Rating Bureau (Deadbeat Database)?

Yes. I'm worried about a tenant I can't intimidate even just a little.
Jack Klein, NY

It's a great idea. Your site is wonderful. So far you've helped me out of a few jams, so I'm going let the tenants know they'll be reported if they mess up.
Jimmy S., ME

No. Couldn't the tenant get angry if he finds out that I reported him?
Anon.

Yes. I noticed the LPA lease contains a warning about that so I always remember to read it to the tenant at the time of the lease signing.
Rocco J.

New Question Posted 10/9/02

Do you go over the lease with your tenants and explain what is expected of them before they sign it?

YES!!!! My husband usually signs the lease in person with the tenant(s), but I detail all the areas that need to be verbally reviewed and/or signed off on at the meeting. The tenant gets a copy soon after the signing. Even then there are some tenants who will violate clauses which have been explained at signing.
Lisa W.

Yes, indeed and add all needed changes, rules, and rental payment due date.
Lily M. Marrone

Yes. Definately. I can't afford to let tenants in unless they understand and agree to my terms.
Lou C., NY

Always. As John recommends in the LPA Lease description, I always read every paragraph to the tenants. If I'm not doing the lease signing and a manager of mine is doing it, he or she knows exactly how I like it done. Each clause is summed up and talked about with the tenant. Sure, this way takes longer, but it covers everything. Remember this quote: "Fail to prepare; prepare to fail." Jack Klein, NY

Yes. If I don't, I won't get to find out if they will follow my rules until it's too late. Rocco J.

Question Posted 8/14/02

Does the tenant bring or mail the rent to your home?

My tenant just deposits the funds in my bank account on the due date or before which I check the next day to see if its been done.
Sincerely yours,
Foy Smith

Property management company mails the rent to me. Although it is always late.
Bill Carlisle, Director of Marketing
Naas/Worldwide Technical Services

Our tenant would bring it to where my wife works, this often resulted in delayed payment. Excuses, like "I don't work that day", "I couldn't get away", etc. Also paid in cash. Now looking at small claims information I find that people without checking accounts are kind of not good, cause it's one less thing you can go after when you have to evict and try to collect back rent.
Did your tests and found that I'm not totally stupid, (actually rated on my way to being a sharp landlord) actually our tenant screwed us and now I'm seeing stuff that is going to hurt us trying to collect. Certainly is not fun being a landlord, if I can dump my property it's what I'm doing! Tired of landlord/tenancy relationship. Amazing how dishonest some people can be and deceiptful, especially when you are in a lower class neighborhood where it's almost impossible to find a credit worthy renter! You wind up choosing the best of the worst and run a 50-50 chance of getting burned! And we got burned!
Thanks for your pages. kind of scary seeing all these things on MSN etc about how renters can protect themselves. Seems things are favoring tenants right now rather than landlords. I think you are 100% right, we need to find better ways to make things 100% clear so we can't be taken advantage of and damages are easier to recoup.
Thanks.
Ray Kopp, Syracuse NY

We really don't want the tenants knowing where we live. We rented a PO box many years ago for the purpose of maintaining a certain amount of anonymity. The tenants send the rent there. Lisa and Steve W. FL

I like to look at my rental house so i go and pick it up. It's only half a mile from my home. I'm big and intimidating so they always have the rent ready. - Buford

I know some people like to go and pick up the rent, but I stopped that a long time ago. I learned that professional landlords don't have the time to go and meet with tenants whenever the rent is due and have to listen to all the tenants' wants and desires. Now I have them mail me (LPA pmt slips in pre-addressed envelope) rent TO MY PO BOX, not my home. I also learned not to gave out my home address to the tenants. Any of you landlords with many properties might know what I mean. I don't like being awakened in the middle of the night or disturbed on a holiday with my family by a tenant with a problem that he is probably responsible under the lease for anyway. - Jack Klein

I have my tenents mail the rents to my home , I havent had a problem yet. One of the reasons is i know the day rent comes in , i got tired going to the post office constantly. - Adam

We have a 29 unit apt. bldg. Our tenants mail rent to our home. - R. Tomei

Question Posted 7/25/02

Does it matter to you if the tenant(s) smoke?

Yes. I do not allow smoking in my rentals. If I find they are smoking, I will ask them to leave. - Donald R.

NO SMOKING! Since I prohibited smoking in our apartment building, it has saved us a fortune on painting & cleaning. We still clean and paint when tenants move, but not like before. - Mary Ellen B.

NO. It does not matter to me as long as they pay the rent on time. I smoke too, so the more the merrier. - Solomon G.

Yes, it does. I live in a house with an apartment which we rent out. My 2 children have allergies and are sensitive to smoke. The smoke comes right through and it is disgusting. The smell bothers me. I can't wait for our current tenants to leave so I can get non-smoking tenants! Thanks. - Jennifer W.

YES. I am sick of cleaning yellow and brown residue from nice new white vinyl windows. Forget about having wallpaper. My tenants burned holes in the bnew carpeting in every room of the house. They burned the bathroom vanity and kitchen counter from putting cigarettes down on the surface and leaving them there. As far as I'm concerned, if a tenant is addicted to cigarettes, drugs, alchohol or gambling, I DON'T WANT HIM. - Maureen S.

I have tenants that smoke and regret having them for several reasons. They throw their cigarette buts all over the place. The stench from their units seep into the hallway and creeps into other apartments were other tenants that don't smoke complain. The nicotine from the cigarette is so bad that, when a tenant that smokes tells me that their apartment need to be painted because their walls and ceiling are no longer white but a faded yellow, I'll take some Windex and paper towels and clean a small section and clean it. If after cleaning that small section it looks that a new coat of paint needs to be applied I'll paint, but if it looks to be good I tell them to clean the apartment or hire someone to clean it, as I don't do their house cleaning. When a tenant that smokes moves out you have to repaint the entire unit and wash down all the fixtures and varnished molding before you rent it out again cause you know that you will be showing it to non smokers which will pick up on the stench and be turned off. You just can't paint over but have to wash the walls and ceiling and prime with a good primer that will block any stains from bleeding through and block the odder. Lets see now, they even have a tendency to end up burning countertops, hardwood floors and vinyl covered flooring and their security never seems to be enough to cover some of the damage. And don't forget that they might fall a sleep while smoking and cause a fire, and then where are you? If I know that they smoke, their not high on the potential tents list. - Njxes

Question Posted 6/15/02

Do you charge tenants a screening fee?

No. I require that they provide the recent credit history report. This usually means they tell me any bad news at the beginning. I don't hold a property while doing the search. Basically until they qualify the property is still available. - Amy R. T.

Yes, to pay for credit report and background check - I charge $25. - Deborah L. R.

I charge a $35.oo non-refundable screening fee. - OakNRose

Yes whenever I screen people. It takes time to check people out so I need a non-refundable deposit and a cash screening fee before I seriously consider anybody. - Lou, BVR Mgmt.

I require an upfront screening fee of $25. like it says in the LPA application. The applicants are more commited to taking the rental that way, AND the cost of credit reports really doesn't come out of my pocket. - Rocco, NY

I'm tired of getting stuck paying for credit checks on people I can't accept. The screening fee now saves me money. It also saves me time because many people refuse to post the screening fee fearing that their credit will not pass my screening process. Eddie, Naples, FL.

YES. A screening fee is essential to the screening process. It shows that the tenant is confident enough about his credentials that he is not worried about risking the fee. I tell tenants that the screening fee will be applied to the security if they are accepted. Otherwise they lose it if they are not accepted. I charge $20. per adult applicant. - Jack Klein

Dear Gentlemen,
I feel a charge for screening can hinder and not hinder rentals . The way it may hinder is, if you deal with low income like I do it is very hard for prospective tenants to come up with the money of screening along with the move in costs. The way it might help, is that if a prospective tenant sees there is a fee they will be hesitant since they know that they are going to be checked upon, this would detur any bad tenants from renting on your property. - William L.



Posted 5/31/02

Do you accept tenants with PETS? Why? Why not?

No. For many years I have allowed tenants with pets to occupy my rental spaces. I have since stopped that practice. I am an animal lover myself and have 2 dogs and a cat. After being in a situation where I was allowed to keep my pets when I was a tenant. I thought that everyone was as responsible as myself. I was wrong. From animal waste to ripped screens. Its not worth taking the chance. I have a large yard with the rental. Along with a seperate area of concrete that is fenced in. All I had asked was that they keep their pets confined to that one area (which is not a small area, it's 10x20) and off the newly seeded and landscaped lawn/yard. 4 tenants later, my request was still not being honored. $4000.00 later and a new tenant. NO PETS! Thanks! Kristine - Long Island, NY

Yes
I have too many animals of my own to ever deny anyone else the love of their family pet, or make it necessary for them to have to 'sneak' a pet into my property. So far my trust has not been unjustified.......... the tenants little brats usually do more damage than the pets! - OldRmebrat

I love animals, and I find that most tenants love animals too. Unfortunately, they love the animal more than the home they live in. A pet will only be as good or bad as it is trained to be. That goes for children too. If I have a choice between 2 people, I'll go for the one with NO pets. The one with pets will really have to outweigh the other applicant in good qualties for me to want them. - Billy S.

It depends. I will always hesitate to accept a pet, but there are other factors I will consider.

1. Did I just install new carpeting?
2. If it's not a single family, are there any other tenants who this would create a problem for?
3. Are there any other applicants as or better qualified with NO Pets?
4. Are they willing to put their money where their mouth is and post extra security money?
5. Have I inspected the condition of their current residence? Do they keep it the way I would want them to keep my place?

Would you rent to a group of college students? Why? Why not?

Preferably not. I have done it quite a few times, each time thinking that "this group will be good". So far, maybe 2 out of 10 tenancies went well. I think the reason usually is that when you have 3 or 4 single (students or not), they tend to forget that they are each 100% responsible to uphold the lease. Invariably, the tenant will have an issue that he or she feels is not his or her responsibility, but the co-tenants. It is always the other housemate who is responsible to carry out teant chores (like taking in the garbage pails or maintaining the grounds). How many time have we heard "I have my share of the rent, but I'm tired of collecting from the others."?
I try my best to stress that each resident on the lease is fully responsible. Severally & jointly. So no, I try not to rent to people in this situation anymore. - John N.

I would NEVER rent to undergraduate students---party central. Most of them are really are not mature enough to take care of business. Students in an intensive graduate program are safe bets. Usually they are too busy to party. I remember my own graduate work. We did nothing but study. - Lynn

NO WAY, JOSE! One college kid or 2 maybe if we were desperate, but a group....3,4 or more no!
At least one is bound to be a party thrower which trashes your place. They probably won't want to live together after they get on each other's nerves and the landlord is left with tenants who can't afford the whole rent...uh uh. They are genetically irresponsible! I, of course, was the exception...lol.
Lisa W

No I would not rent to college students. I currently have four college students in a townhome that I spent nearly $50,000 on getting in good condition.
Yes, they have paid rent on time. But their maturity level has not developed. They actually called to have us come and change a light bulb! I do quarterly inspections on my units and on my first inspection they had networked (4) their computers without calling me. I now have four wholes in each ceiling of each bedroom that was punched and was not done professionally.

I will never rent to college students or anyone under the age of 21 again. Good Luck.

Do you video tape the condition of your rentals before tenants move in?

How far behind in rent have you ever had a tenant fall?

What do you feel is the best clause in your lease?

• Late charges: An effective incentive to pay on time
• Daily late charge: Keeps tenants from "getting their moneys worth out of the initial late charge
• Heating System: Makes the tenant responsible for the heating system. Not me!
• Appliances: Ditto
• Plumbing Stoppages: What he said. (above)
• Grounds: I don't want everyone to identify the rental property on the block
• Early Payment Discount clause: It works.
• Witholding Rent: It spells out a serious No No. There are more, but these clauses have made a positive impact for us.
  Jack Klein
  

Do you run a credit report on prospective tenants

Do you raise the rent?
How much, how often?

Do you enforce a late charge?
How long do you wait?

Should landlords report tenants to major credit bureaus?
How important is this to you?

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