Writing a lease - help and advice needed (lease agreement, tenant, eviction)

[Sunnydee]

We are buying a home in Florida, but due to some unforeseen circumstances cannot move there yet. We are going to rent the house until we can get there, but the house is a thousand miles away from us, and we have absolutely no experience with being landlords. We will have a lawyer draw up the lease, but is there anything that definitely should be included in the lease agreement to protect us? What do you do about lay payments or non-payment? What do we need to know about the eviction process, security deposits, damages, and our right to inspect the property when we are in town? Any and all information you are willing to share would be appreciated.

[aragx6]

Get a property manager ASAP.

There's no way you can be a successful landlord from 1000 miles away.

[Naptowner]

Do you trust your lawyer? Apparently not, because you're asking for a second opinion from anonymous folks on the internet before you even get started.

[Sunnydee]

Originally Posted by Naptowner

Do you trust your lawyer? Apparently not, because you're asking for a second opinion from anonymous folks on the internet before you even get started.

I haven't even met the lawyer. Our real estate agent is arranging for the lawyer to draw up the lease agreement, but I thought it might be good to get some input before I look at what is drawn up. I wouldn't know a good lease agreement from a bad one.

Yes, I tend to ask the good folks of City Data to give me their advice because they have never lead me astray. I cannot tell you how helpful the advice on this forum has been to me. Sometimes anonymous folks, who have no vested interest, give the best advice.

[Paula Lynn]

Hire a management company. You cannot manage your property living 1000 miles away.

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by Sunnydee

We are buying a home in Florida, but due to some unforeseen circumstances cannot move there yet. We are going to rent the house until we can get there, but the house is a thousand miles away from us, and we have absolutely no experience with being landlords. We will have a lawyer draw up the lease, but is there anything that definitely should be included in the lease agreement to protect us? What do you do about lay payments or non-payment? What do we need to know about the eviction process, security deposits, damages, and our right to inspect the property when we are in town? Any and all information you are willing to share would be appreciated.

Demand a good deposit (which will cover repainting, and having the carpets cleaned) in addition to first and last month's rent.

Have the renter agree to having their rent electronically deducted from their bank account on the first of every month. Your bank officer can assist you in setting up this arrangement. Doing this ensures that your rent payment is one of the FIRST THINGS that come out of the account on that day. It also prevents them from giving you a lame line about how "oh I forgot" or "I forgot a stamp and the letter came back" or "the check was lost in the mail" etc.

You might consider hiring your Florida realtor to do a little property management in the form of driving by from time to time and checking out the condition of the place. You might also put in your lease a clause that allows them to enter the premises from time to time with 24 hours notice to see if any "repairs" or "maintenance" might be needed.

I strongly suggest that you limit the prospective tenants to older people. In the State of Missouri (and possibly Florida), for single family houses, the only type of discrimination that can be alleged is for race. Here you can rent (or not rent) to anyone. Check out the laws for Florida and if they are similar, then I suggest that you rent to Senior Citizens as they do not often have wild, drunken parties, beat their wives/husbands, let their pets poo/pee all over the carpet, etc.

Specifically state in the document that NO ONE whose name does not APPEAR ON THE LEASE may live there. Specifically state that the renter may NOT paint or do any other type of "remodelling" without your express, written permission.

Specifically state in the document that in the event of eviction that they will pay for ALL FEES AND CHARGES associated with that eviction and that they waive due process to assert those fees and charges (I am not sure of the exact legal phrasing here, but basically, it means that you do not have to go to court and get a JUDGMENT in order to attach bank accounts or garnish wages - check with your attorney for exact wording).

Before they move in have your friendly realtor take many, many photographs of the condition of the house inside and out - the yard, the garage EVERYTHING, so that you can document any damage that could occur.

Now then, for any prospective renter that comes along charge an application fee that will cover the cost of doing a BACKGROUND investigation which should consist of a credit check, checking all of the local, state and federal court systems (including sexual preditor check), and verifying work information.

Being a landlord is a crap shoot and I advise against it strongly.

20yrsinBranson

[Sunnydee]

20yrsinBranson, thank you so much for the information. That is exactly what I was searching for when I started this thread.

[ShaneSA]

ask the attorney what Florida laws are regarding eviction if it becomes necessary. time frames and filing deadlines. Costs. make sure the lease states any legal costs for non-payment or eviction are charged to the tenant.
Ask what are the local limits on returned check fees and late fees. make sure the fees are at the limits allowed by law in the lease.
A property management company is highly recommended from the distance.
It's not a bad thing to ask for information when you have an attorney. It's good to have some ammunition when you meet with him/her. Sometimes you need help to know what questions to ask.
Let us know how things go. Good luck.

[TampaKaren]

IMO, the best advice you've received is to hire a REPUTABLE management company. In Hillsborough County, the sheriff's department just raided 70 grow houses, many of them rented from unsuspecting out of state owners.

Also, both landlord and tenant have legal rights. Here's a link to the Florida Statutes --> Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : flsenate.gov.

Finally, the Florida Association of Realtors has a Residental Lease Agreement that was approved by the Supreme Court. Purportedly, it was written to protect both landlord and tenant. Your Realtor can certainly share a copy of the form with you in order to familiarize yourself with wording & processes, etc.

[Naptowner]

Originally Posted by Sunnydee

I haven't even met the lawyer. Our real estate agent is arranging for the lawyer to draw up the lease agreement, but I thought it might be good to get some input before I look at what is drawn up. I wouldn't know a good lease agreement from a bad one.

Yes, I tend to ask the good folks of City Data to give me their advice because they have never lead me astray. I cannot tell you how helpful the advice on this forum has been to me. Sometimes anonymous folks, who have no vested interest, give the best advice.

I understand completely. And I don't think it's a bad idea to ask others for advice. It's just that your best answers are probably going to come from a lawyer who practices landlord-tenant law in Florida, since s/he is going to know what you can put in your lease that will be enforceable under Florida law. And let's face it, lawyers aren't cheap and it would be nice to think your lawyer is doing a little more than printing off a form lease he or she keeps on his system.

Most states have statutes that will override anything you put in the lease, so some of the things you might like to put in there may not work. Personally, I'd agree with just about everything 20yrsinBranson said, except that I don't believe you could enforce the waiver of rights granted by statute (which aren't really due process, since that refers to government action, but that's another matter). The way garnishment of wages and bank accounts works in most states is that you must first have a judgment to have any right to property that is in someone else's hands, such as wages or a bank account. So even if the renter agrees with this, that agreement generally wouldn't obligate the bank or an employer to comply with your garnishment request.

And yes, definitely line up a property management company if you can.