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Landlord Newsletter April 5, 2015 - 5 Ways to Ruin a Good Tenancy

The LPA Newsletter
April 5, 2011

Dear Fellow Landlord,
Remember: "The best way to avoid tenant problems is to avoid problem tenants."
I hope all of your rentals are running smoothly. Enjoy this newsletter.

In this issue:

The Top 5 Ways to Ruin a Good Tenancy
Ask the Attorney, Real Estate Attorney, John Reno
Free Essential Form Download Plumbing Stoppage & Drain Notice
Funny Landlord Story
Free Landlord Book with LPA Membership offer
Where's the Rent? Excuses.

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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The Top 5 Ways to Ruin a Good Tenancy
By John Nuzzolese

Imagine having the perfect tenants in your rental property. Maybe you already have them now. What we really hope is that these perfect tenants will remain perfect. To continue doing all the right things and not doing any of the wrong things. We want them to obey the lease agreement religiously, take care of the property and pay the rent on time or early. Imagine a tenant who leaves the rental better than it was found. Is this idea from the The Twilight Zone or something you can really have?

Most of the time, when we actually have a tenant that seems "too good to be true", something happens either suddenly or gradually to turn our tenant to the dark side.

These are what I call the top 5 ways landlords ruin perfectly good tenancies

Are They Friends or Tenants? Failure to maintain a professional distance from the tenants. Too often a landlord will fall victim to one of the oldest Landlord Traps by lowering his guard and allowing the tenants become personal friends. Rarely does this end well.
Broken Promises Failure to fulfill certain promises made to the tenants in the begining of the relationship is a leading cause of the breakdown of the tenant's trust and respect in the landlord.
Greed In the real estate business for many years, I have found one thing to be universally common among sellers and novice (and many pro) landlords. It is the belief that their property is somehow better or worth more money than comparable listings that have sold or rented. It is this squeezing every dime out of a property that causes the tenant to resent the landlord. Even a good tenant can not help but dislike a greedy landlord who is overcharging the tenant. Overcharging? How can anyone say it's overcharging if the tenant agrees to the price?? There are many reasons a person will agree to pay a higher amount.
- tight rental market
- family crisis
- tenant not qualified for another rental
- many other reasons
Having resentful tenants is not a recipe for a good long lasting tenancy.
Neglect Being a landlord is a business. For a business to do well, it must be maintained and run properly. That includes caring for rental property. As much as we try, we can't always make the tenants responsible for everything on a property. Some responsibilities belong to the landlord. It is important to nip small problems in the bud before they become major catastrophies. Besides, if you keep the tenant satisfied, your property will be more rentable/saleable.
Conduct Unprofessional conduct can range from rudeness to overly friendly. Try to refrain from arguing, using profanity or gossiping with tenants. It will come back and bite you. Let your attorney be the bad guy. He's the guy who tells you to use all those "anti-tenant forms". Keep a professional, polite attitude to retain the respect of your tenants. Tenants respond better to a pro who knows what he or she is doing.

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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.

John Reno also does Mortgage Loan Modifications (Nationwide).
(Mention The LPA for a 10% discount!)

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:
I own a rental property in Orlando. 15 months ago I rented my property out to a family that lived out of town. I sent out the lease for I year with option to renew month to month. (He) signed it and returned it to me. They moved in and lived there for one year. When the time came for rent I called the husband and told him it was late. He told me he moved out and to call his wife she still lives there with the kids. So I called her and she started paying month to month. (They had a court battle and she is receiving child support and allimony). After two months she got behind and had major surgery. At the same time he called and demanded his security deposit. I responded by saying security would be returned when the house was vacant left in good repair and no money owed in rent. By law do I have to return his security deposit before the property is vacant and she is behind on rent. He is threatening. What are my options?
Rick Wozniak, Orlando, FL

A: That's an easy one. No security until you get the keys (No tick-ie, no shirt-ie.)

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Funny Landlord Story
Sniffy

In Greenfield, Grandpa Keyes years ago had a tenant named Bill, who lived in the upstairs apartment. Grandpa also had a pet raccoon, Sniffy. Sniffy was skillful at breaking into the outdoor garbage can, so Grandpa had started putting stale donuts on the porch each evening to prevent garbage can raids and resulting spills. Before long, Sniffy was a pet, eating donuts and other treats out of Grandpa's hand every evening. Sniffy even let us feed him, and he trusted us because none of us ever picked him up. One spring Grandpa burned a pile of brush in part of his garden area, then rototilled the whole garden. Grandpa kept the ash-enriched half of the garden for himself, and told Bill he could use the rest of the garden. Both men planted sweet corn and other vegetables. As the corn ripened to maturity, Grandpa observed that in a couple more days they could start enjoying the sweet corn. Well, Sniffy was also watching the corn crop. That night Sniffy harvested most of Bill's corn, raccoon-style, with many stalks broken and many ears half-eaten. Next morning, Bill asked in dismay, "Why did the 'coon destroy MY corn, but never touched yours?" Grandpa had a theory, but he just said, "I told Sniffy, 'This is my corn, and that's Bill's. You can have his, but you leave mine alone!'" Bill never did hear about Grandpa's wood ash experiment for his half of the garden.

Story provided by Massachusetts Rental Housing Association (MRHA)

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FREE DOWNLOAD

LPA Essential Form
Plumbing Stoppage & Drain Notice

Do Your Tenants Cause Plumbing Problems?
Plunge that blockage!

Educate your tenants about taking proper care of the plumbing in your rental property. It's amazing how many tenants don't know it is wrong to flush certain items in the toilet, or to spill grease or harmful chemicals down the drain. Cut your plumbing expenses and maintenance time by warning your tenants with a Plumbing Stoppage & Drain Maintenance Notice. Watch what you flush!

The Plumbing Stoppage & Drain Maintenance Notice will emphasize and prioritize the importance of proper plumbing care.

The notice can make your plumbing rules and requirements a part of your existing lease or a handy reminder of your "Plumbing Stoppages" clause in your The LPA Lease.

Plumbing Stoppage & Drain Notice
Plumbing Stoppage & Drain Notice

Newsletter Download is free until April 12, 2011 in MS Word or Adobe PDF)
Normal low price of this individual Essential Form: $5.95

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Special Promotion!
FREE Landlord Book + LPA Forms Disk
with LPA 5 year Membership package! 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... along with a 5 years of LPA LANDLORD PROTECTION! from theLPA.com

Not only is Danielle Babb one of our county's most knowledgable real estate anylists, 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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Like and Dislike Buttons!
For the LPA Landlord Q&A Forum!

Now you can rate the feedback to the questions posted by yourself and others! Your rating will show readers which answers were most helpful to you.

BTW: Can anyone answer this Q&A Forum question?

Divorce and Lease By Bill (AL) on April 3, 2011 @21:30

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"Where's the RENT!?" Excuses

"I saw today on my account that you cashed my half of the rent. Can you please wait till Thursday (3-10-2011) to cash my boyfriend's half. He had to put first and last down on his new apartment and is a little strapped for cash." - Brian Lucier

"Do you have any idea what a pair of new skis cost?" - Dave G., NY

"I am out of town and can't get to a bank. My dog had a heart attack and I have to stay with him here while he has surgery. I will be gone for 8 to 10 days and will try to get you the rent when I get back." This rent was 3 weeks late. I thought that she was original if nothing else. - April Robinson

"I can't pay that much rent anymore because I just bought a brand new car. I'll just pay what I can" You signed your rental lease, so if you don't pay the rent you'll be sleeping in your new car. - Ken, Tucson, AZ

"I can't pay you because I'm going to have a baby next week" Hmm...I've had two babies in the past and happen to think they shouldn't come into the world homeless. - Marie in N.Y.

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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 …