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Landlord Newsletter April 18, 2011

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The LPA Newsletter
April 18, 2011

Dear Fellow Landlord,
I am happy to report that more and more landlords are becoming aware of the need to pre-screen tenant prospects before taking the time and energy of meeting with them. What if you could pre-screen them and dismiss or consider them even before speaking with them? How about not even giving them your phone number or e-mail address?? Well, if I can, you can!

In this issue:

Cracking the Craigslist Code by AdMakerTool.com
Ask the Attorney, Real Estate Attorney, John Reno
Article: "The Safest Way to Pre-Screen Tenant Prospects"
Free Prescreening Form Downloads
Wealth Secrets & Success Quotes

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

*********************************************** Cracking the Craigslist® Code

This guide will share the powerful techniques we discovered while testing different strategies for posting real estate ads on Craigslist®. Our goal was to find the most efficient and effective way to get traffic from Craigslist® over to our website(s). Most Craigslist® users focus on selling a particular property, and we do too, but the untapped "gold mine" is getting buyer and seller prospects into your marketing funnel. The goal: Drive substantial web traffic from Craigslist® to our website(s) in order to sell a listing, rent / lease a unit, or convert them into clients....

Click to download the guide by the creators of AdMakerTool.com

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The Safest Way to Pre-Screen Prospective Tenants

1. FREE LPA Prospect Pre-Screening Card
With HTML Code for your Internet Ad

I recently began using a basic little chart on my internet rental ads that has made quite a difference in setting up appointments. I used to advertise in local newspapers, and spend thousands on rental ads, but websites like Craigslist and The LPA Rentals Available section have been a helpful way to save advertising dollars!

Just imagine receiving e-mails from prospective tenants with the pre-screening information you want before even talking to them. (With Craigslist, the customer doesn't even have to see your real e-mail address or phone number!) Call prospective tenants to set up appointments only if they meet your pre-screening qualifications! It has never been easier. It saves time, advertising money and helps you zero in on the tenant you're looking for...

Click to for your Free HTML code and also Free Download of the printable Prospect Card

2. Tenant-Finder™ Pre-Screening Telephone Worksheet
"It is far better to have no tenant than to have a bad tenant."

I've been asked many times to create a new 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 new 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 for LPA Newsletter subscribers.

Tenant Finder™ Pre-Screening Telephone Worksheet

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....

Click for more about the Tenant Finder™ Pre-Screening Telephone Worksheet

3. Tenant-Finder™ Chart
Take the Stress Out of the Decision.
Score Prospects by Their Point Value

Score your Tenant-Finder™ Worksheet to help you evaluate the prospective applicant. Before making an appointment to show your property to an applicant, examine your findings. The LPA Tenant-Finder™ Prospect Qualifying Chart will help you determine a more accurate score for each applicant.

The Tenant-Finder™ Prospect Qualifying Chart helps you break down the evaluation of a rental prospect into five main categories....

More about the Tenant Finder™ Chart

Rental Application form of The Landlord Protection Agency 4. When you have completed your Pre-Screening process....
and you feel the tenant has passed your requirements....
and you have shown the property to the tenant....
It is time for...
The LPA Rental Application The LPA Rental Application has eliminated many tenant problems by helping us to do a better job screening the applicant. Qualified tenants are more than happy to fill out the form and show you how wonderful they are. Find out as much pertinent information on your rental applicants as you can before entering into any lease or rental agreement.

Some of the items contained in this rental application are:

Authorization to obtain a copy of tenant's credit report(s) and verify any information given. We need this because it is illegal to pull a credit report without the tenant's written authorization according to the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act).

Deposit Not Refundable, unless applicant is rejected. Deposit receipt and rental offer form is included in this rental application. (Applicants may not get their deposit back if they decide to change their mind.)

Includes Non-refundable screening fee agreement. The prospective tenant pays a screening fee when the rental application is submitted to you. This fee covers you for the cost of checking references and running credit reports!

Click for more about The LPA Rental Application

5. Tenant Screening Credit Report

Only after successfully verifying the reference information on a complete rental application, should you proceed to ordering a credit report on the tenant. The credit report will confirm a good tenant's payment history and employment as listed with the credit bureaus.

Click for Credit Reports

tenant screening credit reports, credit reporting form Experian, TransUnion, Equifax credit bureaus

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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:
You've helped me in the past. My current situation is this:

1)March 31st,2001 evening, tenant calls me up and tells me they've moved out. The one year lease term expired at the end ofJuly. I was not very upset as they were beyond filthy, late with the rent, and were breaking up. They (at their own discression) applied part of the security deposit for February's rent, leaving a balance of $ 650.00, and gave me a notarized statement stating their action. I told them them this was not acceptable, but I don't have much immediate recourse, and would prefer them leaving, giving me a month's notice.
2) After cleaning out 3 trailerloads of garbage and beer bottles,photographing everything, I get a notice that he is suing me in Small Claims Court for the rent he paid in March (willingly) and the security balance, because of " racoon and squirrel infestation". I'm sure there is infestation in his head.
3) I received and responded to his claim with a counterclaim for the maximum allowable amount locally, bases on his vacating the premises before the lease ended,failure to comply with lease requrements( keeping property and house clean).
4) I have two recorded messages on my cell phone voice mail that I have saved from the girlfriend stating that they were splitting up and she was moving out, then in the second message sshe states that they would be late with February's rent( ultimately, security was used for that payment)
There was never any mention of raccoons or squirrels in any messages. Never one written or vocal notice.

How can I introduce this evidence ( it seems you can't bring cell phones or tape recorders into court) I appreciate your help.
Thanks,
Michael, Hampton Bays, New York

A: This is a new thing. People are playing voice mails directly from their phones as evidence at trial. Just tell the court officer it's evidence. They'll have a procedure to get it in.

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Landlord Success Quotes

"I learned that the easiest and cheapest eviction is the one when the tenants never get possession of your property!" - John Nuzzolese

"God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board." - Mark Twain

"I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." - Christopher Reeve

"Risk Is Our Business." - Captain James T. Kirk

"How much did your last tenant problem cost you?" - 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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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

*Your Membership Expired? No Problem!

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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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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 …