Note to Readers: The below tips are shared by landlords nationwide –please be sure to check the rental laws in your jurisdiction as they may differ from suggestions in this article.
How Does Your Lease Address Cars on Premises?
A landlord asked: Does anyone have a line item in their lease that limits the number of cars a tenant can have? I don’t want the place to turn into a junkyard
A fellow landlord responded with the following items that are addressed in the lease regarding cars on the premises:
- No more than X automobiles may be kept on the premises at any one time without written consent from Lessor
- Type of autos (do you want to allow commercial, recreational, etc.)
- Size – they need to fit in the parking spaces
- Operational – no inoperable vehicles
- Where to park – paved surfaces only (or as you might otherwise designate)”
Alternate Name?
Here’s a tip that can save you possibly tons of frustration by avoiding choosing an applicant who doesn’t reveal their full identity.
Always ask on the rental application – “Any other names you have used in the past?”
Applicants may not volunteer this information unless you specifically ask for it. And they may still not always voluntarily provide it, but chances are far higher that they will, if you ask.
One of the things I like about using credit check services like TenantCreditCheck.com, is that when running a credit report, if “alternate names” have been used by the applicant, the report will provide such names that have been submitted or used.
Running a credit report today, alerted me to an alternate name, which most likely saved me from a potentially big problem resident. The name the applicant put on the application came back clean without any prior rental judgments. When I checked online court records under that alternate name that appeared on the credit report, a prior rental judgment of over $5,000 was discovered.
Screening For Dangerous Dog Breeds
One landlord has a comprehensive approach to screening for dog breeds. First, there are several items highlighted on my rental application and screening criteria given to rental applicants:
* Animals are allowed on a case by case, rental by rental basis.
* Animal size, type, and number of animals are a possible disqualifier.
* We do not accept animals on the forbidden dog breed list (see below).
* Puppies and Non-Neutered / Non-Spayed animals are not allowed.
* No reptiles, fish, birds / fowl, cattle, horses, sheep, goats, pigs, or any other type animal.
* Tenants must possess equipment sufficient to clean up all feces on and off property.
FORBIDDEN DOG BREEDS (Per My Insurance Policy):
Akita, Alaskan Malamute, Husky, Bull Terrier,
Cane Corso (Italian Mastiff), Chow Chow, Doberman Pinscher,
Fila Brasileiro, German Shepherd, Great Dane,
Mastiff, Pitbull, Presa Canario,
Rhodesian Ridgeback, Rottweiler, Shar Pei,
St Bernard, Staffordshire Terriers, Wolf Hybrids
Or a mix of any of the above – List compiled from Center for Disease Control on dog breeds involved in dog-bite-related fatalities and is disallowed by our property insurance company.
To have an animal be considered in your rental application, you must include the following:
- Photo and name of the animal.
- Recent medical letterhead from a local vet which includes:
- a) If your animal is spayed or neutered
- b) Up to date on vaccinations
- c) Breed type and weight
Misrepresentation of support animals is a Class 3 misdemeanor (N.C.G.S.A. § 168-4.5)
Any animal initially accepted will need an in-home visit to verify that they are friendly and social animals.
Editor’s Note: Be careful here! Check your local laws and speak with an attorney to confirm turning down any animal for any reason! It should be noted that you may not be able to turn applicants down with emotional support animals simply because they are on a list of prohibited “dangerous breeds” that came from the insurance company. Some landlords and insurance companies have been involved in litigation for turning down legitimate emotional support animals who happen to be on the list of prohibited breeds.
As one landlord has shared: People with pit bull ESAs/service animals have a special exemption for any landlord or insurance verbiage denying their type of dog. The good news is, you can still screen the person and the animal normally. If the specific animal itself has a history of attacking/biting, you can deny THAT specific animal, even though the breed itself is permitted.
Offer a Former Resident a Discount to Get Debt Paid
Several years ago, one of the regular contributors on our website shared his strategy for collecting past due money owed from former residents. His strategy included sending out professional-looking invoices monthly after they left or were evicted. The key to the strategy was including payment options with a discount (20% for example off the total due) if the former resident went ahead and made a one-time payment to clear the entire debt.
This same landlord recently shared on our Q&A how just this past week, he received his biggest damages payoff outside of a court judgment. Here’s what he wrote:
“As stated in the past, we send monthly bills and do a lot of payments through Square and collect auto draft rent, etc. The company is presented professionally at all times with tenants. Tenants are screened very well. Usually, all the moving parts work very well. Every once in a while, we have a move-out go south on us.
That being said, we had a tenant move out with next to zero notice at the end of January. We sent the damages statement with a bill for $2,400 at the end of February with payment options. Certified mail. Sent another bill mid-March with payment options also certified. Watched the tracking. As soon as USPS tracking showed it was received, we sent a Square invoice for a one-time payment discount of 20% and about five minutes later last night we received an email confirming payment was made: $1,995. Just about fell out of my chair.”
The tips in this column are shared by regular contributors to the popular MrLandlord.com Q&A forum, by real estate authors and by Jeffrey Taylor, [email protected]. To receive a free sample of the Mr. Landlord newsletter, call 1-800-950-2250 or visit their informative Q&A Forum at LandlordingAdvice.com, where you can ask landlording questions and seek advice of other landlords 24 hours a day.