LandLord Entering Rental Without Notice. (agreement, rental property, ARM, credit report)

[donsabi]

I am the OP. I talked with a senior rights attorney today and she told me that in PA landlords must give notice before entry unless it is an emergency. She also said that just because a landlord writes something in a lease does not re-write the laws of the state.
IMO, there should be a law in all states that forces landlords to provide a copy of the lease at least thirty days prior to signing.
Don

[chielgirl]

Don - glad the law was explained to you.

If you want to risk not getting an apartment because you're making an unreasonable request of the landlord, go right ahead.

If someone looks at one of my houses, and shows interest, I give them the lease and they have a choice to move in or not. If someone else shows up in the interim and wants the apartment earlier, they will get it.

All I care about is having my house rented. It is up to the renter to decide if they want the place or not.

As a landlord, I'm not going to be out of $XX because you don't want to read a lease and make a decision.

[donsabi]

chielgirl,
One third of this complex is empty and most people I talk to are not renewing their lease. I don't think having enough time to read a lease and get legal advice if needed would be a problem here. As a matter of fact, this complex is offering $500 if a tenant brings in a new tenant. I think I would have plenty of time to read a lease.
You may be a good landlord and have a very desirable rental property, but I notice your post indicates that your main concern is the money. "All I care about is having my house rented." That pretty much says it all.
Don

[Radek]

Originally Posted by donsabi

chielgirl,
One third of this complex is empty and most people I talk to are not renewing their lease. I don't think having enough time to read a lease and get legal advice if needed would be a problem here. As a matter of fact, this complex is offering $500 if a tenant brings in a new tenant. I think I would have plenty of time to read a lease.
You may be a good landlord and have a very desirable rental property, but I notice your post indicates that your main concern is the money. "All I care about is having my house rented." That pretty much says it all.
Don

Don, contrary to popular opinion.

Note to landlords: Can someone actual post some figures so that we can all use them? I don't have access to my father's. things like mortgage costs, taxes and vacancy and rents.

Landlords do NOT make $$$ off their rentals. It is a way to mitigate the costs of investing in real estate. So, I'm totally in agreement that chielgirl wants her place rented. Having great tenants who pay rent on time and take care of the property is every landlord's dream. Most of them just settle on having someone paying rent and NOT destroying the property.



Chiel, I do have to say that asking for a copy of the lease beforehand is NOT unreasonable. These are going to be in an electronic form beforehand anyway, and so e-mail would be easy... or snail mail the damn thing for at most $2 shipping to Alaska.

The landlord should have provided a copy before hand.

[chielgirl]

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. If someone is interested, I offer the lease. They have a reasonable amount of time to look at it, probably a week. A week is a reasonable time for someone to look at a lease; 30 days is excessive. A lease is 3 pages long, if that.

My rental life is a bit different from others. I lived in my house for 17 years, moved overseas with an american concern and needed to have it rented. I have insurance, taxes, etc to pay. Then there's the cost of advertising, utilities, a rental company, etc. These are all additional costs to the property owner.

Since I do most of my business over the internet, I'm not willing to give someone 30 days to look over a lease. If, after the 30 days, they choose not to take it, I'm looking at another several months of an empty property. With all of the additional expenses.

My other house is my house, where I would live if I moved back to the states. I'm currently renting to grad students. I rent for insurance and taxes and I'm doing some remodeling as I can get it done. This is written into the lease.

Vacant property is a problem. The house deteriorates quickly when unoccupied, it can be a breeding ground for bad elements.

Do I want my homes occupied, you betcha.
Am I going to give someone 30 days to make up their minds, absolutely not.
Why would I own property if I didn't want it to be occupied?

[sskkc]

"A lease is 3 pages long, if that."

My current lease is 8 pages. The lease I had in Albuquerque, 7, plus 4 pages of addendums and legal jargon concerning mold. In Florida, it was only 5.

3 pages... now that's funny! 3 pages cover the non-smoking agreement, maintainence schedule for the sprinkler system and the deposit stuff.

You must do some pretty simple leases with really small type.

3 pages... I'm going to bust a gut here!

[chielgirl]

I have a simple lease, I have excellent renters.

You're asking someone to let you live in their property. You're asking them to trust you with a few hundred thousand dollars worth of real property. I'm sure my lease would become longer were I to have bad experiences or local laws require specifics.

Do they want to protect themselves, yes.
You're the one who signs the lease. Mine is simple enough to do the job.

[Ultrarunner]

When I started 25 years ago... I used a 1 page rental agreement and a 1 page condition and inventory sheet... it was simple and easy to understand.

My Rental Agreements are now 20 pages long

13 of the pages are City Mandated and another 3 cover the Lead Paint... leaving 4 pages for my agreement and inventory.

I always provide the opportunity to review and ask questions...

I become nervous when a new Tenant just wants to sign without reading and/or asking questions... If that is the case... I insist that we go through the agreement, page by page.

[chielgirl]

That makes sense.

In my case, a 3-page lease can be sufficiently reviewed in a week, not 30 days.

[eagle7]

When i moved into my apt yrs back i changed the locks.When i moved out yrs later i just put the previous locks back on.Many landlords/mgrs are quite sneaky.Renters beware!