Five Simple Rules (apartment complex, lease agreement, tenant, rental)
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Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
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As LL's we want five basic things from tenants.
1. Pay your rent on time and in full.
2. Don't damage the property. (and let us know if repairs are needed)
3. Follow the rules. (don't move in your cousin and his pit bulls)
4. Don't bother the neighbors. (turn off the sub-woofer)
5. Move out after giving proper notice and leaving the place clean. (Thank you, here is your deposit back.)
That's all we want.
Why are these simple rules so hard for so many tenants to follow?
As a footnote, here is what I provide to a tenant.
A clean, safe, secure, place to live and call home, vermin free (unless the tenant brings them in) with heat and cooling as appropriate if the tenant choses to pay for their use, and plumbing/electric/saftey items that is to code or better (in other words the toilet flushes). In addition we provide generally updated premises and asthetics appropriate to the property. Massaging shower heads, water filters, newer appliances, nice flooring and designer paint colors, on-site or in unit washer/dryer or hook-ups, ceiling fans and window blinds. In other words I treat your home as I treat my home.
1. Provide a method to accept the rent on time; do not decide to close the office on the day that the rent is due, then tack on late fees for failure to pay on that day.
2. Respond to maintenance requests promptly and professionally.
3. A pest-free home/apartment in perfect working condition (note I did not say appearance).
4. Neighbors that are courteous, and a landlord that will deal with any complaints.
5. Return the security deposit on time, with documentation and receipts for any money kept.
Let's everyone just get along. I would love to find a house rental that I could live in for the next five to ten years. My expectations aren't unreasonable. I'd like to pay money in exchange for a place to raise my children with any problems (on either side) being addressed quickly and agreeably. As a stay at home mom, a good 80-90% of my life is spent at home. I want that to be as pleasant and comfortable as possible.
Like you said, I want to treat your home like my home. I like having someplace nice to live, that is clean and well maintained. I'm not going to destroy anything, because I don't live like that. I want a place where I can, at the drop of a hat, invite a friend over to dinner without being judged about the appearance of a place (or it's bug population).
Kudos to you for being a good LL. But, as there are bad tenants there are bad landlords and thus the never-ending sagas on forums such as this will continue ad nauseam with LLs relating stories of dreadful tenants and tenants relating stories about dreadful landlords.
Savvy LLs put together clear and concise lease agreements, ill-educated LLs don't. Savvy tenants actually READ lease agreements before signing on the dotted line and many don't. When you're either a tenant or a landlord it all seems pretty simple but if the lease isn't tight then the LL or the tenant will ultimately suffer in one respect or the other if push comes to shove.
The Utopian situation will never happen. Both LLs and tenants rail at each other either on this forum and related others or eventually end up in court where the obvious remedy is played out and adjudicated accordingly, none of which nonsense would have even happened had both the lessor and the lessee had the right documentation in place from the start.
Yes, I do see the flaws in my response but I'm very tired so must leave it at that for now, just on the basics. Cheers!
I am down to one tenant ; a good one. He does take care of the property, keeps it clean, vermin free, and pays the rent on time (most of the time).
So I work with him like this month when he called on the 1st to say he would be late. Then had it on the day he said he would. I treat him with respect, fix anything that needs to be fixed and accept that it is his home.
And now at our end of landlord phase, he actually wants to buy the property. Its a win win situation for us all.
So after doing this for 8 years, we had one tenant that was a good one. There are good tenants out there.
I am down to one tenant ; a good one. He does take care of the property, keeps it clean, vermin free, and pays the rent on time (most of the time).
So I work with him like this month when he called on the 1st to say he would be late. Then had it on the day he said he would. I treat him with respect, fix anything that needs to be fixed and accept that it is his home.
And now at our end of landlord phase, he actually wants to buy the property. Its a win win situation for us all.
So after doing this for 8 years, we had one tenant that was a good one. There are good tenants out there.
That's awesome, I'm glad that you found a good tenant. I dream of the time when we can find a landlord and a property like you and yours!
I am down to one tenant ; a good one. He does take care of the property, keeps it clean, vermin free, and pays the rent on time (most of the time).
So I work with him like this month when he called on the 1st to say he would be late. Then had it on the day he said he would. I treat him with respect, fix anything that needs to be fixed and accept that it is his home.
And now at our end of landlord phase, he actually wants to buy the property. Its a win win situation for us all.
So after doing this for 8 years, we had one tenant that was a good one. There are good tenants out there.
Congratulations to you, although I'm not sure why it was the tenant's responsibility to keep the place vermin free. That's the LL's job.
Congratulations to you, although I'm not sure why it was the tenant's responsibility to keep the place vermin free. That's the LL's job.
It's actually a joint effort, because someone who leaves food out and the place generally a mess with lots of things that attract vermin lying around is going to make it a lot more difficult for the landlord to do so.
Not even going into some horror stories I've heard about people bringing home mattresses they've found on the sidewalk that turned out to be infested with bed bugs and then expecting the landlord to get rid of them from the previously uninfested rental.
That is exactly right in all areas. We try really hard to treat the place we rent as if we owned the house. Keep it clean and we do all simple repairs ourselves. When the do hicky thing in the toilets broke my husband bought another one and replaces it. When our neighbors child was over playing with ours and put his hand through the screen yep we fixed it ourselves.
Our LL isn't perfect and we aren't perfect but we try to understand each other. And the biggest thing pay the rent on TIME.
Congratulations to you, although I'm not sure why it was the tenant's responsibility to keep the place vermin free. That's the LL's job.
Actually when its a single family home, why should the landlord be responsible if the tenant brings in fleas? or roaches?
I had two tenants who left me fleas and roaches. The roaches because the tenant was filthy and never cleaned at all. the worst roaches were actually in the kids bedrooms.
The fleas got in because the tenant attracted all the feral cats in the neighbourhood.
So yes, if it is a multi family dwelling i can see it being the landlords problem to have a contract with a bug company. But when its a single family home, it should be the tenants problem to keep the house and home clean from vermin.
Congratulations to you, although I'm not sure why it was the tenant's responsibility to keep the place vermin free. That's the LL's job.
I agree that it depends on the type of property. In an apartment building, it is a joint effort. LL pays for property treatments, tenant keeps the place clean so that they aren't attracting friends.
We had a tenant bring us roaches in a duplex once recently, and my area doesn't get roaches. I'd never actually seen a roach other than on TV before. It cost us about $1000 to make them completely go away, and the tenant refused to pay and had no money to collect against. Her deposit wasn't enough to cover the expense plus the damages she caused, but it did make a dent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by floridacara
5 Things That Tenants Want:
1. Provide a method to accept the rent on time; do not decide to close the office on the day that the rent is due, then tack on late fees for failure to pay on that day.
2. Respond to maintenance requests promptly and professionally.
3. A pest-free home/apartment in perfect working condition (note I did not say appearance).
4. Neighbors that are courteous, and a landlord that will deal with any complaints.
5. Return the security deposit on time, with documentation and receipts for any money kept.
.
I can agree with everything except #4. In an apartment complex, the owner has that ability, but on a house, they can't pick the neighbors. They have no control over whether the neighbors are courteous or not, and no power to deal with complaints. If you have an HOA and it is a serious enough problem, that is one of the things the HOA is for. If it is very serious, that is what the police are for.
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