Rental Property Management



DedicationsThis book is dedicated to those who influenced my writing of itMy Loving WifeFor being fair and honestDear old DadFor teaching me to be fair and honest(I swear to this day that damn belt had hooks in it!)My Beloved MotherFor teaching me how to be fair and honestDave RamseyFor teaching me how to keep others fair and honestRental Property Management1 – Landlord or Slumlord?2 – The Tax Man Cometh3 – But Son! I’m Your Mother!4 – People Actually Lived Here?5 – What A Dump!6 – What Do You Mean It’s Not Covered!7 – Come and Get It! 8 – The Down And Dirty9 - Blue In The Bedroom, Polka Dots In The Kitchen10 – Show Me The Money 11– Use the Right Bait, Hook the Right Fish12 – Why A Security Deposit?13 – Lawyers Are Leeches!14 – “I” Have To Write A Rental Contract?15 – Are The Lights On?16 – Let’s Advertise!17 – What’s It Look Like?18 – Shut The Hell Up!19 – Application Processing 20 – TANSTAAFL21 – Your Day Will Come22 – You Ain’t Dead Yet23 – Make It Happen Cap’n24 – Sign On The Dotted Line Please25 – Walk The Walk – Talk The Talk26 – Get The Hell Out!27 – Exit, Stage Right!28 – The Final Flyby29 – After The Lovin’ Is Done30 – Landlord/Tenant Issues During Occupancy31 – Don’t Feed The Sharks!32 – Here Come Da Judge! Landlord or Slumlord?If you are moving, buying a second summer home, or purchasing real estate as an investment with the intent of generating income from the property, your intent of retaining possession of two properties is probably so one of them can be utilized for income generating purposes. If not, then you’ve at least thought about it.For many just the thought of being a landlord seems to overwhelm them to the point of not even considering it. Others will do it under the auspices of a Rental Property Manager who is more experienced in these matters. But the fees for these services can cut deep into any gains that may be realized. Sometimes people will rent that second home with the intent of increasing their monthly income. All are valid reasons. But are they realistic?Here we will cover the trials, tribulations and lessons learned based on firsthand experience on both sides of the rental property fence. I spent my first 15 years of married life in the military and was a renter everywhere the military sent me. I’ve been a landlord for the last 20+ years having purchased my first residential property 10 years before retiring from active duty. I’ve had to deal with contracts that were one-sided, giving recourse to the landlord and none to the tenant. I’ve also experienced illegal contracts where the property owner was unable to enforce contract terms. This book will cover just about everything you need to know about being a successful and profitable landlord.So what’s this mention of slumlords? Of course, you believe that doesn’t apply to you. However, a year later you find that’s exactly what you are. How does this happen? Basically, with unrealistic expectations. So what’s the difference between a landlord and a slumlord?A Slumlord makes a large percentage of their money on a monthly basis from the rental income produced. A Landlord makes their money over time from the investment. Either way works. But the former is not as financially productive over the long haul. The bottom line is if you’re thinking of the extra income that can be generated every month from rental property, you’re a slumlord. However, if you’re looking forward to the value of the property a few years or more down the road, you probably have the mind set necessary to become a good landlord.For example, you purchase the property for $75,000.00 with payments of $600.00 a month. You successfully rent it for $800.00 a month, and every month you pocket $200.00. Every time your tenant calls with a problem, you don’t have the money to fix it, so you either delay it or ignore it. You’re a slumlord. However, if you take that $200.00 a month and put at least half of it away, this gives you the money to do those repairs and maintenance you’re responsible for, and allows you to build a reserve so you can make payments with the property goes empty for a month or two. Three years later when you sell the property for $100,000.00, that gives you a $25,000.00 profit. That breaks down to a bit over $8300.00 a year. That’s the “real” gain. But to see that gain, you’ve got to maintain the property whether you have a renter in it or not. Having a renter in there just keeps your expenses on the property in the red, and tax deductible.One of the major expense concerns with a second home is maintenance. Whether the property is occupied or not, you have recurring expenses you have to deal with. Mortgage payments have to be made, property taxes paid, and insurance coverage maintained. There’s also the maintenance to deal with, such as yard care, spraying for bugs and termites, and having the central air serviced. You can’t have the yard turning into a forest while it sits unoccupied during the summer while you’re in the winter home up north. These costs can’t be avoided. Why not rent it out, and let the rental income cover those costs? If its investment property acquired for the sole purpose of improving your financial position, then rental income can basically make the property pay for itself. Over time, as real estate values increase, you can sell it later and make an appreciable monetary gain that makes it all worth it.Overall, slumlords make their income monthly. Landlords make their income when they hold and rent the property for a few years or more, and then sell for that $25,000.00 gain (or more) which makes those years of renting well worth it.What about the tax implications? If you’re renting your property for $1000.00 a month, won’t that increase your taxable income, and possibly even raise you to a higher tax bracket? You may be surprised to learn that in reality, it won’t increase your taxes at all. In fact, if you do it right you can increase your monthly income, and reduce your overall tax liability on your total household income.As an example, on that 2nd home used for part year occupancy, you pay property taxes, insurance coverage and mortgage interest on it for the full year. All this is deductible from your federal taxes for the period of time you have it available for rent. You also pay for things like homeowner’s association fees, yard maintenance, security, and other upkeep costs while you’re not there. None of these are tax deductible on your federal taxes. However, if you rent the property out, then all of these and more are tax deductible as rental expenses. Overall, it can be a big help with your tax situation. Let’s look at how it works.The Tax Man ComethWhen it comes to federal taxes, that’s all I can cover here. If your state assesses income taxes, then you have to check with your state tax office to see what you need to report at that level. For your federal taxes you will use the Schedule E to report all rental property income and expenses. You’ll find that having rental property may actually help you at tax time. There’s a multitude of deductions you can take with rental property, which you can’t take with your primary or a second home. Since rental property is considered investment property, that’s what it is – an investment. Even if it’s a second home and you live it in half the year, you can still deduct all the items listed below and more. Of course, it’s pro-rated for the number of days you rent it. But it sure does help over the long haul. Basically, here’s what you can deduct from all that rental income.- Interest you pay on the rental property mortgage- Property taxes you pay on the rental property- Insurance you pay on the rental property- Depreciation on the rental property (this will be recaptured and taxed when you sell)- Repair costs of any repairs done to the rental property- Maintenance costs of maintaining your rental property- Cleaning cost – like cost of cleaning supplies and services you incur between tenants- Advertising costs for advertising your rental property- Office supplies you buy for managing your rental property (pens, paper, ink, staples, etc.)- Home office deduction for space used in your primary residence for managing your property (only if you qualify – qualification requirements are tight and strict)- Legal expenses and other professional fees- Homeowner’s Association fees- Vehicle and other travel expenses incurred in direct relation to managing the rental property.Overall, it is quite possible to produce income from the rental property, and yet not increase your tax burden. Consider this on a rental property mortgaged for $75,000.00 at 5% interest where the payment also includes an additional $150.00 a month for escrow. If you’re rent is $800.00 a month that is quite sufficient to cover all expenses related to the property, and leave a bit extra for when it sits empty for a month. At $800.00 a month that gives you $9,600.00 gross rental income a year. The mortgage payment would be $650.00 a month (with escrow included) Interest paid on the loan in the 1st year would be approximately $3200.00. - Monthly payment$650.00 - Total mortgage payments in a year:$7800.00 - Amount of monthly pmt that is interest: $260.00 - Interest paid in a year:$3120.00Now subtract the given deductibles from the gross rental income.- Yearly gross income$9,600.00 - Interest on mortgage payments$3120.00 - Rental Dwelling Insurance$1484.28 - Property taxes for the year$1484.28 - Lawyer @ $25/mo$300.00 - Depreciation$1818.00 - Net Taxable Income$1393.44The reality is, with the above figures you would actually have $3211.44 cash in your pocket at the end of the year. See that $1818.00 deduction for depreciation? Now do you get it?This is only the common deductions. If your house was empty for a month, that reduces taxable income. Consider advertising expenses, plus the cost of cleaning supplies, services and more. Everything you can deduct is listed on the Schedule E, and it’s quite a bit. So don’t let the false expectations of increased taxes scare you on this. Generally, I run a loss every year on the taxes, while actually putting more cash in my pocket every month I otherwise wouldn’t have. How is this possible? For me it’s because of the depreciation I’m allowed, along with the cost of insurance and property taxes I pay on the property whether I rent it or not. Add to the above the cost of any maintenance, repairs and advertising, and that net taxable income can easily go into the negative. So overall, renting that 2nd home really helps on the taxes without costing me a dime out of my pocket. This is true even if it’s only part of the year I rent it.The most important thing to remember about managing your own rental property is KEEP ALL RECEIPTS. If you don’t have a receipt to prove it, you can’t claim it on your taxes. Now that you’re past the tax scare, let’s cover a subject that should scare you immensely.But Son! I’m Your Mother!The Cardinal RuleLeasing out residential rental property that you have an ownership interest in doesn’t require any special licensing or certifications. While the IRS considers the operation and management of residential real estate to be a business for taxes purposes, if you are managing 3 or less residential rental properties, no business license, real estate management license, schooling or other training or certification is required. Just put a FOR RENT sign in the front yard, and you’re in business.If you plan on actually being successful as a landlord you want to ensure your financial future as such. There is one aspect you must always remember, and one rule you must never break, under any circumstances.Always remember: THIS IS A BUSINESSThe cardinal rule: NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH FRIENDS OR FAMILY.When you were first conceived, the pregnancy was temporary, and the birth was momentary. But lives were changed forever. By the time you were two years old, the names you’re parents answered to were a thing of the past. Their new names? Mommy and Daddy. You may be 50 years old now and your 72 year old mother could be bedridden with Alzheimer’s and can’t remember who you are. When you enter the room and call her first name, there’s nothing there. Yet enter the room and say “mom” her head instantly turns. Not because she recognizes you either. It’s an instinct of the human female which emerged shortly after you were born.When one human sees another human in need, there is a primal urge to assist and help them. When we are in need, we have that same urge to seek the help of fellow humans. It’s a weakness of our species and we can’t help it. It’s our “nature”. If you rent your property to friends or another family member, your life will be changed forever – and not in a good way either.Renting to someone you know puts two relationships in play. There’s the business relationship where you are the landlord and they are the tenant. There’s the other relationship where your tenant may also be your brother, aunt, or BFF you’ve known since grade school. If they damage your property or just stop paying rent for whatever reasons, valid or not, can you do what is necessary to protect your business?How will you be affected mentally and morally when you’re at small claims court filing for a forced eviction because Uncle John hasn’t paid the rent, or breached some other area of the contract? Can you stand there and watch with your own two eyeballs as the sheriff escorts your favorite aunt out of your rental, issues here a no trespassing warrant and deposits her on the curb like yesterday’s garbage?When it comes down to brass tacks, you will put the needs of you and your family first – especially if you have young kids. That business decision to evict Uncle Robert so you can get another tenant in the property and actually make the mortgage payment on time will be the right decision – may be the only decision you have. But the other relationship will be devastated and destroyed permanently and forever. When experiencing a financial crunch and we need relief, even temporary relief, we start by seeking for that assistance from those we know. If your tenant brother can’t make that 6 month car insurance payment “and” pay the rent, where do you think their first stop will be for “temporary” relief? Why should you or your business sacrifice and suffer because your brother can’t hold a job, or responsibly manage his own finances? Since you let it slide “just this once” by collecting the minimum rent necessary to just pay the mortgage, maybe you’ll do it again when the more expensive insurance bill on the other car comes due in three months?When you blatantly refuse to rent to your friends and family they’ll be mad as hell and deeply upset of course. They may even stop speaking to you for years. But eventually they’ll get over it as time passes. They’re family, and that’s how it works. Especially when they need assistance or help they know you can provide later down the road. But if you have to evict that favorite uncle, they never forgive and they know where you live. Expect revenge. Owning and/or leasing rental property is a business. Family is family and friends are friends. Business is business. Never mix the two. Would you rather have Thanksgiving dinner with your family? Or your Tenants? Renting to family changes that relationship forever. Just don’t do it. People Actually Lived Here?Inspect the PropertyIt may be the house you’re moving out of, that second summer home in Florida you only live in for half the year, or a house purchased solely for this purpose. The first thing you must do is assess the condition of the property. If this is property you’ve had for awhile, make your assessment from the perspective that you’re buying it for the first time. Is the plumbing in good shape and functioning correctly? Maybe you’ve been putting a bucket under the sink because you’ve never got around to fixing that dripping drain pipe. Are there any electrical issues? Could be something as simple as that closet light switch you have to jiggle to get the light to stay on. What about structurally? Things like the back door you have to lift and pull up by the door knob to get it to close securely. Also, that broken tile on the front steps could become a tripping hazard in time. All these things need to be addressed. The best thing to do, even after you’ve found and addressed issues on your own is to have the property inspected by a certified, qualified home inspector. A qualified home inspector is completely different from an appraiser. An appraiser works for the bank or other lending agency and their sole purpose is to assess the property’s value. They don’t care about its condition or what’s broke. A home inspector is hired by and works for the property owner or prospective buyer. The home inspector has nothing to do with assessing property value. Their job is to search for and identify things needing repair, as well as those things that may become problematic in the not-to-distant future. They also confirm that things like gas lines and electrical installations are “to code” and meet local building codes. The cost of a home inspection will run about $400.00 to $500.00 dollars and will be well worth it.The home inspector will look for things you might never think of. Many states and local municipalities require home inspectors to be certified by a governmental agency (usually at the state level) and to have formal training and certification. Generally, you are expected to be present during the inspection process so the inspector can show you what he finds. On a typical 3 bedroom 2 bath house, a thorough inspection will take at least half a day. Anything less than 4 hours or so, and there’s no way the inspector could have checked everything. Once the inspection is complete it usually takes a few days before you get a printed report back. Expect the report to include photographs of all discrepancies found.What A Dump!Fix The ProblemsOnce you’ve received the completed inspection report, then do the obvious and fix the problems. After all necessary repairs are completed it’s not a bad idea to pay for another inspection. But have the second inspection performed by a different inspector. You may have to dole out another few hundred dollars for this. But a different inspector may find things the first one didn’t. Also, if you do not make them aware of the first inspection and all the associated repairs and a contracted repair wasn’t done property they will most likely find and identify it. Whereas, if you did the repair yourself, make sure the inspector is aware of it so they can confirm those repairs are in accordance with local codes and ordinances. Below is a list of some of the discrepancies found by home inspectors on residential rental properties I’ve paid to have inspected. I also include the reason why it’s a discrepancy, and actions taken to correct it.DiscrepancyProblemResolutionDrain pipe under bathroom sink drips when drainingLeaking water will soak and damage cabinet. Can get on floor & create fall hazard.Owner repaired. Installed new PVC trap connection.Light switch has to much play in it.Can cause unseen sparking that can ignite a fire inside the wall.Replaced by certified electricianExposed wire in attic where wire going to overhead light was cut and a ceiling fan spliced in.An electric short or spark can potentially ignite attic insulation.Connections enclosed in fireproof metal box by certified electrician as required by state code.Carpet in closet next to wall behind shower appears to have been wet at one time.Potential leaking pipe in wall means unseen water damage. Might be hazardous mold in wall also.Owner cut out portion of closet wall to inspect. Had plumber repair leaky pipe. Took mold sample to county for analysis – deemed non-hazardous. Cleaned all mold with bleach. Since the wall cutout was in a closet, I repaired the wall by converting the opening to an access panel to allow for easier inspection and access in the future should the need arise.Cracked ceramic tile on front steps.If tile loses adhesion or comes loose completely, could create a toe-stubbing or fall hazardReplaced with new tile.Back door will not close completely, unless you lift it up by the doorknob, and then pull it completely closed.Indicates loose hinges or worn hinge pins. Could also mean the hinge side of doorjamb is pulling away. All the lifting on the door knob will break it in time also.Doorjamb is loose and may come apart in time. Hired contractor to replace entire doorway.Rain gutter over door full of debris and when raining water spills over sides of gutter.Clogged spillways cause gutters to hold water. Water is heavy (7lbs/gal) and can cause gutters to tear away from roof causing extensive damage to the fascia. A gutter holding water can also break away and injure anyone under it.Owner cleaned gutters and confirm spillways are clear by using a water hose. Also confirmed gutters are still firmly attached to the fascia.These are just a few of the items home inspectors have found on my properties throughout the years. These are all findings that I myself never thought to inspect until the certified home inspector made me aware. The most basic reason for having the home inspection is to reduce your potential for liability as a landlord should a tenant be injured or otherwise harmed on the property. This keeps your insurance cost from skyrocketing also. This leads into the next item of discussion.What Do You Mean It’s Not Covered!Protect Your InterestYou’ve purchased a second home which you are moving in to, and instead of selling the first home you decide to rent it out. While living in that first home you paid for homeowner’s insurance every year. Since you decided to keep it, you purchase a new homeowner’s insurance policy for your new house and you’re all set. Not so fast. Homeowner’s insurance policies are written to provide protection from catastrophic financial loss on what is defined as your primary residence or domicile. Your primary residence, loosely defined, is the property or structure you occupy as your main domicile, and the place where you store or maintain your personal belongings and other items you possess. So if there is any damage to the house you moved out of (fire, storm, wind or other natural disaster) the homeowner’s insurance will not cover it. It doesn’t matter if you have a renter occupying the property or not. It’s not your primary residence or domicile now. You need a different type of insurance for this.What you need is a Rental Dwelling insurance policy. There are several ways to do this. You can transfer your existing homeowner’s policy to your new home and purchase a separate rental dwelling policy for the old house. If you’ve already purchased a separate homeowner’s policy for your new house you can convert your existing homeowner’s policy on the old house to a rental dwelling type of policy. Bottom line is, when you convert your primary residence in to rental property, you should notify your insurance company to see what actions are necessary to maintain valid insurance coverage on the property. If you have an existing mortgage on the property you should also contact the lender to confirm what the minimum insurance requirements are, so as to avoid potential legal problems with the mortgage holder. In many cases a rental dwelling insurance policy will be the same or a little bit cheaper than a comparable homeowner’s policy. A rental dwelling policy provides for different coverage than a common homeowner policy. At a minimum your rental dwelling policy needs to cover losses to the property you own (generally, all the structures on the property) up to and including a total loss of all structures on the property, as well as loss of rent income should damage occur during a period of renter occupancy making it uninhabitable. The policy should also include at least $300,000 of liability coverage. Deductibles are common and should be expected and planned for. A rental dwelling policy does not cover property owned by a tenant. A tenant’s property can be covered by Renter’s Insurance – which the tenant can purchase. There will be more on that e And Get It!Are you willing to move in today?At this point your property may be rent ready, but is it move in ready? There is a difference. During my 15 years as a renter, there were many times where I had to spend the first 3 to 5 days of my contract rental period cleaning the mess, dirt, crud and filth left behind by the previous tenant. This upset me greatly and I’d be mumbling obscenities about the landlord under my breath during the days of cleaning just so I could move my own stuff into it without feeling like I was being infected. Even so, when I vacated the property I always made sure it was immaculate and “hospital clean” before turning the keys over to the landlord. It also makes me wonder how many people looked at the property before I got it, and walked away because of the filth.Many prospective renters can’t see past the filth for the potential. The landlord may be renting a house, but prospective tenants are looking for a “home”. Make it look and feel like home.The first rule is, keep the utilities turned on. We’re talking about electric, water, and gas if used for heating and/or cooking. Prospective tenants like to check things by turning them on and confirming they work. If the wife can’t confirm the oven works and the dishwasher doesn’t leak, that could cost you a potential renter.Does It Have Curb Appeal?Start by walking out the front door, close the door behind you and continue walking until you are on the other side of the street. Turn around and look. Does your house have curb appeal? Or is it the eyesore of the neighborhood? Cut the grass, edge the sidewalk, driveway and fences, trim the hedges, weed the flowerbeds, wash the windows and fix that decorative window shutter that’s hanging by one nail.About 80% of the phone calls I receive from prospective tenants are from those driving by. The remaining 20% are generated by other forms of advertising. If your property doesn’t have “curb appeal” there’s no way anyone will call that phone number you have on the FOR RENT sign in the front yard. If you set up a viewing appointment with someone who saw your listing on craigslist, they generally drive by a few hours before, or show up 30 minutes before the appointment time. If the property doesn’t have curb appeal they may not wait for you. Once the outside is done, move to the inside of the house.Make It Pop!When showing your property to prospective tenants, it’s best to unlock the front door and let them enter first. If it’s a couple, do what you can to let the woman enter first. You want them to experience the “WOW” factor upon entry. Furthermore, you want that same response as they enter each room. While men tend to be more attentive to overall floor space and layout of each room, the women pay much closer attention to the finer details. You should clean each room one at a time. When a room is completed, leave it and close the door before moving to the next room. Basically, you’ll want to paint the entire inside of the house so it truly looks new, or as close to new as you can feasibly make it look. Don’t get fancy with your selection of paint colors either. More on this later. Let’s start actually cleaning the inside of the house so it’s truly move-in ready. There’s things to clean you’ve never thought off. When looking at property for yourself, you may not have noticed these things directly. But subconsciously, they did have an impact. Most were negative and you weren’t consciously aware of it either. But it did affect your decision to accept the rental or purchase that house. The Down And DirtyWe’re going to bring your property back to like new condition, and the appearance will pleasantly surprise you and make all that work well worth it. Generally speaking, you’ll be done in 5 days if there are no major repairs you need to perform. About 95% of the work is done in the first 3 days. Day 4 is central air servicing in the morning, with carpet cleaning in the afternoon. Day 5 is pest spraying. With that in mind, you can go ahead and schedule a central air servicing and professional carpet cleaning for day 4. Have the central air units serviced in the morning, and carpet cleaned after that’s done. Schedule a pest spraying on day 5. You want the carpets dry before the bug man comes. Previously, you’ve already got the outside done to give it curb appeal, and generally, that’s done before lunch the first day. So after lunch, you start on the inside.Begin by vacuuming carpets and sweeping the entire house first to get all the big stuff out of the way and cleaned up. Then go through the entire house and remove all electrical outlet covers, light switch covers, wall mounted sconce light plates, and ceiling light globes. Take them to the kitchen and put them all in the dishwasher. Remove the grease filters from the kitchen exhaust, or from the bottom of the microwave above the stove, and put those in the dishwasher too. Don’t start the dishwasher yet, even if filled to capacity. That comes later. Remove all curtain rods, window blinds and anything attached to any walls in the house to include things like the brackets for the curtain rods and central air thermostat. You’ll probably find a few nails in the walls where pictures were hung. Remove them. Leave the central air return vent alone for now. You can leave the central air on so you can work in comfort. We’ll get that later.If necessary, use spackling compound with a small putty knife to repair any holes in the walls that are to big to be filled by a coat of paint. Do it right and you probably won’t even need to sand it when it dries. Do it thin and it dries faster. Satin finish paint will cover and hide it just fine.Fire up the vacuum cleaner again and vacuum out every electrical wall outlet, light switch and all other wall openings. These are places where roaches love to lay eggs. Using a damp and well rung out cloth or sponge, wipe the face of each outlet and light switch as you go to remove the grime from it. Be careful though, and don’t get shocked. Don’t forget about the central air return vent and the vents in each room also. Then using a cloth and damp rag, wipe down all the walls. Pay particular attention to the tops of the baseboards, chair rails, ceiling fans, window sills and the molding around doors and windows. Anything where dust can settle. Open all doors and clean off the top of those also. Most men aren’t aware that women actually do look for and notice these things. It gives them an indication of how responsible, attentive and good a landlord you are. If you haven’t already, wipe down the central air vents in all rooms, including the return vent also. Use a broom to knock down the dust bunnies hanging around the ceiling vents.Detailed attention is required in the bathrooms and kitchen. These two rooms are where women pay the most attention to detail. While the entire house needs to be hospital clean, you want the kitchen and bathrooms to be “Basic Training Military” clean. Begin with the Kitchen. I’ll warn you now with a major “don’t”.Do not use bleach to clean porcelain, fiberglass, plastics of any type, or ceramic tile and tile grout. Bleach leaves a micro thin residue layer that no amount of rinsing can remove. While that thin layer of residue will kill dangerous bacteria, it also permeates the aforementioned surfaces over a relatively short period of time and yellows them. Instead of bleach, use Lysol or Pine-Sol to sanitize these surfaces. If the bathroom or kitchen is tiled, bleach will cause the grout and some types of tile to yellow over time. If it’s yellow already then bleach will make it white again – for about a week. Then the discoloration returns even yellower than before. There are numerous products on the market specifically for cleaning tile and grout, and reversing the yellowing process. Most of these products are referred to as tile/grout “whiteners” and are available at many hardware stores. Clean bright grout lines in tile significantly enhance the pop and “WOW” factor of the room. So buy it and use it. DO NOT USE BLEACH.When cleaning the kitchen, you’ll need to deal with a fine sheen of grease and cooking oil on everything, as it’s accumulated over time and needs to be removed. Simple soap and water is usually not adequate enough to clean things back to their original like new condition. A product I find highly effective in the kitchen is called Purple Power. It comes as a concentrate in a one gallon bottle. (This stuff is safe, yet so good that I use it mixed half-and-half to clean automotive engines!) You can usually find it at the grocery store in the cleaning aisle section. Some retailers have it in the automotive section.For the kitchen and bath cleaning you’ll be doing, mix the concentrate at one part Purple Power to 4 parts water in a spray bottle. You’ll also use paper towels for this. While cloth rags will start out cleaning the grease and cooking oil sheen, as they get full of grease it tends to just spread it around as you continue to use it. So use paper towels instead and throw them out as they get dirty with grease.Let’s start with the ceiling. Look up above the stove and you’ll see the ceiling appears darker there. Cooking grease and oils tend to coat the kitchen ceiling and is quite noticeable. Clean it, paying special attention to those dark corners. A special note about ceilings now.Stippled and other rough textures on a ceiling can really add to the “high end” look and appearance of a property. But they just don’t work in the kitchen. It doesn’t take long to accumulate those “hanging dust bunnies” over the stove. It’s also difficult to clean no matter what you do, or what cleaning products you use. It can be cleaned, but you can hold that broom upside down and swipe it back and forth for so long until your arms are tired and you need to rest. So if at all possible and feasible, no textured ceilings or walls in the kitchen. If you wallpaper the kitchen, use wallpaper that doesn’t soak up water – it will soak up grease and cooking oil also.If the kitchen has a porous wallpaper already, it’s a good bet it’s soaked up quite a bit of those cooking oils over the years. You’ll never get it out, so don’t bother trying. Even Purple Power at full strength won’t get it all no matter how many times to spray and wipe. If you paint over that wallpaper it essentially seals in all those cooking oils. It doesn’t take long for those sealed in oils to react with and weaken the adhesive holding it to the wall. Then your painted wallpaper starts peeling back at the top and along the seams giving the look of water damage behind the sheetrock. In the kitchen, open every drawer. If possible, physically remove every drawer and clean it inside and out with Purple Power. Then clean inside the cabinet opening the drawer slides into, paying particular attention to the drawer slides themselves. Open all cabinets and if shelves can be removed, remove them. Clean both sides of shelves with the spray and paper towels. Then spray and wipe down inside the cabinets and the inside and outside of all cabinet doors. Remember to get inside and behind all door and drawer handles and pulls.Also clean the bottom of all counter tops. You know that lip that hangs over the sink? The women will run their hand under that lip while checking for running water, to see if it’s clean. For other counter tops if necessary, lie on the floor and clean the bottom of it. Counter tops are at waist level and easy for women to run their hand on the bottom of them without you noticing it. So clean it. Many times the women will ask if my wife cleaned the kitchen. I like it when I can respond, “No, I did. She just inspected it.”For the dishwasher, if it’s the built in type it is imperative that you pull it out from under the kitchen cabinet. When you do, you’ll find years worth of roach egg shells and droppings from other insects and pests that I’ll bet you swear you’ve never had. This absolutely must be cleaned, as dead animals just attract other and usually bigger rodents. The buildup of dust and dirt over the years also provides them the perfect nesting material.Clean the floor and sides of the opening where the dishwasher goes, and all sides of the dishwasher too. This opening where the dishwasher goes is warm and moist. Roaches absolutely love to lay their eggs there, and mice and other rodents love to build their nest under and behind warm cozy dishwashers. So pull it out and clean. Removing a dishwasher is easy. There are only two screws holding it in. Simply open the loading door, get down to floor level and look up. You’ll see two screws on the top of the dishwasher that are screwed into the bottom of the countertop. Remove those screws. Next, remove the bottom panel of the dishwasher that is closest to the floor. This gives you access to the front legs or feet of the dishwasher. It may be necessary to rotate the feet to screw them up into the base, so the unit can easily slide out from beneath the countertop. There should be sufficient play in the water, drain hose and electrical connections to allow you to pull it out sufficiently to clean behind it. If not, then removing that bottom panel to get to the feet will also allow you to access those connections. Don’t forget to turn off the power and water supply to the unit before disconnecting anything.Spray Purple Power liberally inside the space and clean all surfaces thoroughly. Don’t forget the bottom of the countertop above the dishwasher. Since moist warm air rises and carries dust and dirt with it, this is a place where roaches love to lay their eggs. Once it’s all cleaned, you should sanitize all surfaces in this opening with Lysol or Pine-Sol. If desired you can also spray a liberal coating of bug spray to help keep this area free of roaches, ants and other invasive pests who would otherwise love this ideal breeding location. Once done, reinstall the dishwasher. Remember to put the screws back attaching it to the countertop. Adjust the leg height so the legs, not the screws in the countertop, support the weight. Leave the bottom panel off for now, that allows you access to the water and drain connections. After reconnecting everything, place a clean dry paper towel under the water and drain connection you reattached. Then add dishwasher soap to the dishwasher and start a cleaning cycle. This will serve two purposes. First, it will clean all those plug covers and light fixture covers you loaded earlier. Then while doing other cleaning tasks you will check periodically to see if those paper towels are dry as confirmation you have no water leaks on the water supply line or the drain line connected to the dishwasher. When the cleaning cycle completes, remove the paper towels so there’s no fire hazard and replace the cover.Now let’s move to the refrigerator. Older models have their heat dissipation coils on the back. They need to be kept at least 1” away from the wall. Newer more energy efficient ones have their heat dissipation coils on the bottom and out of sight. If you still have one of these older models and it is actually still working, get rid of it and replace with a newer model – even if it’s a newer used one. The old model refrigerators are not energy efficient. After the first few electric bills your tenant’s will actually break it so as to make it look like a normal aging breakdown. So you’ll have to replace it with a newer model anyway.Unplug the refrigerator and leave the doors open. You can go ahead and remove all shelves and vegetable crispers from the unit and its doors as well. You can clean all these items too. Don’t forget to remove and clean the appliance bulbs in the fridge and freezer too. I personally like to clean these items in the bathtub full of soapy water. Then take it to the kitchen to rinse and dry. Unplug the refrigerator and if necessary, turn off the water supply to the ice maker and disconnect the supply line. Place a chair, stool, short latter or other device behind the refrigerator and against the wall. Then tilt the unit back so you can rest it on the chair or stool without laying it flat on its back on the floor. (Otherwise, you may kink and damage the ice maker supply line.) This gives you easy and safe access to the heat dissipation coils on the underside of the unit for cleaning.Do not be surprised to see several inches of dust and dirt on the coils. The cooling fan forces air over and through these coils to help them dissipate heat. Being in the kitchen, that air is full of cooking grease and oil mist which sticks to the coils and contributes to the buildup of dust and dirt. Using a coil brush, thoroughly clean the coils. A coil brush is 18 to 24 inches long and looks like and overly long bottle brush. They can be purchased just about anywhere that sells standard cleaning supplies. (Wal-Mart has them) Use the coil brush along with liberal applications of the Purple Power cleaner to remove all the built-up grease on the coils also. You should also clean the fan blades of the cooling fan using the Purple Power too. Clean fan blades move air much more efficiently. Overall, cleaning the coils and fan blades on a refrigerator can make it run as much as 90% more efficient – enough to actually notice on your next electric bill.Once the coils and fan blades are clean put the refrigerator back to its upright standing position and if necessary, reconnect the water supply line. DO NOT plug it in at this time. You need to wait at least 30 minutes to allow the lubricating oil in the compressor to settle back down to the bottom. Otherwise, starting it up immediately may cause irreparable damage to the compressor. An unrepairable refrigerator makes an excellent boat anchor – and that’s about it. If the refrigerator has a built-in water dispenser, then inside the cooling compartment (not the freezer compartment) on the back wall at the bottom you will find 20 to 30 feet of coiled up plastic water tubing. This supplies chilled water to the dispenser. With all the shelves out, if you don’t see this tubing, then it’s probably hidden behind a plastic cover. This cover can usually be snapped out. Otherwise, a few machine screws are all you need to remove to access this tubing. If this is your first time, expect the tubing to be caked in crud. If so, you’ll have to remove this tubing from the refrigerator and thoroughly clean it. Removal is easy.Access the tubing connections on the underside of the refrigerator from the back. Its most commonly connected to its feed points with pressure clamps that can be easily squeezed and slid off with pliers. Then from inside the cooling box, detach the coil from the wall and pull the free ends up through the access holes. Now you can take the tubing outside, uncoil it and clean it. Use clean water ONLY for cleaning the tubing. Wipe any and all crud and other residue off the tubing. To sanitize the inside of the tubing where the water actually flows, you can take it to the kitchen sink and run scalding hot water through it for a few minutes. This also softens the tubing, making it easier to coil back up. Use plastic zip ties to hold the coil in shape. Do not use metal wire ties, as they tend to cut into the tubing over time as they rust. Then reinstall the coil and connect the lines back on the rear underside of the refrigerator. Special note here.DO NOT USE BLEACH or any other chemicals to clean this tubing under any circumstances. Depending on the chemical composition of the plastic tubing, chemicals in bleach will slowly react with chemicals in the tubing creating a new highly toxic compound called ricin. Ricin is highly poisonous. Just one milligram of ricin ingested in the human body will cause INSTANTANEOUS DEATH!After the tubing has been reinstalled and all connections are complete, you can spray the coiled tubing (liberally if desired) with Lysol – but not Pine-Sol, to disinfect it. Then clean the plastic cover that hides the coil and reinstall it. (The odor from Pine-Sol tends to linger and will permeate food making it taste bad)Now you can clean the rest of the refrigerator inside and out until it looks like it just came off the showroom floor. Pay extra care to the door seals on the door, and the opening around the box where the door seals touch when closed. When done, leave the unit unplugged and out away from the wall. You’ll need to get back there to clean the floor and wall, as well as paint that wall also.The next kitchen appliance that needs special attention is the microwave. If the kitchen is equipped with one, it’s most likely mounted under the cabinets over the stove. This type of setup will have a built in exhaust fan for use when cooking on the stove beneath the microwave. When used, fumes may be exhausted through ducting to the top and exterior of the house or the air is filtered and exhausted out the top front of the microwave, just above the door. On the bottom of the microwave are one or two openings that draw air in. It has over it two metallic mesh filter screens for catching grease. If you’ve been following the advice of this document, those filters are clean already and are in the dishwasher. Leave them there for now.Using a flashlight look up into the duct. If the filters have been used and cleaned periodically in the past, a liberal spraying of Purple Power should cause any oily film in the duct to literally drip out. If the duct is exhausted to the roof you can use a plumbers snake or electricians snake to run a rag up the duct, that has been liberally soaked in purple power. You’ll only be able to get the rag up to the fan itself. You should also go to the roof and run a soaked rag down the exhaust vent down to the fan itself. Just make absolutely certain your rag is firmly attached to the snake though. If it comes loose and you can’t pull it up out of the duct, you’ll have a major problem that must be addressed and remedied to fix what will be a major fire and health hazard.If the grease is so thick you need a putty knife to peal it off, then a professional cleaning or duct replacement will be necessary. This is a major item that insurance claim adjusters look at after filing a claim for a kitchen fire. So do whatever is necessary to clean the exhaust duct.There is also a light on the bottom of the microwave that is used to light up the top of the stove when cooking. Remove the cover and clean it. Remove the bulb and clean the reflector in the cavity. Clean the bulb too. Then put it all back. If the microwave does not exhaust air externally, the air is filtered and blown back into the kitchen through the exhaust vent on the front of the microwave just above the closed door. There is a second finer filter just behind that cover, which needs to be removed and cleaned. The cover over the exhaust vent will sometimes snap out with a firm pull. Some designs will have a small screw on each side that needs to be removed. Do whatever is necessary to get to and remove this filter for cleaning. These filters are reusable, and can be easily cleaned if you do it my way.Usually, a few liberal applications of Purple Power and rinsing in the sink will suffice. If not, then remove everything from the dishwasher, soak the filter with purple power and put it in the dishwasher. You may have to use a few light globes or covers in the dishwasher to hold it down if necessary. Then add ? cup of the purple power concentrate to the bottom of the dishwasher, and run it through a hot rinse cycle. Do not let it run through a heated drying cycle, as they may actually melt the filter and you’ll have to replace it. While the dishwasher is running, clean the exhaust duct the same way you did the intake duct on the bottom of the microwave. When all done, reinstall the filters, reassemble everything and you’re done.If the exhaust vent is caked so thick that you need a putty knife to get it off with, then you have no choice but to remove the microwave and take it out back for disassembly and cleaning. Caked on layers of grease create a highly explosive fire hazard. It’s considered a higher possibility of fire on microwave units that filter and exhaust the air back into the kitchen. If the grease is caked on the walls of the exhaust duct, then you can bet it’s caked just as thick on the fan blades also. It absolutely must be cleaned and removed.Once the unit is removed the fan blower access panel will be on the top or back of the unit. Remove it and use a liberal amount of Purple Power to clean up everything you can get to. Cleaning the fan will also help it to move more air faster and operate more efficiently. Once cleaned, put everything back together and reinstall the unit. (Don’t forget to plug it back in, so it actually works!) Now let’s move on to the last major appliance in the kitchen, the stove.There are two basic types of stoves. The older style has four burners on the top that can be easily lifted out. There’s a grease catcher bowl under each burner that can be easily removed for cleaning. If it’s an LP gas stove, the user cleanable parts of each burner will lift right out usually. The newer style is the glass top stove. This has no visible burner elements and no grease catcher bowls. It has a flat glass surface that allows for cooking with four or more pots and pans simultaneously. While the newer style is considerably more efficient on the electric bill, both styles have their cleaning challenges.Begin by pulling the stove away from the wall and from between the cabinets. Then get behind the stove and unplug it from the 220 volt outlet. Do not leave it plugged in with the belief that just turning off the breakers in the electrical panel box will protect you. It will not. A 220 volt outlet has two hot wires and a neutral wire. Newer installations will also have a fourth ground wire. When you turn off the breakers you are only killing power to the two hot wires. The neutral wire is connected directly to a grounding point in the electrical service panel. If anything else in the house is incorrectly wired there is a possibility the neutral wire may have an electric charge on it. It won’t just shock you – it will kill you. The shock from a standard 120 volt wall outlet will, if you’re lucky, propel you six feet into the air and scare the bejesus out of you. But if you get shocked on a 220 volt outlet, the only luck you’ll have will be bad luck. YOU WILL DIE. You will not be around to hear me recite my favorite phrase either – I TOLD YOU SO! So if you have to climb over the counter to get behind the stove and unplug it, DO IT!For the electric element stove remove all four elements and store them safely away. They actually unplug if you lift them gently and pull them away, towards the corner of the stove. Then remove the grease catchers and clean them. You can run them through the dishwasher. If the catch bowls will not clean to a shiny new appearance, then replace them. You can buy a four-pack for around $10 at any hardware store or place that sells appliances. Wal-Mart even has them. Rusty bowls significantly detract from the pop and “WOW” factor of a kitchen.Now open the top of the stove to reveal the top of the oven box. It opens like a child’s music box. If it won’t open, there’s probably locking brackets attached to the hinges on the back of the stove. Just remove those brackets and open the stove burner lid to gain access to the top of the oven box.The bowls under each burner are intended to catch grease and prevent it from dripping onto the oven box. Otherwise, when using the oven it could heat up the grease and cause it to burst into flame. So use the Purple Power to thoroughly clean the top of the oven box and the bottom of the burner lid you opened to access the oven box. Then close this lid when done.Remove all the knobs from the control panel. With a tight grasp and firm pull they come right off. Clean them thoroughly. Run them through the dishwasher if desired. Use Purple Power to clean the control panel, paying special attention to the areas around the spindles the control knobs go on. When this is done, you’re ready to clean the oven.Oven doors contain a glass window that allows you to see into the oven while baking, without opening the door. This window is actually two pieces of glass separated by a flexible ceramic spacer between the two pieces that rests in a channel that runs the perimeter of the glass. Clean the inside and outside of the viewing window. After cleaning it should be a clear as a car windshield. If it appears dark when you look through it, that means there’s grease residue between the glass. Also means the flexible ceramic spacer is soaked with grease and must be cleaned. Oven doors are easy to remove, disassemble and clean. All you need is a Philips screwdriver. From the closed position open the oven door until it stops on its own – usually at about a 50 degree angle. Now grab the door on each side and evenly pull it up and away from the hinge pins. The pins will remain in their partway open position so you can easily put the door back when done. Some doors will have a locking latch on the hinge pins that need to be released before the door will pull off. If necessary, use a flat tip screwdriver to pop the latch locks open. Then pull the door off and take it out back.Oven doors are constructed of porcelain on metal. So be careful not to chip the porcelain. Using the Philips screwdriver, disassemble the door. Pay attention to how things fit and where they go so you can easily reassemble it after cleaning. If necessary take notes or use a digital camera to take pictures as you go. Be careful with the two glass plates. They are a special heat tempered glass that can take the heat generated by the oven. Regular glass would just shatter when exposed to that heat. Clean both sides of each glass plate using anything you like. If the darkness just won’t come off, you can use muriatic acid, which can be purchased at any cleaning supply store including Wal-Mart.If muriatic acid doesn’t remove the darkness, then a glass cook top cleaner or polishing compound with plenty of paper towels and lots of elbow grease on your part will. You can also use a 600 grit automotive polishing compound with plenty of elbow grease to work the glass to crystal clear without scratching, scoring or glazing it, so it remains “clear” and you can still see through it. For example, a 300 grit rubbing compound will make it look glazed, which is perfect for a bathroom window you want light to pass through without anyone outside being able to actually “see” through it. Using anything higher than 600 grit will work also. It just takes more time and elbow grease on your part.The spacer that goes in the door channel between the two pieces of glass is made from a ceramic compound. It looks and probably feels like a ? inch nylon rope. Thoroughly soak it in Purple Power and rinse it a few times. Then give it a final soak in Purple Power and run it through the dishwasher. While waiting for the dishwasher to finish, clean the remaining parts of the door and reassemble as far as you can. When the dishwasher completes, put the spacer and glass back and finish reassembling the door.If you will be “cold cleaning” the oven, leave the door off until you have it clean. If you will be doing a standard “hot cleaning” with a product like Easy-Off, then put the door back on and plug the oven back into the outlet so you can clean it. When you reinstall the door, remember to re-engage the hinge pin locks if so equipped, or the oven door won’t close. Clean the outside of the stove on both sides using Purple Power (not bleach). There are usually plenty of drippings there where grease and cooking oils got between the stove and the cabinets on each side of the stove.After the inside of the oven is clean, unplug it again if you hot cleaned it. Then with the stove pulled away from the wall and unplugged, lay it down on its back. See all the cobwebs, dust and crud on the bottom? It’s a roach, ant and rodent vacation resort. Clean it. When done you can sanitize it with Pine-Sol, but not Lysol. Also, do not apply bug spray to this area. Many aerosols like bug spray and Lysol are highly flammable. If you apply these to the bottom of the oven box, there is a possibility it could get hot enough to ignite and the stove will literally explode. Now clean the floor and wall under and behind the stove’s location. Remember to clean the cabinets on each side of the stove also, as they’ll be covered with grease and oil drippings. If desired, you can spray the floor and cabinet sides with a light misting of bug spray. But leave the stove out so you can get to the wall behind it when painting if necessary. You may feel it’s not necessary to paint behind the stove since you don’t normally see it. A coat of paint seals the sheetrock so it won’t absorb and soak up grease and oil. So you should paint it when we get to the point of actually painting. Now for cleaning a glass top stove.Cleaning glass top stoves is done similar to burner element stoves. That is, you clean from the top down. Start by removing all the control knobs and cleaning them. Then use Purple Power to clean the control panel and perform an initial wipe down of the actual glass surface. If Purple power brings the glass top to a like new condition and appearance, then you can just move on to cleaning the rest of the stove using the same instructions for older stoves above. If the glass top requires more cleaning, then the only product you should use on the glass surface is a “Glass Cook Top” cleaner which can be purchased at any cleaning supply store or grocery store in the cleaning products aisle. You just have to use plenty of paper towels, lots of elbow grease and time. But you “can” get that glass cook top back to a pristine like new condition. Using anything other than the glass top cleaner intended for this type of surface will cause permanent damage. So always use the right product.If you have a gas stove, be it LP (Liquid petroleum) or NG (Natural Gas) it is imperative that when you reconnect the gas line you confirm beyond a doubt that no gas is leaking. You can do this by spraying a liberal amount of soapy water on the connection and see if a leak creates any bubbles after turning on the main supply valve. If it leaks you must redo the connection. If you can’t get the leak to stop, call a professional. Your LP or NG gas supplier can usually come out that day and take care of it.To finish the kitchen, wipe down the counter tops, clean the sinks and sweep and mop the floor. Leave the stove and refrigerator pulled away from the wall when done, so you can paint behind them. For the kitchen, as well as bathroom sink, those made of stainless steel or porcelain on steel are easily cleaned to like new condition with comet and elbow grease. But if it’s one of the newer plastic or vinyl sinks, there’s a few tricks for making it look like new again. If the vinyl has scratches you can see and feel, or is discolored, the discoloring is on the surface most likely and not deep into the material at all. Simply use a 150 grit rubbing compound to work out the scratches and discoloring. Then use a 300 grit or higher rubbing compound to restore it to like new condition. A 600 grit rubbing compound and about 10-15 minutes of elbow grease on a vinyl lined sink will make it shine like a mirror.For the faucets and other metal fixtures in the kitchen, use Tarn-X to make them like new. Just make sure those fixtures aren’t plastic and painted to look like metal or a cheap metal electroplated with a thin coating of a shinier metal. Tarn-X will take that finish off. If door and drawer pulls are made of metal, they probably show signs of use and have been discolored and stained from years of accumulating oils from people’s hands. You can take those off and dip them in Tarn-X to make them look new again.Now move on to the bathroom.In the bathroom, do a standard spic-and-span cleaning. Scrub the tub and sink with Comet or other cleanser to remove the rings and make them like-new white again. If the floors and/or walls are tiled, use the tile and grout whitener you used on the kitchen floor to remove the yellowing and make it pop. Use Tarn-X, Brasso or a sliver polish to make all the metal fixtures look new again. Use CLR to remove calcium buildup and rust stains around the water faucets. Here are some tips to make that bathroom really “POP”.On the toilet, be sure to clean the inside bottom of the rim, and don’t forget the bottom of the tank too. Rest assured, the women will check the bottom of that tank, and you’ll never see them do it. So clean it. For the toilet bolts that hold the toilet to the floor, if they are exposed they’re probably rusted. Run to the hardware store and buy a package of plastic toilet bolt covers. They come two in a package and cost less than $2. After cleaning the bolts as best as you can, fill the plastic cover with any standard bath and kitchen caulk and press them over the bolts all the way down. Caulk should ooze out the bottom of the covers. Wipe off the excess and you’re done. This hides a common detraction from the pop and “WOW” factor in the bathroom.Turn off the water supply to the toilet and flush the toilet to drain the tank. Remove the lid from the toilet tank and liberally coat the inside of the tank with CLR. Wait about 10 minutes and turn the toilet water supply back on to fill the tank. Flush it a few times to rinse it out. This will remove almost all of the dark rust staining on the inside of the tank.When showing the house, a smart prospective tenant will remove the toilet tank cover to see how darkly discolored the inside walls of the tank are. Dark staining indicates “hard” water, and hard water doesn’t clean clothes as well as more alkaline “soft” water does. Also, hard water tends to yellow your whites in the washing machine.Inspect the caulking around the base of the toilet, top of the tub and the sink. If the caulking is yellowed, then it’s a fair bet that it’s also hard as a rock and probably cracked here and there. Good indication of heavy cleaning with bleach in the past – which is an absolute no-no. Bottom line is, it’s not doing its primary job of stopping water from seeping in behind it. This old caulking is quickly and easily removed with a razor knife. Then just re-caulk everything with a good quality kitchen and bath caulk. Special note on caulking here. If the caulk will be in contact with fiberglass, or if the tub was repaired in the past with the installation of a vinyl liner, then do not use a silicon based caulk. Chemicals in the silicon will make plastics, fiberglass and vinyl brittle over time, and then you’ll have to replace everything when they start developing cracks that can lead to water damage. There are numerous caulks out there designed explicitly for use on plastics, fiberglass and vinyl. So find and use that instead.When you think you’ve achieved a military basic training level of cleanliness, it’s easy to confirm. Simply do either of the following two things.1 – Have your mother inspect the bathroom and kitchen for hospital cleanliness. It will not pass her first inspection. Why? Remember when you were young and would ask to do something or to go somewhere? Your mother would reply, “Only after your room is clean.” Never passed first inspection - now did it? (Be honest) So, if the bathroom or kitchen doesn’t pass your mom’s inspection, what makes you think a prospective tenant would disagree with your own mother? Clean the damn bathroom.2 – Have the bathroom and kitchen inspected by someone who is active duty military. Tell them to inspect to military basic training standards. When it fails the first inspection, clean again and have it reinspected.Now that the entire inside of the house is cleaned and all necessary repairs and maintenance has been performed, you just need to remove all door knobs, deadbolts and other door hardware and you’re ready to paint. Metal door knob handles only, and lock turns only (the part you touch with your hands to operate them) can be cleaned with Tarn-X too, if they’re made of metal.Blue In The Bedroom, Polka Dots In The KitchenSelecting the Paint ColorsThe yard was done on the morning of day one. All the inside cleaning was on days 2 and 3. Now its day 4 and you’re ready to paint. Not so fast. Colors that are appealing to you may be repulsive to prospective renters. You should chose your paint color based on the type of renter you want to attract, as well as the “renter psychology” of your geographic area.For my rental property I desire to attract young, yet established families with one or two children under the age of 15. The color I use for the walls is called White Chocolate, and I prefer a satin finish. For trim I use Egg Shell White with a semi-gloss finish. The shade and tint of the White Chocolate color falls somewhere between a white egg and a brown egg, but closer to the white egg. I find this color brightens a room without blinding you when the light is switched on, yet not so bright that every little speck of dust shows, and handprints don’t jump out at you when you look at it. White Chocolate is also a neutral color. Tenants can decorate the room in practically any color scheme they desire, and it works. For example, hanging picture frames made from a dark wood on the wall tends to blend the wall around it to a very light tan that is pleasing to the eye. In another room the olive green curtains on the window seems to give the satin finish in the paint a light sparkle, giving one a bright and cheery feeling without over doing it. A satin finish makes a majority of marks and scuffs easy to clean with a damp cloth without taking paint off the wall or requiring a lot of elbow grease scrubbing. Satin also helps hide imperfections in the wall. Semi-gloss or high gloss paint makes any imperfections jump out like a throbbing sore thumb. With a satin finish, touchups are perfectly blended in just a few hours. Below is a list of what to avoid and why, when selecting your paint, based on my own experiences.Semi-gloss or high gloss paintsWhile this type is easiest to clean with a damp towel or cloth, a semi-gloss or high gloss paint of any color tends to bring out every little imperfection on the wall or other painted surface. Additionally, the glossiness fades with time. So touchups stick out quite noticeably. Unless the house is new construction and the walls have absolutely no imperfections what-so-ever, avoid semi-gloss and high gloss paints at all cost.Flat Flat paints, such as a flat white are excellent for hiding imperfections, But they tend to get powdery within a week after painting. Flat paint in the bathroom holds moisture, and in the kitchen it absorbs grease and cooking oils that just will not clean off at all. Touching the wall with your hand or other object, or bumping up against the wall tends to transfer the color to your hand or whatever objects rubbed up against it. It’s also difficult to wipe clean, as each time you wipe it, you’re removing the color. Repeated wiping over time will eventually remove it down to the original surface and it just doesn’t look good. Flat paints dull over time, and touchups stick out forever.PastelsPastel colors are a definite no-no. While they may be bright and cheery, they make a room look like a scene out of toon town in the movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” A tenant’s furniture and other decorations will clash and may give the room a repulsive feeling to a prospective tenant. Tenants will beg to repaint, and will move at the end of the lease if not allowed. It’s also likely that even if you deny permission to repaint, they’ll just do it anyway. It can be that repulsive.Dark ColorsDark colors, especially red, tend to invoke feelings of doom and gloom. They also make a room “feel” smaller than it actually is. I also find that a bright red tends to attract the party animal college girls. I don’t know why with any degree of certainty – but you can speculate. Basically, I’m not going to tolerate my rental property becoming the “Planet Hollywood” party house of the neighborhood every night.Two-tone or multiple colors in a roomThis isn’t a big top circus tent or the county fair. Prospective tenants aren’t looking to rent your property for its excitement and entertainment value. They want a place where they can relax in comfort, unwind after a hard day’s work, and feel safe and secure while spending quality time together as a family.Neon colorsDoes this really need to be explained? Neon orange and neon green will clash with just about everything! Don’t do it!In some houses using a trim color on the baseboards and around windows and doors can help with the pop factor. Just don’t overdo it. Your trim color should add an ever so slight accent to a room. You don’t want the trim color to be so contrasting that it grabs and yanks your eyeballs out when you walk into the room and turn the light on. Since I paint the walls with a satin finish white chocolate, I use a semi-gloss finish Eggshell White for the baseboards and the door and window trim. This seems to add just a tinge more pop to that “WOW” factor the first time prospective tenants enter the front door. Also, the baseboards and door molding next to the door knob get dirty looking fast. It’s nothing a quick wipe on the semi-gloss paint won’t take care of with just one swipe. Tenants love that. When painting there really isn’t a need to tape things off. Many of the painter’s tools available today are cheap, with many being so cheap they’re considered disposable. All are available at any store that sells paint. However, you will need to remove all doorknobs and the metal catch on the doorjamb. Painting over them or trying to paint around them just doesn’t look good when done, and actually decreases the “pop” factor of the room.This may sound strange, but start by painting your trim color first, with the semi-gloss paint you selected. For painting the baseboards without getting paint on the carpet use this simple time saving and carpet saving trick. Take a 4 inch wide vertical blind and cut it to 3-4 feet long. Using a razor, cut the bead off one side of the blind. If necessary, use a putty knife to assist with inserting the cut edge under the baseboard and over the carpet. Now you can paint that section of the baseboard all the way to the bottom of the baseboard without getting a single drop of paint on the carpet. Simply slide it down the baseboard as you paint. When you get to the end of that wall, pull the blind out, wipe it clean with a wet rag and insert it under the baseboard of your next wall, and continue. A quick, easy and simple cost effective and time efficient way to get those baseboards looking brand new while keeping the carpet new looking also. After you finish painting all the trim with your semi-gloss paint, let it dry at least 4 hours before painting the walls with your satin finish paint. That way, taping the trim is not necessary. If it takes you 4 hours to paint the trim, then you can start the walls immediately, beginning in the room where you started with the trim.Use a painter’s edging pad for painting the wall along the ceiling, around windows and door jambs. With this simple and inexpensive tool, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on painter’s tape and waste time taping all the edges of the areas to be painted.Always paint the back door and front door first. When you finish painting the entire house, those two doors should be dry enough so you can reinstall the door knobs and deadbolts in at least those two doors before you depart for the day.Paint the wall with the central air return vent in it last. At that time, turn the central air off and remove the entire vent from the wall. Usually 4-6 screws hold it in. Take the removed vent outside and put it where you will do your paint cleanup when finished for the day. You’ll clean that vent when you do your paint cleanup, and put the vent back in the wall after the central air is serviced tomorrow. Leave the central air off until it’s serviced tomorrow and you put that vent back. It’s easier for the tech to service the central air unit if it’s been off and the cooling coils are dry.You should always keep a wet rag with you for wiping up splatters and drips. If you get paint on an electrical outlet or light switch, just wipe it with the wet rag and continue painting. Should you get any of the satin finish paint on the thoroughly dried semi-gloss trim, just wipe it off with a damp rag. (No need to tape off your trim!) If you get a bit of paint on a glass window, just leave it and continue. After 30 minutes or so, you can go back to it and remove paint from glass cleanly using a razor blade. When finished painting you can reinstall all door knobs, beginning with the knobs, chains, latches and deadbolts on the front and back doors. If necessary clean door knobs and all associated hardware before reinstalling them. They’re easier to clean that way. The electrical outlet and light switch plates were cleaned earlier in the dishwasher. Before putting them back, fold a clean dry cloth over the end of a flat end screwdriver and use it to wipe the crud off the top of each outlet and light switch where it sticks through the hole in the cover plate. This simple task removes a thin layer of crud on each outlet and provides a tad bit more “pop” to the wow factor of a room. Notice that the tiny screws which hold the cover plates on are also painted the same color as the cover plate. If they are scratched, chipped, rusted or otherwise don’t look new, replace them. You can buy these screws in 30 packs of different lengths at any hardware store. They come in both white and almond. So get the correct matching color. When putting the screws in, use a plastic screwdriver so you don’t take any paint off the screw head and they retain that “new” look. While chipped or rusted screws on these cover plates aren’t something that’s noticed directly, at the subconscious level it has a negative impact on that “WOW” factor you’re trying to create here. You should also make the screw driver slot in the screw heads all in the same direction for a tad bit more “pop” in the room. I like to make sure all mine are straight up and down. I refer to this as having all my screw driver slots at “the position of attention”. This isn’t something that is directly noticed. But it does contribute to a room’s “pop”. When all the painting is complete, it’s time for the central air servicing and carpets. Be ready for the central air service technician in the morning of the 4th day. Generally, he’ll be done in about an hour. Then you can install that return vent you removed and cleaned yesterday. Remember to put a new filter in it. The final cleaning step for the inside of the house is to have all carpet in the house professionally cleaned. If you don’t clean the carpets, the house takes on a musty smell once the new paint smell dissipates. You may not notice it. But prospective tenants will as soon as they walk in the front door. Don’t try cleaning it yourself. Professionals have access to cleaning and disinfectants that you can’t buy over the counter. Additionally, their chemicals will kill off any ticks, fleas or lice in the carpet along with their microscopic eggs. So leave this to the professionals.Carpet cleaning businesses charge between $0.12 and $0.18 cents per square foot. So at 18 cents you can have a 10X12 bedroom carpet cleaned and disinfected for a mere $21.60. A typical 3 bedroom house with carpet in the bedrooms, hallway, living room and family room will cost around $200.00 give or take a few ten dollar bills. So call a carpet cleaner, inform them the house is vacant and let them know you want the carpets cleaned, as well as treated for fleas, ticks and lice. When the carpet cleaner arrives, they’ll need access to an outside water spigot. So make sure you have running water still. They can’t clean the carpets without it. You should also let them know in advance that you receipt needs to be itemized, listing not just the cleaning, but what the carpet was treated for too. You may need this itemized receipt later to protect yourself from any potential tenant accusations.After the carpets have been cleaned you should turn on all ceiling fans. If the property has central air and heat, then you should turn it on in at least the “fan only” setting so it runs continuously to circulate air throughout the house to aid in drying the carpet. Then you can lock up the property and depart. It will take about 8 hours for the carpet to dry. You can always come back later that evening to turn off the ceiling fans and central air if desired. But I prefer to leave things on overnight to ensure the carpets are completely dry beyond a reasonable doubt before I enter the property and walk on the carpets again.The next morning before the bug man arrives to spray you should thoroughly vacuum all the carpets one more time. The carpet cleaning removed all the crud that makes dirt stick. So if you vacuum that one final time, it removes that final bit of dirt held there by the wetness of the carpet when it was being cleaned.The final task is to have the entire property sprayed inside and out for both destructive and non-destructive pests. Non-destructive pests would be those like ants, roaches, lice, ticks and fleas. Destructive pests would include termites, rats and carpenter ants. So the treatment needs to include the entire yard also. If there is a crawl space under the house, the exterminator will need to crawl under and spray that down also. Don’t forget to get the attic too! The yard should be sprayed for ticks and fleas and ants. If there is a crawlspace under the structure, that should be sprayed for ticks and fleas, ants carpenter ants and subterranean termites. Inside the house should be sprayed for roaches, termites, carpenter ants and any other destructive pests common to your geographical region. If the house has carpet, insist on also having it treated for fleas, ticks and lice. I know it was treated by the carpet cleaners. But have it sprayed again since the house is empty. Any smell will be gone in 24 hours. Any residue left by the spraying will be dry, and you can vacuum the carpets again if desired, later that evening.If during your course of preparing this property to be a rental, you have come across termite or other pest damage and have repaired it, you really have no way of knowing with a high degree of certainty that there are no destructive pests present in other parts of the house that you haven’t found yet. In this case, I highly recommend having the house tented by a company that specializes in this type of treatment. The process usually takes 3 days and cost runs between $1200 and $1500 dollars. While this may seem rather costly to do, it’s cheaper than repairing the tens of thousands of dollars in damage the termites or carpenter ants may cause before you discover it. The tenting process usually includes bonding also. When a property is “termite bonded” you are provided a government issued (municipality level or higher) certificate by the contractor. This is certification that there are no destructive pests in the structure and bonding usually includes a warranty where any future infestation is guaranteed not to occur for 7 to 10 years. Tenting, though somewhat costly, is the best course of action to take on property that you believe might have as of yet undetected damage by destructive pests. It also is beneficial to any claims you may have if a new tenant brings in destructive pests when they move their furniture into your property. At this point the house is now “move-in ready”. However, you can’t advertise it yet. While the property may be ready, now, you have to get ready and prepare to evaluate and select a prospective tenant to occupy and rent your property. First, you need to develop a tenant selection/approval process. You also need to formulate a turn-over process that gets you to the point where you actually turn the keys to the front door over to a new tenant. Besides, have you figured out how much rent you need to charge? How much rent can you charge? What you need to charge and what you can actually get for the property can be vastly different. Let’s figure that out next.Show Me The MoneyHow Much Rent To Charge?Your first order of business here (remember, this “is” a business) is to determine how much rent you’re going to charge. There are several factors that go into determining the rent amount. But basically, you need the rent low enough to attract the type of tenants you desire, yet high enough to cover your expenses and keep the “trash applicants” from even calling you. Rent needs to be high enough to pay the mortgage, insurance and property taxes for the year. Add another 10% that you put aside for routine maintenance and any unexpected repairs that are a landlord responsibility. Then add at least another 10% for you. (You are doing this to make money, right?) Here’s the method I use to figure the minimum rent I must charge, and then determine the actual rent I will charge.I have a 30 year mortgage on my rental property. The monthly payment is $375.00. The mortgage does not include an escrow account for insurance and property taxes. So I pay those separately out of my pocket when I get the insurance and tax bill.I pulled out my current year’s tax bill which I received and paid in November of the previous year. It was $1150.00. By state law (not federal law) my county cannot raise next year’s property taxes more than 10% above the current year. So I add $115.00 to the $1150.00 in property taxes I paid this year and get a total of $1265.00 in property taxes I could potentially be paying next year. Divide $1265.00 by 12 months, and I get a total of $105.42 a month in property taxes I could potentially be paying next year. Lets round that to 105.00 a month for convenience and add it to the $375.00 a month mortgage payment. That means I’m doling out $480.00 per month just to own the property. Now let’s look at the last insurance bill I received and paid in June of last year. It was $997.00 for a year of insurance coverage. Knowing that insurance costs seem to be steadily rising every year, my best guess is that the next insurance bill will be as much as 10% more. So 10% of $997.00 is $99.70. Add that to last year’s insurance bill and I expect to pay up to $1096.70 when I get the next bill. Divide that figure by 12 months, and insurance is costing me $91.40 a month. Let’s round that to an even $91.00 for convenience, and add that to the $480.00 figure from the mortgage payment and property taxes. That means it cost me about $571.00 a month with mortgage payments, property taxes and insurance just to own the property. So if I collect $571.00 a month in rent that will barely cover my financial obligations so I can retain ownership of the property.Now add 10% to that total and make it an even $57.00. This amount is added to the $571.00 bringing the total to $628.00. That additional $57.00 a month is put aside to pay for routine maintenance and unexpected repairs that are a landlord responsibility. For example, a clogged sink drain is a tenant expense and responsibility, while a busted water pipe is clearly a landlord expense and responsibility that requires immediate attention and action on the landlord’s part. Finally, add another 10% of the new total of $628.00. That’s an additional $62.80 which we’ll round up to an even $63.00 for convenience. This $63.00 is my take for the month. It may not seem like much for all the work I’m putting into this. But when I sell the property down the road, that’s when I make the real money.This final total of $691.00 is the rent I must charge to meet all my financial obligations on the property, and make it worth my time to even rent out the property. So under no circumstances what-so-ever will I ever accept less than $691.00 a month rental income for this house. Now to determine the rent I will actually charge.Don’t Be A GougerMy property is a 3 bedroom 1 bath house. Using craigslist I searched for all 3 bedroom rentals within a 30 mile radius of my rental. Then using the website’s filtering tools I weeded out all condos and apartment complexes. My house has a yard. Apartments and condos generally don’t. I also weeded out duplexes and other multi-family structures. All I want is 3 bedroom houses. After this first weeding process that left me with over 100 houses in a 30 mile radius. So I reduced it to a 10 mile radius.After weeding out the ones that included yard upkeep and/or utilities in the rent price that left me with a list of 25-30 3 bedroom houses. A majority of these houses had 2 baths. Mine only has one. I note the lowest asking price is $750.00 a month, and the highest is $925.00 a month. The three with the lowest price are in what I would call the unsavory section of town. The streets are unpaved and there are no sidewalks. While the front and back yards are of a decent size, there is no fence and the houses are packed together like sardines. In the pictures, many didn’t seem to have much curb appeal. I next did a drive by of the three highest priced ones on my list. 2 of the three were 4 and 6 blocks away. Houses in this area had decent sized yards with adequate side yards between the houses. On two of the three houses, at least the back yard was fenced in with chain link fences. All the streets were paved and one of the houses was on a street with sidewalks on both sides. Their curb appeal was comparable with the curb appeal of my property. But while the two houses with fenced yards were enclosed with chain link fence, my property has a 6-foot high wooden shadowbox fenced in back yard that is in excellent condition and less than 2 years old. Also, the two houses closest to mine are of block and mortar construction. My house is wood construction, originally built in 1937. But I think my house has a slight edge with its curb appeal and privacy fence in the back. I should have no problem getting folks to tour my house. I’m confident I have a definite edge with my hospital clean interior. So I’m going to start my asking price at $900.00 a month and see if it generates any interest. If I don’t get any prospects within the first week after posting on Craigslist, then I’ll at least consider dropping my price to $875.00. Another thing I noticed when reviewing the rental ads on craigslist, is that quite a few of them said “no pets”. That’s something that needs to be considered. My rental property is carpeted and I am a strict no pets landlord. I can justify why from past experience.Dogs by their nature tend to dig up the yard and destroy landscaping. They also dig holes under fences. It’s not the dog’s fault; it’s in their nature. So called indoor dogs shed hair in places you can’t reach and the first time they pee on the carpet, the landlord is usually the one left holding the bag when the tenant vacates. If a previous tenant had dogs or other animals in the house, the new tenant’s dog will smell it. Doesn’t matter the carpets are cleaned. So even if they’re litter box trained, they’re going to pee everywhere they smell that previous pet, to mark what their territory is now. It’s just their nature.Pee stains will always be visible, as they never clean up completely no matter how many times you have the carpet cleaned. Additionally, the smell will linger for weeks after the tenant vacates, and this is an immediate turn-off when showing the property to prospective tenants. The one time I allowed a tenant to have a dog, when the tenant vacated I found the landscaping destroyed and I ended up removing and replacing all the carpet in the house. Expensive lesson learned.Cats by their nature scratch things. Not to mention the hair these animals shed also. The one time I allowed a tenant to have a cat, was the last time I allowed tenants with pets. After the tenant vacated, every door in the house was so badly scratched up, I had to replace them. The door molding around one of the doors was in such bad shape that I had to replace that also. From that point on, positutely absitively NO PETS! Period.I’ve set an asking price of $900.00 a month. What next? If I advertise at this point, it’s reasonable to expect a phone call from someone within 48 hours after posting my add and putting the For Rent sign in the front yard. Obviously, I’m going to meet with the caller to give them a tour so they can see the property. Let’s suppose that after the viewing they say “Yes, I want to rent this house”. Now what? Use the Right Bait, Hook the Right FishAttracting the Right TenantEver wonder why crocs never swim in the open ocean? The sharks will eat them, and they know it. As a young man in my hormonally challenged years, I didn’t date much. In high school I had no problem attracting the girls, lots of them. But I didn’t have any girlfriends or even anything I would consider a real date. Don’t think I didn’t try though. Seems like every time I was almost there I’d screw it up and it would turn into an outing with “the gang”. My dad would constantly tell me “Son, quit fishing for alligators with car tires, the sharks are stealing your prize.” The old man never did explain it and I never understood it; until 20 years later with a 14 year old son of my own. In the middle of his freshman year while we were sitting on the couch watching Dave Ramsey on FOX Business Network it just clicked; I knew exactly what dear old dad was trying to tell me.Dragging a car tire behind your boat in the open ocean will attract sharks. They think it’s an injured seal and attack. But if you’re trying to catch the alligators on the river bank this just won’t work. I now realize all my hormonally challenged guy friends in high school were sharks. Me? Raw bait. When you start fishing for the right tenant, don’t feed the sharks!Expect to show the property to at least five prospective tenants before you have one that is interested in actually renting your house and calling it their home. But in reality, expect to show it to at least ten prospective tenants before you find one you’re actually comfortable with and have a reasonable expectation they will pay the rent on time and take decent care of “your” property. Also, you don’t want to give an impression that you’re begging for someone to rent from you. Instead, you want a renter to feel honored and privileged that you allow them to rent your house. So what’s the best way to make a determination?You need a process that allows you to assess and determine your level of comfort and confidence in a tenant. You need an application process. When I have someone express an interest in actually renting my house, I present them with an application which they will need to fill out and return to me for processing. I’m asking some basic questions on the application, and I’ve designed it in such a way that I can confirm the information they provide. The application is also my bait.If the applicant has issues on their credit report they know will disqualify them, most likely they’re not going to bite my hook. This shark can take their feeding frenzy elsewhere. Here are some of the questions I’m asking:Do you have a job? If so, where? How long have you been working there?If you’ve been at your current job less than a year, where did you work before?Where do you live now? How long have you lived there?Have you ever been late with your rent? If so, how late and why?Why do you want to move from where you live now?How many people are living in your house? Will those same people be living here?Do you have any pets?How many vehicles are in your household?Have you ever called law enforcement, or had them called on you? If yes, explain.Have you ever been sued? If yes, explain.Have you ever been evicted? If yes, explain.Have you ever been foreclosed on? If yes, explain.Have you ever had a car or other possession repossessed? If yes, explain.Have you ever had a monetary judgment against you in a court of law? If yes, explain.If I pull your credit report, is there any negative information on that credit report that you would like to explain to me now, so I’m not surprised later?When I check the public records of law enforcement, will I find your name in any of them within the last 5 years? If yes, explain.Now, I can ask most of these questions while showing the house, and I usually do. But how do I know for a fact, that I’m being told the truth? That’s why you need a written application process where potential tenants apply to live in your rental. As an example, the next three pages are a basic application that I use which provides the basic information I’ve asked above.My son is in college now, and occasionally hounds me about what car tires have to do with fishing. He’s not into the rental property thing, and most likely will never read this. He’ll figure it out in about 15 years when he’s married and his own son’s hormones kick in.Rental Application Page 1 of 3$50 Application fee applies – See page 4 for detailsPrivacy Act Statement: Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974 as amended on January 2, 1991, this information is collected for the sole purpose of confirming identity and determining eligibility for that which the below listed individuals are applying. It may not be shared, distributed or disseminated for any purpose other than those authorized by the applicant’s signature on page 3 of this application. By law applicants are not required to provide this information. However, if the requested information is not provided it may affect an applicant’s eligibility for that which they are applying.Rental Application Date _____/_____/_____Full names of all adults that would live at this residence Social security number Birthday____________________________________________ ______-______-______ _________________________________________________________ ______-______-______ _________________________________________________________ ______-______-______ _________________________________________________________ ______-______-______ _____________Names of minors that would live at this residence Age Relationship____________________________________________ ______ _________________________________________________________ ______ _________________________________________________________ ______ _________________________________________________________ ______ _____________How many cars would be parked at this address on a regular basis? ____________Do you have any other type of vehicles? (Motorcycle, boat trailer, camper, etc.) ________ If yes, please list __________________________________________List any items that will be in the yard permanently. ___________________________________________Pets (Enter N/A if none) Type (Dog, cat, etc) Approximate weight Age Spade/Neutered?_____________ ___________ _____________________ _______ ____ _____________________ _______ ____ _____________________ _______ ____ ________Current Address:____________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ How long at this address? ______________________________________________ Reason for moving _______________________________________Monthly Rent. ____________Ever late with rent? _____ If yes, how many times?_____Prior Address: Landlord Name/Phone number____________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ How long at this address? ___________________________________________ Reason for moving _______________________________________Monthly Rent. ____________Ever late with rent? _____ If yes, how many times?_____Prior Address: Landlord Name/Phone number____________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ How long at this address? ___________________________________________ Reason for moving _______________________________________Monthly Rent. ____________Ever late with rent? _____ If yes, how many times?_____Date you need to be moved in ______/_____/_____ Current phone number _______________Other phone _______________ Cell phone __________________Rental Application Page 2 of 3Information on Primary Responsible PartyFull Name ______________________________________ SS# _________-______-_________Date of birth ___________________Employer Name__________________________________ How long employed here?_________Address _____________________________ Supervisor name & Phone #_____________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ______________________________Phone Number _____________________________If employed less than 1 yr, please provide information on most recent previous employerEmployer Name__________________________________ How long employed here?_________Address _____________________________ Supervisor name & Phone #_____________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ______________________________Phone Number _____________________________I understand that by signing below I am attesting that the information given on this application is true andcorrect. I authorize this landlord to do a credit check using my social security number, and also anemployment verification with my current and past employers and a reference from my previous landlords.I also understand that any false information given on this application is terms for terminating any futurelease agreement.Signature ______________________________________________________Information on Secondary Responsible PartyFull Name ______________________________________ SS# _________-______-_________Date of birth ___________________Employer Name__________________________________ How long employed here?_________Address _____________________________ Supervisor name & Phone #_____________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ______________________________Phone Number _____________________________If employed less than 1 yr, please provide information on most recent previous employerEmployer Name__________________________________ How long employed here?_________Address _____________________________ Supervisor name & Phone #_____________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ______________________________Phone Number _____________________________I understand that by signing below I am attesting that the information given on this application is true andcorrect. I authorize this landlord to do a credit check using my social security number, and also anemployment verification with my current and past employers and a reference from my previous landlords.I also understand that any false information given on this application is terms for terminating any future lease agreement.Signature ______________________________________________________Rental Application Page 3 of 3Terms of application fee of $50 per person.1) On your acceptance the application fee will be applied to the first month’s rent.2) If you are declined and you have been totally honest with the information that you have providedboth on this application and verbally, then you application fee will be refunded.3) If you are declined and you have not been totally honest, your fee will not be refunded.4) If you are accepted and you decline renting from me, your fee will not be refunded.5) The party that is accepted and gives deposit first will be awarded the rental.So the person has filled out the application, paid the application fee and you part ways. What next? Before departing inform the applicant that if current/previous landlords/employers are all local, it takes 3-4 days to process the application. Otherwise, 7-10 days. Then head home or back to the office or whatever, and start “processing” it. The actual application processing will be discussed later. But now, let’s discuss that $50.00 application fee.It cost about $30 for an individual credit report, and $50 for a married couple. You request and pay for this credit report. Three days later you receive it, review it and your applicant passes. Next you call to inform the applicant you will rent to them. The applicant informs you they’ve found somewhere else to live and are no longer interested in your property. Now, you’re out the cost of the credit report and still have no tenant. Don’t let this happen to you. If the applicant is serious about moving into your rental property, they will have no issues with paying the application fee. Note on the last page of the application, it explains how the fee is applied, how they lose it, and how it’s refunded. It’s only right, and it’s also fair.Why a Security Deposit?A security deposit guarantees nothing. It’s only a deterrent; financial encouragement for tenants to take care of the landlord’s property as if it was their own. With a security deposit, the landlord already has in their possession the cost of repairing most damage caused by the tenant, if the tenant causes damage and chooses not to repair it. These deposits can be paid with the first month’s rent, which is on the same day the contract is signed. However, security deposits are usually paid in advance of the lease signing and first month’s rent. Prospective tenants will pay that security deposit in advance to indicate their commitment to signing a lease and occupying the property at a later date. When the security deposit is paid in advance, the landlord needs to provide more than just a receipt for that deposit. What if they change their mind and want their deposit back before signing the lease?There needs be conditions for the security deposit and those conditions should be clarified in a legally binding written deposit agreement that is separate from the lease agreement. Execute a deposit agreement with the prospective tenant when they pay it. The deposit contract is only used if they pay the security deposit prior to the rental contract signing day. Never accept the first month’s rent prior to the contract signing day. Here’s a sample security deposit agreement that works just about anywhere. Each section of the Pre-Lease Deposit Agreement is explained.Pre-Lease Deposit Agreement123 People Eater BoulevardSt. Augustine, FloridaAbove is the header which clearly identifies what the agreement is for and what it applies to.Date: March 4th, 2010 Lease Agreement must be executed on or before: March 15th, 2010 Monthly Rent: $900.00 Security Deposit: paid: March 4th, 2010 $900.00 Above is the date the agreement is being signed. It provides the “drop dead” date by which the lease agreement this deposit applies to must be executed. It also identifies the monthly rent that will be paid once the lease agreement is executed, and indicates the date this security deposit is paid, and amount of the security deposit being paid.This Agreement executed this 4th day of March, 2010 in consideration of the following covenants, agreements, limitations, and conditions entered into by the parties hereto for themselves, their heirs, successors, legal representatives and assigns: Clint Eastwood, hereinafter called landlord; Roonald R. Reagan and Nancy Reagan, hereinafter called prospective tenants, to occupy the address 123 People Eater Boulevard, St. Augustine, Florida, 32086, for residential purposes only, upon execution and completion of a written contractual lease agreement for said property.Above is the legalese that identifies the main purpose and intent of the document. And identifies all properties and parties this document applies to.1. Landlord receives and accepts deposit from the prospective tenant in the amount of $1000.00 to secure the aforementioned property for rent and landlord agrees to remove said property from the available market on the day this deposit is accepted and to no longer accept applications from any other perspective applicants.Basically, the landlord is affirming the property is off the market and they are acknowledging receipt of the deposit.2. Prospective tenant pays deposit in the amount of $1000.00 with the understanding and expectation the aforementioned property will be removed from the housing market and held for a period not to exceed March 15th, 2010, by which time a lease agreement will be executed. Above are the prospective tenant’s expectations of what will occur upon paying this deposit.3. Prospective tenant agrees and understands that barring any unforeseen circumstances, after the deposit is paid and accepted by the landlord, request for return of deposit will result in a deduction of $30.00 per day for each day the aforementioned property is not being advertised as available for rent, to include the day the deposit is paid to the landlord and the day a request for return of deposit is made by the prospective tenant.Item 3 is the prospective tenant understands of what happens should they change their minds and request their deposit back prior to the scheduled contract signing. For each day the property is not advertised or not being shown, it’s a day of potential loss of rent income. So it’s only fair that, should the prospective tenant back out, the landlord should be fairly compensated for that potential loss.For example, suppose the prospective tenant pays deposit on the 15th with an agreed contract signing date of the 30th. Later they find other accommodations and notify you on the 20th they will not be signing a contract. Since the rent is $900.00 per month, that works out to $30 a day for a standard 30 day month. So you must return the deposit. However, per this agreement you may keep $30 for each day it wasn’t advertised, to include the deposit agreement signing date, and the date you were notified. That’s six days, or $180.00 you can keep from the deposit. Simply return $720.00 of the deposit and start advertising again.This section also allows for unforeseen circumstances beyond the control of either party. For example, if the prospective tenant is in an automobile accident that results in hospitalization several days before, or even on the way to the contract signing, that’s an unforeseen circumstance. Tenant can choose to not follow through to rent your property, and get all of their deposit back. That’ll need it for hospital costs anyway. Be compassionate.4. Prospective tenant agrees and understands, barring any unforeseen circumstances, that if a lease agreement is not executed on or before the date specified above, then the deposit is forfeited and the property will be placed back on the market for occupancy.If the prospective tenant doesn’t show up on the scheduled lease signing day, or at least contact the landlord prior to that day, item 4 gives the landlord several options. The landlord can place the property back on the active market the day after the missed appointment, and keep the entire deposit.If the prospective tenant contacts the landlord after the missed appointment, the landlord has multiple options. They can reschedule the lease signing, and execute a new Pre-Lease Deposit Agreement, so as to replace and extend the existing agreement. If the landlord has a new Pre-Lease Deposit Agreement with another prospective tenant then the landlord can deny any request of the original prospective tenant and still keep the entire deposit. The landlord could also choose to deduct the daily charge from the deposit and return the remaining balance to the first prospective tenant.5. Landlord and Tenant both agree and understand that this Pre-Lease Deposit Agreement shall be null and void if and when superseded by a Lease Agreement between the Landlord and Tenant. Item 5 provides a definitive explanation of when the Pre-Lease Deposit agreement is terminated and no longer valid.6. The tenant and landlord have executed this pre-rental deposit agreement this 4th day of March, 2010. Tenant Landlord _______________________________ ___________________________ Ronald R. ReaganClint Eastwood ________________________________ ___________________________ Nancy ReaganThe above is self-explanatory, and there is no need to expound upon it further.Contract? Legally binding? You’ve been seeing these terms quite a bit now. The term “Rental Contract” or “Deposit Agreement” is understood by all to be a legally binding type of document. With many, the mere mention of the word “contract” brings thoughts like “Do I need a lawyer?” to mind. The answer to that question is a resounding “YES”. If this is your very first time as a landlord, then the answer is “ABSOLUTELY YES!”. But don’t let this discourage you.I know you’re thinking that lawyers are expensive and you just can’t afford do to that. Well, you’re half right. Lawyer’s “are” expensive. But you definitely “can” afford it. In fact, if you do it my way, you can get a lawyer for free. That’s right! You pay absolutely NOTHING. Zip! Zero! Zilch! How? Simple. The tenant pays your lawyer! Not only do they do it with a smile, but they’re smiling because they have no idea they are paying for “your” lawyer in advance, should you ever need to visit small claims court! Wild huh?Lawyers Are Leeches!Not a good comparison. After you die, a leech stops sucking your blood. But you still need one; especially if this is your first experience as a landlord. Don’t let the perception that lawyers are expensive deter you either. I’ll show you how to get one for peanuts, and have your tenant pay him IN ADVANCE! Laws governing Residential Real Estate differ from state to state. Some municipalities may have regulations or ordinances that may further clarify, enhance or tighten state laws. It could be that your rental property is in a neighborhood or subdivision with a homeowner’s association with rules or covenants that are legally enforceable. So let’s get a lawyer for at least this first time experience.You can’t get just any lawyer. You need the right kind of lawyer. You may be thinking along the lines of a real estate lawyer, and that’s exactly what you’re expected to think. But many real estate lawyer s aren’t knowledgeable in areas of real estate rental law that matters to you. They deal mainly with transactions. That is, the buying, selling or otherwise transferring of real estate from one person or entity to another. It’s unrealistic to expect a real estate lawyer to have the in-depth knowledge, as well as the expertise and experience necessary when it comes to dealing with rental real estate, associated contracts and potential problems that can be encountered in the residential rental business. You also don’t want a Rental Property Manager. While such a person does have the expertise and experience you seek, a Rental Property Manager is not a lawyer and may not be able to effectively help or represent you in small claims court should that possibility ever arise. What you need is an estate lawyer.An estate lawyer is one who deals with wills and probate. They help clients write their “Last Will and Testament” and most have been appointed to and have been the executor of a client’s last will. Estate lawyers commonly deal with the transfer of rental property from a deceased client to a new owner. Most have had to deal with tenants who have violated terms of the lease during the probate process. They’ve done things like evict tenants on the behalf of a deceased client, because the probate process hasn’t been completed. Estate lawyers have dealt with numerous types of rental property be it business, farming, residential or even equipment rental agreements. For an estate lawyer, the vast majority of what they deal with in wills and probate is real estate. So they are probably the most experienced and knowledgeable type of lawyer you can find when it comes to having legal advice and representation for residential real estate. Another benefit of having an estate lawyer is that they’re well versed in all forms of real estate taxation. This will come in real handy when you do your taxes for that first year of being a landlord. So pull out your phone book yellow pages, turn to the attorney’s section and start making a list of names and phone numbers of all those estate lawyers.I called several lawyers and set up a consultation appointment. Initial consultations are usually free and generally 15 minutes. Try to insist on at least an hour. You can settle for 30 minutes if you must. But 15 minutes just isn’t enough time to discuss your “proposal”. After “interviewing” three lawyers, the one I choose advertises his services as specializing in “Wills, Probate, and Real Estate”. That’s exactly what I want! So what’s this proposal? Here’s the deal I worked with my Lawyer.Legal services and representation are provided only for this rental property and any and all issues pertaining to it. Services and representation for anything else is not included.For every month a tenant is in my rental property and that tenant pays me the rent, I pay the lawyer $25 of that rent. If the property is vacant or tenant doesn’t pay rent, I pay nothing to the lawyer for that month.Each $25 payment is a “credit” for me. If I need legal services the cost of those services is deducted from my credit. If I terminate this agreement, if I have a debt with the lawyer I pay the balance due.If I terminate this agreement and have a “credit” with the lawyer, that credit is his to keepIf the lawyer terminates this agreement and I have a debt with him, the lawyer writes of the debt and I owe nothing.If the lawyer terminates this agreement and I have a credit with him, the lawyer pays me the credit.It is agreed that if anyone request his legal services for actions of any type against me, including actions not related to the rental property, he will not accept the client.It is agreed that if an existing client desires his services for legal action against me, he will not represent either party.Let’s say for example I have a tenant who is late with the rent and I need to send that tenant (as required by state law) a “Three-Day Notice to Pay Rent”. I call the lawyer and have him draft up that notice for me, so I know it’s done per state law and will hold up in small claims court, should things go that far. The lawyer may charge me $50 for providing me that service. He just deducts that amount from my credit. But suppose I only have $25 credit? Not a problem.Even if I end up evicting that tenant, when I get another paying tenant and start paying the lawyer again, he’ll get the “debt” I owe in due course as the new tenant pays the rent. So the legal services provided to me by my lawyer really don’t cost a dime out of my pocket….. The renter pays it! To top it off, every penny paid to the lawyer is tax deductible on the landlord’s taxes as a “Legal Business Expense” whether those legal services are used or not! But I’ll get into taxes as it applies to rental income later.If this is your first landlord experience, once you get a lawyer, you’ll be utilizing his services very soon when you draw up that first rental contract. “I” Have To Write A Rental Contract?You can have your newly acquired lawyer do it if you want. But you may or may not have issues with that. For starters, the fee he charges you for that service may take you more than a year to pay at $25 a month. There’s also the possibility of a need for special items in your contract that your lawyer may or may not be aware of. I myself have 3 rental properties. I have a total of 37 contractual items in my rental contracts. Two of those items do not apply to one of my rentals. So these items are not included in that specific contract. Most likely, you can search online on your state’s website and find a legal rental contract. But it’s also likely that a state provided generic contract just doesn’t quite meet your specific needs. Additionally, it probably doesn’t cover all potential situations for your specific rental property or needs. So you need to draft your own contract. You should use the state provided generic contract as a guide. Let the lawyer review it and make changes as necessary so you know you have a solid document whose meaning, legality and spirit of intent won’t be questioned in small claims court.Below I will cover each section and item of my own basic contract and their items in detail. This should help you get in the mindset necessary for you to start drafting your own contract. Once you have your contract drawn up and believe you’re ready, have the lawyer review it to see if it will hold up in small claims court should you ever need it to. My contracts have 4 basic parts. Part one is the Declaration of Parties and a basic identification or overview of just what is being leased. This identifies all persons or organizations along with what property the contractual agreement applies to. Part 2 is all the specific items of the contract. Part three is the verification and closing. Part 4 is the signatures of all persons or organizational representatives identified in Part 1.Part One – Declaration of PartiesLease Agreement123 People Eater BoulevardSt. Augustine, FloridaAt the top of the page I have the document identified as a Lease Agreement, and I have the complete physical location address of the property as recorded and recognized by the United States Postal Service. No rural routes, drop points or box numbers here. Date: __October 8th ____, 2011Rent Starts: October 15th 2011Monthly Rent: $900.00Security Deposit: paid: _____October 8th 2011_____ $900.00Date 1st Month’s rent paid: __October 8th 2011_____$900.00Next is the date the contract is being signed, follow by the date the contract actually starts and goes into effect. Note the dates do not match. They don’t have to. Follow those dates with the agreed upon monthly rent. Below that identify the security deposit the tenant has paid with the date they paid it, and the amount paid. Separately indentify the first month’s rent paid by the tenant along with the date paid and the amount paid. In the end, this contract doubles as the tenant’s receipt for the deposit and the 1st month’s rent.This Agreement executed this _8th day of ___October_, 2011 in consideration of the following covenants, agreements, limitations, and conditions entered into by the parties hereto for themselves, their heirs, successors, legal representatives and assigns: George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush, hereinafter called landlord; Ronald R. Reagan and Nancy Reagan, hereinafter called tenants, to occupy the address 123 People Eater Blvd, St. Augustine, Florida, 32084, for residential purposes only, for the terms commencing on the 15th day of October, 2011 for the term of 12 Months for the total sum of $10,800.00 in equal monthly installments of $900.00 to be made upon the execution hereof to cover the rent in advance of the period beginning thereof through the month of the rental period. Above is the specific legalese. It specifically and explicitly identifies the date this contract was signed, and identifies exactly who the landlord/owner of the property is. This is the person or persons the tenant will directly communicate with concerning anything in the contract or any issues or other concerns pertaining to the rental property. It also identifies who the tenants are as well as the legal address/physical location of the property the contract applies to. This section also identifies the total amount of monies due in order for this agreement to be considered “fulfilled” as well as how those monies are to be paid over time (monthly installments). Finally, the possibility of death of either party is taken into account. Should one or both parties die during the course of this agreement, this contract makes those responsible for the assets of the deceased legally bound to honor the agreements in this document in the best interest of the estate of the deceased. The tenant hereby agrees and promises as follows:This is where the individual and numbered items of the contract begins.1.To pay the rent punctually by the 1st day of every month during the said term to the landlord as follows: Carl W. Burchfield, III 4632 Legends Lane Elkton, Fl. 32033(Check to reach destination by the 5th of the month before 2:00pm) In the 1st item clearly identify the amount of the rent, establish and clearly define a due date as well as specify who the rent is paid to, and where that rent needs to physically be in order to be considered paid.2.The payment of rent after the 5th of the month will be subject to a late charge of $45.00 plus any additional expenses incurred by landlord as a result of late payment. Returned checks will be considered as nonpayment of rent. Nonpayment of rent by the 10th of the month may result in the termination of this agreement by landlord.Most states require a minimum of a 5 calendar day grace period after the due date. This allows for realistic possibilities such as the due date falling on a weekend or holiday. For example, if your paycheck is direct deposited to your bank account on December 31st and you can’t get to the bank before they close that day because you’re working, then you definitely can’t get to the bank on Jan 1st, since that’s a holiday. Then if Jan 2nd and 3rd are Saturday and Sunday respectively, there’s no way you can get your money until Monday the 4th. It’s for reasons such as this that states require a minimum 5 day grace period. The grace period can be extended, but you can’t make it shorter. In some states the law also entitles the landlord to a late fee if so desired. The late fee cannot exceed 5% of the rent or $50.00, whichever is smaller. The last sentence also gives the landlord the option of terminating the lease if the rent is not paid by a clearly identified drop dead date.3.Tenants hereby deposit the sum of $900.00. Such deposit is held as security for the prompt payment of the rent, damage by tenants, legal fees incurred, any judgments imposed by legal authority, and any other sums due according to this lease including late fees on rent payments. Under the condition that the tenants are in good standing relating to the rent payments and the condition of the property upon the completion of this lease, the deposit will be refunded to the tenants within 15 days after either A. the tenant has vacated the premises or B. the end of this agreement – whichever comes last.In item 3 above I identify the amount of the security deposit, and clearly state charges and expenses this money can be applied to and used for, as well as the conditions necessary for the tenant to get that deposit back upon completion or termination of this lease agreement.4.After second occurrence of a late payment of rent, tenant agrees to place an additional $300.00 deposit with landlord within five working days or landlord may terminate agreement and tenant will forfeit all deposits.Item 4 is something I added to my contracts. There have been situations where a tenant is habitually late with the rent making it difficult to make the mortgage payment or other financial obligations on the rental property. This item entices a renter to give their monthly rent payment the proper priority when dealing with their own financial planning month to month. If a landlord chooses to enforce this item, it provides a legally enforceable way to evict a habitually late paying tenant without having to wait until the end of the lease period.5.In the event that the tenant breaks this lease agreement, tenant shall forfeit all monies held by landlord and tenant may be held responsible for the payment of outstanding monies due through the balance of this lease agreement.With item 5, If a tenant is in a rental property, and after 3 months come across another rental that is closer to their work and cheaper, of course they would like to move. If they move, not only do the forfeit their deposit, The landlord can also pursue legal action to collect the total amount of monies due through the remainder of the lease as identified in the execution and identification clause above item 1 above.6.In all proceedings under this lease for the recovery of rent in arrears, whether said rent accrued before or after the expiration of this lease, said tenant agrees to pay all attorney’s fees together with all costs of such collection and in the event tenant is evicted by suit at law said tenant agrees to pay all costs of suit including attorney’s fees, court costs and any judgments imposed by legal authority.In my state law dictates that in small claims court, both sides pay their own legal cost unless agreed otherwise in writing. With item 6, my tenant and I have agreed otherwise. Loser pays court costs of both sides. If I take them to court for a violation or breach of contract and I win, not only do they have to pay me any monetary judgments directed by the court, they also have to pay all my legal fees. With this in my contracts, any judgments of the court will include legal fees, provided you have this specific item in the contract. So the court will actually help you enforce this one.7.It is agreed that unless landlord gives tenant or tenant gives landlord written notice thirty days prior to the end of this agreement; this agreement shall renew itself month-to month until terminated by such notice.Item 7 does two basic things for the landlord, as well as the tenant. Tenants have rights too, remember. My state law dictates that a residential rental contract cannot exceed a 12 contiguous month commitment. For the landlord, without the above item a new lease would have to be executed at least every 12 months. For me, this is a pain, as I have to draw up new contracts as well as update my “Condition of Property at Check In” list (to be discussed later) every 12 months. This would be a long tedious process, and I just don’t have time for it. I’m sure my tenant won’t enjoy going through this 3-4 hour process every year either.This item clearly dictates the initial contractual obligation does not extend beyond the first 12 contiguous months. It also legally implies that when the tenant pays the rent for the 12th month, if the tenant or landlord does not provide at least 30 days notice to vacate, all terms and conditions of the agreement are extended for another month and all terms of that lease apply for that month.From then on, if the tenant or landlord does not provide 30 days notice when the rent is due or paid the monthly extension is automatically and legally implied. So if the tenant pays landlord on the 1st, and gives landlord notice on the 15th they are moving at the end of the month, tenant is in violation of this contract item and forfeits the deposit as clarified in item 5 of the agreement.8.Tenant agrees to make any and all repairs to the said premises, when damage was caused by the fault or negligence of the said tenant, and will at the end of this agreement, surrender and deliver said premises, without demand, in as good order and conditions as when entered upon excepted only by loss due to fire, inevitable accident, ordinary wear and decay.Item 8 actually provides fairness to protect both parties while still holding the tenant responsible for damages they cause. If the tenant is vacuuming the living room and accidentally hits the door stop on the back of the door with the vacuum cleaner and breaks it off, this is clearly a preventable accident. The tenant has a responsibility to fix this at the tenant’s expense. But consider this.While cooking in the kitchen the tenant accidently drops a heavy pot in the sink and breaks the hot water faucet. Clearly, this was a preventable accident. Tenant accepts this responsibility and purchases a new faucet with the intent of replacing it themselves. Before removing the broken faucet tenant goes to the hot water heater to turn off the water supply via the installed gate valve. The connection at the gate valve is heavily rusted. When the tenant operates the gate valve it breaks away at the rusted connection, spewing water all over causing damage to the walls. The tenant has already accepted responsibility for the broken sink faucet and is attempting to fix it as agreed per the lease agreement. Is the tenant now responsible for the broken pipe, valve and all that water damage?The broken pipe at the hot water heater was an inevitable accident. This would most likely have occurred no matter when or who operated the gate valve. This was clearly an accident caused by the tenant’s direct actions. But since it was inevitable, the landlord is responsible for repairing the pipe and any water damage caused by the broken pipe.Even though the pipe broke due to the direct action of the tenant, the tenant’s actions were “in good faith” when this accident occurred. The landlord would most likely call a plumber to repair the broken pipe and gate valve. A good landlord acting in good faith, would also pay that same plumber for the faucet repairs on the kitchen sink, if the tenant is in good standing with their contractual agreement.9.That in the event the premises are destroyed or so damaged by fire or other unavoidable casualty as to be unfit for occupancy or use, then the rent hereby reserved, or a fair and just portion thereof, according to the nature and extent of the damage sustained, shall until the premises have been rebuilt or reinstated, be suspended and cease to be payable, or this agreement shall, at the election of the landlord, thereby be terminated and ended, provided however, that this agreement shall not be construed so as to extend the term of this agreement or to render the landlord liable to replace the said premises.This item covers a lot. First thing to note is that fault is not identified. Any situation this item would apply to would most likely be covered by the rental dwelling insurance discussed earlier. Should there be a fire that burns the property to the ground, this item of this agreement does not call for or require identification of the party at fault. Here are examples of what this item covers and how it is executed.There is a fire that burns the property to the ground making it uninhabitable. Either party can terminate the lease in this case. The required 30 days notice does not apply and is not enforceable for this item. The lease can be terminated by either party immediately, and the tenant is legally entitled to get 100% of their deposit back within 15 days.During a storm a tree falls onto the back of the house destroying only the back corner portion of the house making one of the bedrooms uninhabitable. The rest of the house is fine and fully functional and can be safely occupied. Either party can still terminate the lease, or they can work it out and agree on a just and fair adjustment to the rent until repairs are completed and the entire property is returned to the same level of usefulness and functionality that existed prior to the damage.For the monetary losses a landlord may incur in such situations, their Rental Dwelling Insurance policy will pay for the damage and repairs. Also, if you have the additional coverage that insurance will also pay the landlord up to 85% of lost rental income. So fault in these situations is irrelevant. That’s why a landlord needs Rental Dwelling Insurance.Suppose the property is uninhabitable for a period of time and the tenant moves back in after repairs are made. The time in which the property was not occupied is not added to the end of the lease. For this situation, the contract is considered to still be in contiguous force during the time the tenant was not occupying it. Even if the landlord did not charge or collect rent.This section also does not require the landlord to perform repairs either. If desired, the contract can just be terminated and both parties go their separate ways. The tenant still gets their deposit back though.10.Tenant agrees to permit the landlord or his agent, at any reasonable time, to enter said premises or any part thereof for the purpose of exhibiting same or making repairs thereto.Item 10 ensures the tenant their right to privacy without denying the landlord access to the property. Basically, state law states the landlord or anyone acting as the landlord’s agent cannot enter the rental property without the express consent of the tenant. This item requires the tenant to give that express consent, provided the landlord’s request is “reasonable”. For example, if the hot water heater breaks, the landlord will need the express consent of the tenant to enter the property and repair it. Even if the landlord calls a plumber to fix it. Since that plumber was called by the landlord, he is acting on behalf of the landlord and is therefore an agent of the landlord. Express consent is still required. The landlord’s expectation that consent will be given is “reasonable”.When you receive 30 days notice the tenant is moving, the tenant cannot deny you consent for showing the property to prospective renters, provided of course you request consent to show at a reasonable time. In all situations where the landlord or their agent needs to enter the property, the tenant has a right to be present. A smart landlord with insist they be present.11.Tenant agrees not to use the premises for any illegal or improper purposes; not to make or permit to be made, any disturbance, noise or annoyance whatsoever detrimental to the premises of the comfort and peace of the inhabitants in the vicinity of the premises.This makes it clear to the tenant not to use the rental property as an indoor pot farm or meth lab. No loud parties or booming stereos at a volume that will irritate the neighbors. This item helps you evict a tenant after neighbors have called law enforcement on them several times for disturbing the peace or other domestic disturbance complaint.12.Landlord agrees to furnish the following items as part of the premises: Range, Dish Washer, Refrigerator, Window blinds on all windows, Ceiling fan with Light Fixture, Chandelier Light Fixture. Tenant acknowledges these items are present.Item 12 will discourage tenants from taking your appliances with them upon termination of the lease. If the tenant will be supplying and using his own appliances, change the wording of this item to indicate those appliances. It should also indicate the Landlord assumes no responsibility for any damages to tenant’s appliances regardless of fault. The tenant’s appliances are not covered by your rental dwelling insurance.13.Tenant agrees to keep exterior of premises in a clean, safe condition. Tenant shall keep premises clean of all rubbish and junk.Basically, I expect and demand the tenant maintain an acceptable level of curb appeal on the exterior of my property. No turning the front yard into a forest, neon signs above the garage door, or other things of this nature that would detract or reduce the curb appeal of my dwelling. 14.Tenant is responsible for all yard maintenance and upkeep. Grass will be cut, flower beds weeded and hedges trimmed on a regular basis to maintain a neat and well-kept appearance.Item 14 provides additional clarification of item 13 so the tenant knows more precisely what the landlord considers acceptable curb appeal when it comes to yard maintenance. If the grass is two feet tall when I drive by, it’s a fair bet I’m going to knock on the front door and inquire as to why. Maybe you have a good reason for all I know. A broken lawn mower is not an acceptable reason to me. Go borrow or rent one. It also allows the landlord to take the necessary maintenance and upkeep actions if the tenant doesn’t or won’t, and then charge and collect incurred cost of the action taken by the landlord in court if necessary. If the landlord does it themselves or hires someone else to do it, and the tenant willingly pays for it, eviction for violation of this contract item is still an available option to the landlord.15.Tenant will notify landlord of any infestation of destructive insects such as termites or the like. Tenant will notify landlord of other destructive conditions such as roof leaks and the like. Landlord is responsible for extermination of destructive insects such as termites and the like, and for other destructive conditions such as roof leaks and the like, provided such conditions were not caused by tenant’s action or lack thereof. A landlord desires to maintain their property. This requires the tenant to notify the landlord if they discover damage or anything that could potentially cause damage, such as termites. However, if the damage or condition is a result of the tenant’s action or inaction, they don’t need to notify the landlord. They only need to address the issue and correct it. If they don’t notify the landlord and don’t address the issues, the landlord has legal recourse for any damage caused.16.Tenant is responsible for the extermination of roaches, ants, rats or mice and other non-destructive invasive pests.It is not uncommon for a tenant to bring in pests or their eggs in their furniture upon move in. If they complain about roaches, lice, ticks, fleas or anything of the sort shortly after move in, simply produce your receipts proving you had the property treated and inform them extermination is their responsibility. If they challenge you in court, let them. You have receipts. Even without receipts, if the tenant can’t convince the judge pests were present before move in, they still retain the responsibility and expense for extermination.17.Any property of tenant left on the premises after termination of this agreement may be removed at the risk and expense of tenant unless otherwise agreed by landlord.The main purpose of item 17 is to protect the landlord from false accusations. If a tenant vacates and then a week later returns to get that 52” flat screen high definition TV he forgot, when it’s not there the tenant is out of luck. You can’t be accused of stealing it. Even if they really did leave the TV behind you still can’t be held liable. By having this item in the contract, once the tenant vacates and hands the keys over to the landlord, anything left on the property can be legally considered as having been abandoned by the tenant.18.Tenant shall not sublet premises.This item is present for several reasons, some of them legal. If the tenant sub-lets empty bedrooms in the property, or if they allow someone to move in with them and pay a portion of their rent, this is sub-letting. If the tenant rents the entire property to someone else for a higher price than he pays the landlord, this is also sub-letting, but in a different way that may violate your states law.Generally, a landlord wants to retain control of who occupies the rental property on a continuous basis whereas the occupant considers it their “domicile”. This item indicates that the legal tenants cannot sub-let rooms, or have someone move in with them to pay a portion of the rent.It also means the primary tenants cannot use the property as a Holiday Inn Express either. If the primary tenant vacates the property and sub-leases it to another for their exclusive use, then that primary tenant is considered a Rental Property Manager. In most states, rental property managers are required to be state certified and licensed. So if your tenant does this and you don’t have this item in your contract, it is perfectly possible a court of law would assume you are permitting it. Then you could be in violation of state law also and held legally accountable. If it so happens that your tenant is a certified Rental Property Manager, this item prevents them from managing your rental property.19.Tenant agrees to replace all consumables such as blown light bulbs, air filters and dead or low smoke detector batteries at the end of this lease.It’s necessary to get deep into the legal aspects here. This involves much more than a tenant taking all the light bulbs and smoke detector batteries when they vacate. Basically, state law goes into great detail in a rather feeble attempt to identify precisely what is being rented on “Residential Rental Real Estate”. Basically, it is described as “the land as clarified and all identified structures on it to include all walls, floors, ceilings, roofs, covers and items attached to same with the intent of being considered a permanently attached physical part of said structure.”Consumables in rental property are those items which may or may not be considered “a part of” the rented structure. However, it is attached to the structure (such as a light bulb) and may even be considered “a part of” the structure. (Like the air filter in the central air unit.) Technically, a landlord could be responsible for and required to provide and change light bulbs every time the tenant reports a blown light bulb. `In another section of state law, a consumable is identified as “any item whose use or function causes that item over time, to lose its usefulness or functionality to the point of no longer being useable or functional for its intended purpose.” This of course, covers light bulbs, air and water filters, batteries in the smoke detectors and anything else you can think of. When the landlord turned the keys over to the tenant it was confirmed that every consumable on the premises was functional with an acceptable degree of useful life remaining. Therefore this item informs the tenant that the landlord expects these consumables to be in working, functioning condition when they return the keys back to the landlord upon termination of the lease. If they are not, then the landlord can charge the tenant accordingly. If the tenant refuses to pay, the landlord can legally withhold the cost of those consumables from the tenant’s deposit.20.Tenant is responsible for keeping a clean air filter in the central heat and air conditioning unit. Tenant will change the filter monthly (needed or not) when you pay the rent. Tenant is responsible for notifying landlord when there is one filter left, and landlord is responsible for purchasing and providing tenant new air filters. Filter size is 16 X 20 X 1.Yes, item 20 covers a specific consumable which is inclusive in item 19. But I prefer to identify this specific consumable as a separate item in my contracts. There’s always that possibility, even though slim, that a judge will consider the filter to be a “physical part of” the property and is therefore a landlord responsibility. In my contracts, I prefer as the landlord to provide the air filters. Otherwise, tenants will buy the cheapest and those cheap filters are highly ineffective and protecting your central air blower from getting clogged with dirt over time.Let there be no doubt, that when the repairman informs me the central air blower unit is completely fried and must be replaced because the filter was not changed for 6 months, I’ll make sure he states that in the invoice when I pay that repairman to obtain and install a new central air unit. After I pay the several thousands of dollars it will cost, I will drag that tenant into court and evict them for violation of lease on this specific item, and then sue the evicted tenant for everything they own including their first born.21.Tenant agrees to notify landlord or his agents as identified in item #22 with any concerns regarding this property. Nothing is too minor to report. (a running toilet can double your water bill).Basically, this requires the tenant to notify the landlord of any situations that may occur which may not be identified or clarified elsewhere in this agreement.22.The following is a list of contacts in the order of priority. Please continue in this order until you have actually spoken with someone:Clint Eastwood429-8170 Johnny Cash505-3309Marilyn Monroe214-5111Item 24 provides the tenant with specific contacts should they need to communicate with someone concerning the property or lease agreement. The first person listed should always be the landlord. By state law, others listed are considered authorized agents of the landlord. These agents can act on behalf of the landlord and make decisions for the landlord in his absence, provided those actions and decisions are in the best interest of the landlord.23.Landlord agrees to respond to tenant’s concerns within a reasonable time based on the severity of the condition.Item 23 identifies and clarifies a legal tenant right, yet also invokes the powers of common sense. For example, if the tenant calls and reports the main water pipe between the meter and the house is broken, it is reasonable for the tenant to expect the landlord or their agent to take immediate action to effect repairs that same day.If the tenant calls to report the ceiling fan in the dining room does not function and keeps tripping the breaker every time he resets it, immediate action is not a “reasonable” expectation. Repairing it after the landlord gets paid and can pay for the repairs might be more reasonable.24.The tenant agrees to expedite transferring the utilities into the tenant’s name. Below is a list for your convenience: Electric800-226-3545Water825-1032Telephone Service904-780-2355 Cable TV904-824-2913Item 24 supports the landlord’s legal recourse if necessary to be compensated for the cost of utilities should the tenant not transfer them to the tenant’s responsibility within a reasonable time.25.Tenant agrees to pay all utilities and not to hold landlord responsible for any delay in the installation or interruption thereof.Item 25 provides the landlord legal recourse if, for whatever reason, the utilities are not transferred to the tenant’s responsibility in a timely manner. Suppose the landlord receives a utility bill after the tenant has been in the property for a month. This allows the landlord a legal recourse to have the tenant pay that bill, or reimburse the landlord if they pay it.Additionally, if the tenant does not pay the utility bill the provider may come after the landlord who owns the property. This item supports a landlord’s legal recourse for compensation and protects that landlord from legal actions by the tenant, should the utility provider discontinue providing the service to the tenant.As a landlord, I do not supply utilities such as electric and water. I also do not include utilities in the rent. It is the tenant’s responsibility to acquire utilities in their name. Generally, for the tenant to get utilities in their name they need to produce a signed contract to the supplier of that utility.The day before signing the contract I will contact the utility company and arrange a cut off to occur no earlier than 2 business days after the contract signing. This way, the tenant has sufficient time to get to the utility company with the signed contract so my cutoff order can be changed to a transfer order, thus transferring the utility into the tenant’s name with no interruption of service. However, if it ends up getting cut off a day earlier than scheduled to close the landlord’s account, or if the tenant is late arranging the transfer, the tenant agrees to not hold the landlord responsible for the interruption.26.All parties agree that the following additional persons will live at the residence: Name AgeChelsea Regan 4Ronald Reagan Jr. 2Item 27 clearly identifies all persons that are not signing the lease, who will be declaring this rental property as their primary domicile for the period the lease agreement is in effect. 27.Tenant agrees to consult with landlord and get permission in writing before permitting any additional persons or animals to inhabit the premises. This makes it a violation for the tenant to have anyone else move in with them without the landlord’s consent, while allowing for possibilities where it may be necessary. Here are two possible scenarios.Scenario 1 – Tenant is a divorced parent who gets temporary or permanent custody of a child in divorce proceedings.Scenario 2 – Married tenants are working an adoption and upon completion the child comes to live with them permanently.In either of these situations, the tenant and landlord execute and sign an addendum to add the child to item 26 of the agreement and attach it to all copies of the lease. This keeps item 27 of the agreement valid and enforceable. 28.Tenant understands and agrees that no pets are permitted to inhabit the premises. This includes pets of friends or guests who may be visiting.Item 28 makes it clear that no pets of any type are permitted on the premises at any time for any reason. So if relatives come to visit for a week from out of state and bring their pooch with them, they will need to kennel that critter at a local animal kenneling facility. He can’t stay on the landlord’s property for “just a few days”.29.Should tenant acquire and utilize a fish tank, aquarium or other similar vessel for the purpose of raising, breeding or exhibiting marine life on the premises, the amount of water in any one such vessel may not exceed 10 gallons. The cumulative amount of water in all such vessels on the property may not exceed 100 gallons. If the cumulative amount of water in all vessels exceed 10 gallons, tenant agrees to purchase and pay for a flood insurance policy that designates the landlord as primary recipient for any property and water damage claims filed on said policy.Item 29 probably comes as a surprise, and is something a landlord generally never considers. In my state, there actually exists on the law books a legal definition of what qualifies as a pet. It reads as follows: “Any living entity that breathes air and is cared for or otherwise neutered in any way by a human and does not speak a known, decipherable and translatable language.”While fish do need oxygen, they don’t “breathe air”. Therefore fish do not meet the legal description necessary to be considered a pet. Technically, by the letter of the law, if you’ve got a bird feeder in the yard or feed the wild squirrels your leftovers every day, those animals can be considered pets, even though they’re not domesticated. So if fish tanks will not be permitted, it needs to be clarified and spelled out in the agreement as a separate item from item 28. If the landlord has no issues with tenants having a fish tank or two, it’s usually not a problem. However, if the tenant’s fish tank is a 400 gallon monstrosity and it breaks, water damage is likely and should be of concern to the landlord. So it’s also a good idea to specify the permitted maximum size of any one tank, as well as the total amount of water that may be utilized on the property for fish or other marine life. Water is heavy at 7 lbs a gallon. The landlord most likely would not want a 4000 gallon monstrosity that would weigh 28,000 lbs in the 2nd floor bedroom, as it would most likely weaken the support structure and possibly even break through the floor in time.30.Tenant agrees that there will be no burning of yard trash or anything else on the premises .The city will pick up yard trash and other debris if needed. No open fire of any sort shall be lit inside or outside this residence.County ordinance does not permit open fires in suburban housing areas. Item 30 just clarifies that, yet still permits the use of an outdoor grill or other combustion devices that enclose the open flame or heat source so that the ground is not exposed to combustible levels of heat. This item also encourages tenant to not burn down the landlord’s property too!31.Tenant agrees to protect landlord’s property and not allow or create any condition putting the residence in danger of damage. If such condition is discovered, tenant agrees to take corrective action immediatelyAs an example of how item 31 might be utilized, suppose the tenant purchases a decorative wind chime and hangs it on the porch just outside the window. Later when the wind is blowing a bit strong, the tenant realizes it might possibly blow the chimes against the window and could break the glass. Having realized this possibility, the tenant has “discovered” a condition putting the residence in danger of damage. Tenant must now take necessary actions to correct this.32.Prior to move in, tenant understands that they will be given a checklist inspection report and agree to review and complete this with the landlord prior to putting furniture in the house. This will be the basis for the final inspection when the property is vacated and will be used to document any damages or changes in the appearance of the dwelling. When completed and signed the checklist and inspection report becomes a material part of this lease agreement.A landlord absolutely loves this. A checklist provides a detailed inventory and description of the presence and current condition at move in of anything and everything on the premises the landlord may desire. Tenants love this too, because it protects them from mistaken or false accusations of damage when they vacate the property. A first time landlord is usually shocked by what is taken from the property when the tenant moves. It’s difficult to recover that property or compensation for it, if it can’t be proven to be the landlord’s property or to have been present prior to or upon move in. Inventories and checklists are an absolute must. This is covered in more detail later.33.Tenant agrees that this property is provided to the tenant in a very clean condition as will be notated on the check in inspection report. If the property is not left in a similar clean condition when the tenant vacates, the tenant agrees to pay from the deposit for cleaning services at the prevailing hourly rate (now $18.00 per hour) plus drive time and a four hour minimum.Item 33 is intended for, and pertains to the check out process when the tenant vacates the property. Violation of this item does not mean the tenant has violated the terms of the lease and therefore forfeits their entire deposit. It means, is that when you check out if the front yard hasn’t been cut for your last month and the landlord will have to do it after you leave, you’re going to pay the landlord for that. Even if the landlord does it.If the oven has a year’s worth of baked on crud and needs to be cleaned it as part of the preparation for renting the property again, then the tenant is going to pay for at least a reasonable amount of time it takes the landlord to clean it. (Maybe 4 hours?).One thing that the landlord absolutely must take into account when reviewing the checklist with the tenant during the checkout process, is normal wear and tear. For example, worn and dirty carpets, dirty overhead light covers full of dead bugs, dirty walls, especially around door knobs and light switches, that one coat of paint will cover, cobwebs in the ceiling corners, and many other things. You must allow for and cannot hold the tenant liable for normal wear and tear. More in this later when covering the tenant checkout process.34.Tenant and landlord agree that should legal authority should determine any part or item of this agreement to be invalid, illegal or otherwise unenforceable, then all remaining parts and items of this agreement shall remain in full force, valid and enforceable.The last thing you need is for a judge to throw out claims based on this contract and declare the entire contract invalid because of one teeny tiny technicality. This helps prevent that.35.No modification of this agreement, unless made and agreed to in writing and signed by landlord and tenant shall be effective or enforced.Item 35 should always be the final item of any contract. It avoids claims of verbal or other unwritten agreements not being adhered to by either party. It prevents either party making legal claim for violation of any previously agreed upon term that’s not in this contract or covered by a law. It avoids the “He said, she said” type of disagreement. If something not in this agreement or covered by law actually makes it to court and you have this item in the contract, a judge would most like throw it out and not even consider it. Bottom line is, if it’s not in writing, it did not occur.36. By signing this rental agreement, the tenant agrees that upon surrender, abandonment, or recovery of possession of the dwelling unit due to the death of the last remaining tenant, as provided by chapter 83, Florida statutes, the landlord shall not be liable or responsible for storage or disposition of the tenant’s personal property.Item 36 is an absolute must, and must be the absolute last item of the contract terms. Of course, you may have to change or reword things to conform to your state law. Basically, if the tenant dies while under contract with you, everything they own goes into an estate that it dealt with in the legal probate process. It doesn’t matter if the deceased left a Last Will and Testament, or not. Without the above item in your contract, you can’t do anything until that probate process is complete. If it takes 6 months or more, you can be stuck with no rental income, no legal recourse to evict, and you still have to make the mortgage payments. The above statement allows me to legally treat the tenant’s estate the same as I can legally treat the tenant. In other words, the tenant’s estate becomes liable to pay the rent upon the death of the tenant. If the estate does not, then I can begin the eviction process against the estate, the same as I could against the tenant if they were living and did not pay the rent. This completes part 2 of my basic contract. Part 3 is a single section you see below. The tenant and landlord have executed this rental agreement that includes 36 specific numbered items from item #1 through item #36 and a separately attached document titled “Condition of Property at Check-in” on this _8th _ day of __October_____, 2011. Part 3 above is basically a statement referred to as the verification and closing. It summarizes the contents of the agreement, identifies any attachments which are a part of the agreement, and identifies the end of the contract so items can’t be added or removed by someone later. Tenant Landlord _______________________________ ___________________________Ronald R. Reagan Clint Eastwood ________________________________ Nancy Reagan.Part 4 above clearly contains the date the contract was executed and signed, along with the signatures of all tenants and landlords. If you have a multi-page contract, it’s a good idea for all parties to at least initial all pages. If the contract is on both sides of a sheet, then both sides should be initialed. That way, no one can be accused of swapping out pages later.At the beginning of this chapter it was stated there was a total of 37 basic items you may need in your contract. However, I’ve only listed 35. The missing item is one that may not apply to most rental properties. If you apply it to yours, the best place for it in the contract is between items 12 and 13. Here it is.37.Smoking is not permitted inside the residence or any enclosed structure at any time by the tenants, their family members, guests or other agents on the property acting with the permission of or in the interest of or on behalf of the tenant or landlord. However, during periods of inclement or extremely cold weather smoking is permitted in the garage provided tenant takes reasonable action to ensure no smoke enters any other room or part of the structure. Cigarette, cigar and pipe smoke permeates porous surfaces and deposits a thin layer of chemicals such as tar and nicotine on all exposed surfaces which emanates odors that can linger for long periods of time. If evidence of smoking is discovered by tenant or landlord at any time, tenant agrees to take action to remove said evidence and/or pay any debt incurred by landlord to have it professionally removed. So if you think cigarettes are expensive, try lighting one up in my rental property.38.Tenant understands and agrees, the advance payment of the twelfth month’s rent payment received by the landlord is applied to the period of occupancy beginning on September 16th 2012 and ending on October 15th 2012, provided the tenant has given landlord proper notice to vacate as defined in Item 7 of this agreement. Otherwise, it is applied to the final month of tenant occupancy that occurs after October 15th 2012 when said notice to vacate is given to landlord.In some rental contracts I may require more than just the deposit and first month’s rent paid up front. I may also require the last month’s rent to be paid up front too. I commonly require this for new tenants who are here from out of state, and have no “local” references. If the tenant has paid last month’s rent in advance, along with the deposit and first month’s rent, this makes it clear that at the end of the 12 month contiguous commitment, it’s not just assumed to be paid for that month if the tenant and landlord intend to let this lease convert to a month to month commitment. It makes it clear that the last months pre-paid rent is applied to the “final month of occupancy” only. If it’s been required and the tenant pays the last month in advance at lease signing, the best place to insert this in the contract is immediately after item 7.Are The Lights On?I don’t know – It’s too dark to tell!You’re probably familiar with the phrase, “friends come and go, and enemies stay forever”. For a rental property owner it’s a bit different - Tenants come and go, mortgages stay forever.A good landlord doesn’t just look at rental property as a way of producing a steady income. It’s also a long term investment. After several years, or even decades of owning and managing rental property, the day will eventually come when it’s time to cash out and sell the property so you can retire or move on to bigger and better things. While many tenants may occupy your property over time, you still need to protect your investment so it retains appeal between tenants and increases in value over time. Generally, even the best tenants do not take care of and maintain rental property as if it’s their own – because it’s not!Another familiar phrase is, “they took everything not tied down!” Well, it’s more common than you think for a vacating tenant to actually take the time to untie it and put it with their property upon moving out of yours. One would think there’s nothing to take from a house once the tenant has removed his property from it, because the house is now vacant. But it happens more often than you think. Many items taken make so sense either. Here’s a partial list of the most common items taken by tenants upon leaving.overhead light bulbsrefrigerator light bulbsoven light bulbsmicrowave light bulbsoutlet and switch coversblindscurtain rodscurtain rod hangersrain guttersbase boardschair railsstair banistersoutside deck railsmicrowave turntablesdishwasher racks and dishwasher silverware racksDork knobslatchesdead boltslocksDrawer handles and pullsdoor handles and pullsdoor hingeshinge pinsshrubbery and other landscapingoverhead light coversceiling fansair vent coverssmoke detectors and/or their batteriesalarm systemsdoor stopschandeliersplumbing fixtures (like the P-trap under the bathroom sink)air filtersgrease filtersice buckets from the ice maker refrigerator butter compartment doorvegetable crisper drawers from the refrigeratorone pane of glass from all double pane windowsgarage door openers and remotesfireplace log racksflue vent doorschimney screensoutside electrical fixtures (such as an external weatherproof outlet attached to the exterior of the house)window A/C unitsRefrigerator shelvesShocking isn’t it? While I can see a tenant stealing the rain gutters so they can sell them to recycling for the value of the metal, I will never understand why they steal the base boards. But they do! When a landlord has to replace items to make the property renter friendly again, it can eat up all the income profit realized during the tenant’s occupancy. The absence of these items can also reduce the marketability and value of the property when it comes time to sell it. Therefore, an inventory or checklist is an absolute must.To begin developing your list, start by walking around the outer perimeter of your property line. Look for anything on the property between the property line and the structure that could potentially “disappear”. Is the driveway illuminated by light posts on each side? Is there a switch or electrical outlet attached to any of the light post? What about the flower beds? Are they of redbrick and mortar construction? If you don’t want those bricks to disappear, better list ‘em.Next, check the exterior of the house and all other structures on the property such as the storage shed out back. Are there screens on the windows? Is there a doorbell button attached to the wall next to the front door? Maybe it’s a door knocker attached to the front door itself. Does the screen door have one of those hydraulic door openers on it? Is there a cover on the front porch light? Are there rails around the deck, or banisters for the front door steps? Maybe the steps are tiled? Once you’ve completed your list of everything outside, it’s time to tour the inside going from room to room. Do this in the same order you do when giving applicants the tour. To the landlord, this is an inventory of every item on the property. But the tenant doesn’t need to know that. For the tenant, it’s just a checklist that identifies the condition of every item on the property when they move in.From a tenant’s perspective, an inventory can be perceived, consciously or unconsciously, as a sort of threat. Calling it, or referring to it as an inventory makes a tenant feel like the landlord’s sole and only interest in the tenant, is how much money he can squeeze out of them, and how fast he can do it. The tenant may feel like their living in a prison where they dare not touch, use or mar anything for fear of being charged for it.Present it as an inventory, and don’t be surprised if your tenant wants to tear up the contract and leave. If they do that, there’s really nothing you can do about it. By federal law, any contract of any type can be cancelled if either party desires to do so (in writing of course) within three business days. So if your tenant changes their mind and you try to “force” them the pay the 2nd month’s rent when due, and you can expect the judge to verbally reprimand you severely while you’re writing the check to return the tenant’s deposit, first month’s rent, and pay for all their legal expenses. Make your new tenant uncomfortable or scared during the check in process, and it’s a fair bet that’s exactly what will happen.Instead of instilling fear, a landlord wants the tenant to feel comfortable with the agreement, while the landlord feels protected. So construct your checklist in a way that enhances and preserves the tenant’s comfort, yet protects the landlord’s interest.Below is a sample checklist. Take special note the word “INVENTORY” appears nowhere in the document. All you’re doing is identifying specific items on the property, documenting their condition, expected lifespan and/or usefulness at the time of tenant check in. Generally items are identified as to their condition, such as newly installed, excellent, good, fair, aged, or poor condition. Remember that on checkout you can expect that item that was in good condition at check in, to be in fair condition at check out. Especially if you have that tenant for several years. It’s called “normal wear and tear” and you should let your common sense prevail over your financial sense in most cases.123 People Eater Blvd Check In/Out FormCondition at Inception of LeaseYardGrassCut and sidewalk edgedSidewalk/DrivewayClean with no weeds growing between cracks.Flower BedsWeeded. Tenant is responsible for maintaining flowerbeds. Flower bed walls are of brick & mortar construction in good condition. Tenant may plant and decorate to their liking.Front Yard LightPole mounted fixture with working bulb and electric eye switch to automatically turn on light when dark. Plastic housing in fair condition and a bit brittle. The metal pole is rusted.Outside PlugsElectrical outlet on north end of porch present and functional with all covers present and in place.Fence Newly installed 2 year old shadowbox 6 foot fence in excellent condition with no vines attached or growing up either side. Fence GatesOne pedestrian gate on south side and one vehicle gate on north side. Both are functional with all hinges and latching hardware present and in great condition and good working order.Back Yard LightMounted on 16 foot 4x4 pole with one working bulb. There is no cover but overall light is in good condition and functioning. There is a working 110V outlet with cover mounted on the pole. Outlet is in good to fair condition and shows signs of weathering.ShedMetal construction in poor condition with lots of rust. Adequate for storing yard and lawn equipment. When this shed becomes unusable it will be disposed of and will not be replaced. Tenant will not be held liable when this shed finishes its useful life. Septic Pump AlarmPresent and functional. Tenant is advised to call landlord immediately should this alarm be activated.Front PorchDeckClean with evidence of normal wear & tear on painted surface.RailingAll rails exhibit a fair amount of rusting but are functional and securely installed.Front Door Ceiling Light1 ceiling mounted fixture with working bulb in fair condition. Glass globe present. Base extremely rusted and in fair to poor condition.Porch CeilingGood condition with evidence of paint peeling.Screen DoorScreen in place. Functioning and in good condition with all door latching hardware present and functional.Living Room4 WindowsClean. Screens are in fair to poor condition. Inside window sills clean4 Window BlindsOne on each window. Blinds are clean, fully functional, working and in good condition with all hardware present.FlooringCarpet worn, clean and in good condition. One dark spot in front of bedroom door and front door.LightingCeiling fan fixture. Clean, good condition with 4 working bulbs and 4 clean globes. All three speeds on ceiling fan work. Pull chains present and functioning. Blades and motor clean and free of dirt/dust/debris.WallsNewly painted and in good condition with no holes, marks or scuffs. Baseboards in place, clean and painted. All plug covers and light switch covers clean, in place and in good condition. Tenant may use small nails or other devices for hanging pictures or knick-nacks. Upon vacating, any hole big enough for landlord to insert pinky finger to the base of the fingernail will be repaired at tenant’s expense.Front DoorNewly painted and in good condition. All hardware present, operable and in good condition. Door stop with rubber tip present on baseboard.A/C Vent (Ceiling)Clean, functional and in good condition.Dining RoomA/C ThermostatPresent, working and in good condition.A/C Vent (Ceiling)Clean, Functional and in good condition.A/C Air Return Vent (Wall)Vent clean, good condition. A/C Filters are NOT installed in this vent. Filters are installed in the A/C Blower directly. Tenant is required to change filter monthly. Tenant is responsible for purchasing new filters when this supply runs out. Filter size is 16X20X1. Tenant is required to use the HEPA style paper filters or better.Window (1)Clean. Screen is in fair to poor condition. Inside window sills clean. One of the top glass panes is cracked.1 Window BlindWindow blind is clean, fully functional, working and in good condition with all hardware present.FlooringCarpet clean and in good condition.WallsNewly painted and in good condition with no holes, marks or scuffs. Baseboards in place, clean and painted. All plug covers and light switch covers clean, in place and in good condition. Tenant may use small nails or other devices for hanging pictures or knick-nacks. Upon vacating, any hole big enough for landlord to insert pinky finger to the base of the fingernail will be repaired at tenant’s expense.LightingSmall chandelier in good condition with all 5 globes present and all 5 working bulbs.Smoke DetectorCeiling mounted. New 9V battery. In good condition and functionalKitchenFlooringAdhesive tiles are clean and in good condition with no defects except as noted. One tile in front of refrigerator appears to have been gouged, and the gouged piece has been glued down. Tiled area under stove and refrigerator are in good condition and clean.WallsNewly painted and in good condition with no holes, marks or scuffs. Baseboards in place, clean and painted. All plug covers and light switch covers clean, in place and in good condition. Tenant may use small nails or other devices for hanging pictures or knick-nacks. Upon vacating, any hole big enough for landlord to insert pinky finger to the base of the fingernail will be repaired at tenant’s expense.LightingCeiling fixture with 2 of 4 florescent bulbs working. Cover in place, clean and functional.Cabinets & DrawersAll are in working condition and clean. All door and drawer pulls are present, attached and functional.PlumbingSink in good condition with a few tiny chips in the porcelain with no exposed metal. All water delivery and water disposal systems for kitchen sink are in good working order with no leaks. Tenant is aware of water cutoffs under sink for sink faucets, refrigerator ice maker and dishwasher.StoveAll 4 burners are in good working order. Top clean to like-new condition. There is a chip in the porcelain on the top right side. Oven clean to like-new condition. Over door seal aged but not cracked and still seals. Upper and lower heating elements work. Two stainless steel oven racks clean and present. Over door glass darkened with age, but clean and in good condition.MicrowaveInstalled under cabinets above stove. Clean, in excellent condition and working order. Reusable air/grease filters installed, clean and functional. There is a small burn stain on the back wall inside the microwave. Rotating glass tray and wheel guide present, clean and functional. Light present and functional.DishwasherClean inside and out and in good condition and working order with upper and lower trays present, along with silverware basket.RefrigeratorIn good working order and cleaned to like-new condition. All shelves, doors, trays and drawers and present and functional. All light bulbs are present and functional. Ice maker, ice dispenser and water dispenser are in working order. Ice collection/dispensing tray is present, functional and in good condition. Seals around doors are clean, functional and in good condition. Water filter is present and functional. Tenant is required to replace water filter prior to moving out.CountertopsIn good condition and clean. Several nicks here and there, but nothing all the way through the formica. There is a noticeable nick on the countertop corner next to the refrigerator.WindowClean. Window casing and sill painted and clean.Rear DoorFanfold door in good condition. All hardware and handle present, operable and in good condition. This door has no door stop.Laundry RoomWallsNewly painted and in good condition with no holes, marks or scuffs. Baseboards in place, clean and painted. All plug covers and light switch covers clean, in place and in good condition. Tenant may use small nails or other devices for hanging pictures or knick-nacks. Upon vacating, any hole big enough for landlord to insert pinky finger to the base of the fingernail will be repaired at tenant’s expense.ShelfSix foot wire shelf and wooden 6 foot hanger rod beneath it is installed/mounted on east wall and is clean and in good condition. CabinetOne cabinet with doors above washer. All door and drawer pulls are present, attached and functional.FlooringCarpet in good condition with signs of wearing and paint spatter. There are no other types of marks, burns or other defects. This is indoor/outdoor carpet, but in thee event of a washing machine leak or overflow, it should be dried up immediately.Dryer ExhaustExhaust vent in place, clean and functional. Tenant will provide flexiduct for connection to dryer, ensuring exhaust is completely outside to exterior of building.Back DoorPainted and in good condition. All hinges, doorknobs and deadbolt locking hardware present, operable and in good condition. WindowClean. Window casing and sill painted and clean.2 Window BlindsOne for each window pane. Blinds are clean, fully functional, working and in good condition with all hardware present.LightingCeiling fixture with one working bulb. Rusted with glass cover in place, in good condition, clean and functional. Pull chain present and functional.Washer Hot/Cold WaterFaucets in place and functional with no leaks If washer is used, tenant is advised to purchase new hoses (metal reinforced highly recommended) for use with washer. Should hoses leak and/or break, tenant is liable for any damages.Washer DrainWasher drain pipe and vent pipe in place and functional with all mounting hardware present.Fire ExtinguisherMounted on wall behind stove. Fully charged and functional. Tenant may not move or otherwise relocate this fire extinguisher.Hot Water ClosetWater HeaterHot water heater working and in good condition. Emergency cutoff gate valve present, functional and in good condition.ShelvingAll shelves need painting, but are clean and in good condition. Tenant is advised not to store anything below the shelf directly above the hot water heater. Doing so can create a fire hazard or possibly result in water leakage from the pressure relief valve.WindowClean. Window sill clean. Two window blinds present on this window. DoorNeeds painting, but is clean and in good condition with all latching hardware present and functional.FloorNeeds painting, but clean and in good condition.WallsNeed painting, but are clean and in good condition. Number of screw holes where hangers have been in the past.HallwayFlooringCarpet clean and in good condition with no marks, burns or other defects.WallsPainted & in good condition with no holes, marks or scuffs. Baseboards in place clean and painted. All plug covers and light switch covers clean, in place and in good condition.Lighting1 Ceiling fixture in good condition with 2 working bulbs and globe clean and in place.A/C Air Return Vent (Wall)Vent clean, good condition. A/C Filters are NOT installed in this vent. Filters are installed in the A/C Blower directly. Tenant is required to change filter monthly. Tenant is responsible for purchasing new filters when this supply runs out. Filter size is 16X20X1. Tenant is required to use the HEPA style paper filters or better. This vent is the one to be opened to replace filter on bottom of blower rack.Smoke DetectorCeiling mounted. New 9V battery. In good condition and functionalBathroomFlooringTiled and in good condition. Grout is aged but clean with no staining.WallsPainted and in good condition with no holds, marks or scuffs. All plug covers and light switch covers clean, in place and in good conditionLighting1 light fixture ceiling mounted over sink with 6 working bulbs. Bulbs in this fixture are referred to as “water safe” and are the type intended for high moisture environments. ShelvingOne small wall mounted shelf over toilet. Clean and securely mounted to wall. One 6 foot tall by 1 foot wide shelf unit mounted to wall between sink and tub. Newly painted, clean and securely mounted to wall.TubNewly installed. In excellent condition with no cracks, scratches or chips. The only product to be used for cleaning this tub is called Barkeeper’s Friend. One can of this product is provided and tenant is responsible for providing more as needed. This tub has a no-slip surface on the bottom, and use of any abrasive cleaner will damage the surfacing. Tenant may not install no-slip stickies on this tub. If desired, tenant can purchase and use a no-slip mat of the type that is not installed with any adhesive of any type.ToiletClean and in good working order with all hardware present and functional.SinkClean and in good condition with no marks, scratches, scuffs or other damage to countertop. All faucet/spigot hardware present, in good condition and functional.Towel HangerSecurely mounted to wall behind door. Functional and in good condition.Toilet Paper HolderSecurely mounted to wall between toilet and door. Clean and functional.Shower HeadPresent, clean and functional.Medicine CabinetWall mounted above sink. In good condition and clean. Hinges are rusted. Two shelves are in good condition. If these shelves begin to warp, they can be flipped over.WindowClean, in good condition and working order. Screen is present and clean.DoorNewly painted and in good condition. All door closing/latching hardware present and functional. There is no door stop for this door, as the wall mounted towel hanger acts as an effective door stop.Front BedroomFlooringCarpet clean and in good condition. There is a small stain in the middle of this room about the size of a dime that appears to be a cigarette burn.WallsNewly painted and in good condition with no holes, marks or scuffs. Baseboards in place, clean and painted. All plug covers and light switch covers clean, in place and in good condition. There are two phone jacks mounted on baseboard of east wall in good condition. Only one of these jacks is functional. Tenant may use small nails or other devices for hanging pictures or knick-nacks. Upon vacating, any hole big enough for landlord to insert pinky finger to the base of the fingernail will be repaired at tenant’s expense.LightingCeiling mounted fixture clean, good condition with 2 working bulbs and clean globe present.ClosetFolding doors painted with door pulls and other hardware present in good condition and functional. Two shelves and hanger rods present, in good condition and functional.Closet LightOne 24” wall mounted florescent light clean, good condition and in working order. There is no cover for this light.Windows (3)Glass & sills inside are clean and in good working order. South window has a crack in the glass of the bottom pane.Blinds (3)Good condition, clean and in working order with all hardware present.Entry DoorPainted and in good condition with no holes, marks or scuffs. Bottom of this door below doorknob appears to have been repaired/glued. All door latching/locking hardware present, in good condition and functional. Door stop with white rubber tip present and mounted on baseboard behind door.Middle BedroomFlooringCarpet clean and in good condition.WallsNewly painted and in good condition with no holes, marks or scuffs. Baseboards in place, clean and painted. All plug covers and light switch covers clean, in place and in good condition. There are two phone jacks mounted on baseboard of south wall in good condition. Only one jack is functional. Tenant may use small nails or other devices for hanging pictures or knick-nacks. Upon vacating, any hole big enough for landlord to insert pinky finger to the base of the fingernail will be repaired at tenant’s expense.LightingCeiling mounted fixture clean, in good condition with 2 working bulbs and globe clean and present.Window (1)Newly installed vinyl window is clean inside and out. All opening/closing/latching and locking hardware present and functional. New screen present, in place, clean and functional. Window sill painted and clean.Blind (1)Clean, in good condition with all hardware present and functional.Entry DoorPainted and in good condition with no holes, marks or scuffs. All latching/locking hardware present, in good condition and functional. ABS plastic door stop present and mounted on baseboard behind door.ClosetFolding doors painted with door pulls and other hardware present in good condition and functional. Two shelves and hanger rods present, in good condition and functional.Closet LightOne 24” wall mounted florescent light clean, good condition and in working order. There is no cover for this light.Back BedroomFlooringCarpet clean and in good condition with no spots or stains.WallsNewly painted and in good condition with no holes, marks or scuffs. Baseboards in place, clean and painted. All plug covers and light switch covers clean, in place and in good condition. Tenant may use small nails or other devices for hanging pictures or knick-nacks. Upon vacating, any hole big enough for landlord to insert pinky finger to the base of the fingernail will be repaired at tenant’s expense.LightingTrack light fixture with 4 working bulbs. All hardware present and functional.Windows (2)Clean. Window casings and sills painted and clean.Blinds (2)Clean and in working order with all hardware present and functional.Entry DoorPainted & in good condition with no holes, marks or scuffs. All locking/latching hardware present , in good condition and functional. There is no door stop for this door. Door shows signs of aging and past hole repair.ClosetThere is no door for this closet. One shelf and hanger rod present, in good condition and functional.All parties acknowledge that they have done a walk through and confirmed the above is an accurate account of the conditions at the time of move in. Any changes or additions are noted on the back of this form and signed by landlord & tenant.___________________________________________________________________________Landlord – Clint EastwoodDateTenant – Ronald R. ReaganDate_______________________________________Tenant – Nancy ReaganDateAfter reviewing the above checklist, you should be able to see what you have here. Basically, the left column is the Landlord’s “inventory”. The right column describes the condition of the item listed to the left. Note there is no need to go overboard on the condition description. For example, in the Living Room section of the checklist where I have “front door”, there is no need to list every hinge, door knob, deadbolt, security chain and screw that is technically “a part of” that front door. All I need to say is “all hardware present and functional” and that’s fine. If at checkout the deadbolt is missing, then at checkout all hardware is *not* present, and the tenant has a liability to me for that missing deadbolt. Remember, the landlord and the tenant will be walking through the property together and confirming each item on this list. So for example, say there are screw holes on the door and door frame where a security chain used to be present, but you patched and painted over those holes. Yet, the fact those holes were there are still somewhat visible under the paint. Simply adding a statement to this item such as “evidence of security chain having been attached at one time” is all you need to say. If the door was replaced with one that has two hinges, and the original door had three, then the place where that third middle hinge was will be evident. No problem. “All hardware present and functional, with evidence of middle hinge on door in the past” will suffice.When describing the condition of things, use words and phrases like excellent, outstanding, good, fair, poor, functional, somewhat functional, highly functional, barely functional, slightly worn, lightly faded, heavily trafficked and the such. This lets the tenant know that normal wear and tear on the property during their tenure is not only accepted, but expected. If presented properly during the walk through, it enhances the tenant’s level of comfort while reviewing each item with the landlord.Let’s Advertise!So you’ve got the property move in ready, all applications, contracts and checklists have been completed, reviewed and approved, and you have acquired legal representation should the unthinkable ever arise. It’s finally time to put that FOR RENT sign on the front lawn! With advertising, you’re not looking for tenants’ per-se – you’re trying to attract “applicants”. You’re not looking for people to rent the property to. You’re trying to attract those who want to rent the property from you and prefer you as their landlord.There are numerous ways to advertise you’re property, and a few of the more common methods will be covered here. But the quickest and most obvious way to get started is with a FOR RENT sign on the front lawn. When driving around how many of these signs have you observed? Ever pay attention to them? Many will have just a phone number to call. That’s really not sufficient. When you first started looking for the accommodations you live in now, what was your first requirement? Most likely, it was the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. So in addition to the phone number for people to call, you should have on your sign the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and nothing else. Don’t even put the asking price. With the FOR RENT sign in the front yard, your only goal here is to generate phone calls. As an example, a FOR RENT sign in the yard would read as follows:FOR RENT3BR/2BA829-6391Use only a thick black permanent ink type of marker. Make sure your lettering is dark enough and thick enough so it’s easily decipherable when viewed from a passing vehicle. You can buy fairly large signs for this just about anywhere. Don’t go overboard and make your own sign the size of a sheet of plywood. Its overkill and just plain stupid. A bigger sign doesn’t generate more calls either. Yet a sign to small may not generate any at all if it can’t be easily seen and read from passing vehicles.Let’s stay realistic now. Don’t expect the first car driving by to call either. While the sign in the yard will generate calls, how many calls depend on a number of factors. Generally, not many people are looking to relocate between Thanksgiving and the Christmas season. You might get less than 5 calls during that period. Most people move shortly after school lets out for the summer, and even more people are moving during the 2 week period before school starts up again in the fall. Several calls a day in this timeframe is not uncommon.People who see the yard sign and call are easy to identify. The first thing they want to know is “how much?”. If the first 3-5 callers don’t inquire further about the property after you tell them $900.00 a month, you might want to consider lowering your price a bit. By not advertising the price on the FOR RENT sign, you don’t have to bother with changing it there. Remember, the sign’s only purpose is to generate phone calls.A yard sign will generate calls throughout the year. But that advertising is reaching less than 5% of those who are looking to move. You need to increase your exposure to a larger geographical area by using other forms of advertising to supplement the yard sign.One common way that was heavily used in the past is the local newspaper want ads. This costs money, and in some areas can be a bit pricey. With the advent of the Internet and free advertising web sites such as Craigslist, and the “houses for rent” section of the newspaper want ads continues to shrink. Less folks are looking to the newspapers for a place to live, and more are looking to the Internet.The Internet is the way to go and by many considered the best and only way to get vacant rental property occupied by a tenant in a timely manner. One reason is because it allows for a more robust advertisement. What are we talking about here? Pictures, pictures, pictures!What’s It Look Like?When a caller contacts you about your property, you can talk all you want about all the great features it has. Bottom line is, the caller wants to physically see it. When you set up a viewing appointment with the caller, you don’t have a tenant yet. You don’t even have an applicant. They’re just a “prospective applicant”. Though it doesn’t happen very often, it’s not uncommon for a prospective applicant to step in the front door and then want to leave without even seeing the rest of the property. It’s generally because they don’t like the layout or floor plan they observed upon that initial entry.If you advertise with lots of pictures on the Internet, this will help accomplish two things. First, it separates the “curious” potential applicants from the “interested” potential applicants. Second, you don’t waste your time with viewing appointments for the curious. Websites like craigslist, and allow you to add photographs to your rental advertisement. You should make one of those pictures a rough floor plan of the property so prospective applicants can at least get a basic idea of the layout. The 2nd picture should be of the front of the house from across the street. Any remaining picture slots should be, in this priority, the kitchen, the biggest bathroom, the biggest bedroom, the main living area, and the back yard to include the deck if there is one. To help you get an idea of just how effective pictures can be, check out the sale listings on any realtor’s web site. If you’re so endowed and have the resources, you can create your own web site advertisement and link to it from a simple ad on Craigslist. For example, your Craigslist ad may read,”FOR RENT, 3BR/2BA with large fenced in back yard close to shopping. For pictures, details and contact information see ”. Ads like this on Craigslist come and go quick. Most likely because the property is rented just that fast.One website I find impressive (if it’s still there) is . There are several properties on that site. It provides detailed information about the property and surrounding areas. It also includes basic floor plans, a slew of pictures from different angles of every room and the exterior, and an application that can be downloaded and filled out by prospective applicants in advance of the viewing appointment. Even the move in requirements are there.If you view this website, note that properties are marked as NOT AVAILABLE. Occasionally, you’ll see one that’s not labeled as such. This is most likely so when folks click the link from Craigslist that brings them to this website, it’s fairly easy for them to see which property is available. I really like the floor plan with the clickable red dots. Those dots indicate where the photographer was standing and what direction they were facing when taking the picture. This tends to help the viewer “connect” to the property. An absolutely fabulous advertisement and marvelous idea!Once your advertising starts generating those phone calls, be ready. Here are questions you can expect the caller to ask.How much is the rent?What are your move-in requirements? (security deposit, 1st month rent and signed contract)What are the average costs of utilities?When is it available for occupancy? (Generally, you’ll say immediately)Does it have a dishwasher?Is the stove glass top or burner?Is there a microwave?Does it have a washer and dryer, or hookups for mine?What cable company, phone company, or internet providers service that area?City water or well water?Septic tank or municipal sewage connection?These are just the basic questions that practically all callers will ask. The landlord’s answer helps the caller determine if they want to schedule a viewing appointment. If the caller expresses a desire to view the property, there are some basic questions the landlord needs to ask first.Why are you looking to move?By what date would you need to be moved in?Where do you live now?Do you have any pets?How many people would be living in the property?How many children and what are their gender and ages?Where do you and your spouse work?What is the rent you pay now?The caller’s answers to these questions help the landlord determine if scheduling a viewing is worth their time. For example, if a caller informs the landlord they have a dog, that could kill it right there. While there may be more questions you can ask, save it for the walkthrough. Ask the minimum number of questions necessary to determine if scheduling a viewing appoint has a good chance of providing an acceptable applicant. If told they have a dog, the landlord simply informs the caller they don’t accept pets. That terminates the phone call right there. No time wasted showing the property to a potential applicant that won’t be accepted anyway. But if everything seems okay, set up an appointment!When setting up the day and time for prospective applicants to walk through the property, always try to schedule in the early afternoon. A morning appointment doesn’t give the landlord time to get the property ready for showing. If they’re working and want to come on their lunch break, that’s perfect. But late evenings when the sun is low or near setting isn’t good either. Late afternoon sunlight streaming through a window tends to “reflect” off dust particles in the air giving the occupant a general feeling of stuffiness in the room. So try not to show your property after 4pm, or when they get off work for the day. But since most of your viewings will have to be on weekdays after the prospective applicant gets off work, you’ll just have to deal with it.Shut The Hell Up!Prospective applicants tend to show up for a walk through no more than 15 minutes either side of the scheduled viewing time. So the landlord will need to arrive at least 2 hours prior and do the following: Inspect the outside and remove any yard debris that’s blown in or fallen out of trees.Turn on the refrigerator and start the icemaker.Turn on the central air.Turn on the hot water heater.Turn on lights as necessary.Flush all the toilets.Close all cabinets, doors, drawers and other covers.Ensure all toilet seats are down in the closed position.Raise all the blinds and dust the windows so they’re crystal clear of dust.Sweep the front and back porch, sidewalk and driveway.Open inside doors to full open position. (closed hallway doors make a hallway feel “tight”)Dust “everything”, to include the tops of doors and ceiling fans.Place a few copies of your application on the kitchen counter with pens.Upon arrival, don’t park in the driveway or other designated parking spot for the property. Leave it for the viewers. Since the driveway is where an occupant would park if they lived there, let your viewer have that “experience”. Don’t park your car directly in front of the property either. This actually detracts from the curb appeal. Park it down the street.When preparing for their arrival there are additional things to consider. After cleaning the yard don’t put the sticks, pine cones and other rubbish next to the curb for pickup. Don’t put it by the road in front of that vacant lot next door either. Bag up the rubbish and put it in the trunk of your car where it’s out of sight and can’t possibly be found. Rubbish by the curb is a distraction that sticks out and will be the first thing noticed by your viewers as soon as they turn the corner onto the street. You want the exterior of your property and the surrounding area to feel and look as pristine as possible. Don’t hide it behind the shed out back either. A truly interested viewer checks everything and looks everywhere. They will find it. When dusting inside pay attention to areas the women will definitely seek out and notice. The floor between the toilet and wall.The toilet rim behind and beneath where the lid is attached.Behind the water faucets on all sinks.The top of the stove control of the refrigerator and microwave.On top of all kitchen and bathroom cabinets. (Even if the top can’t be seen)When raising window blinds, leave one or two (no more than two) in the lowered position but open so light can still pass through. This draws attention and viewers will notice and become aware that all the windows have blinds on them. It subconsciously lets them know they can have privacy the very first night they move it, without having to give curtain installation their highest priority.There’s a bit of psychology that goes into showing a rental property. When the prospective applicants arrive the landlord should meet and greet them outside of the house. Do not wait inside the house for them to enter or knock on the door. If the landlord enters the front door first or if the landlord is already inside the house, when the prospective applicants enter they feel like “guest” in “your” house. If the prospective applicants enter first, they feel more like they’re entering what could become “their” home, for the very first time.From arrival until departure, pay attention to what’s going on. When they arrive for the viewing take note of the vehicle they arrive in. Is it a 10 year old beater with holes in the muffler? Or a $60,000 BMW? Get the tag number without making them aware of it. Without drawing attention to it, take note of things about them during the tour.Do they have cell phones? Do the kids have cell phones? Are they BlackBerry or IPhones? Do you hear the phones “chirp” indicating text msgs, facebook postings during the tour?Are they wearing, or appear to be hiding a Bluetooth device behind their ear? If so, is it possible that a third party is listening to everything said? Could be they’re friends of the last tenants you evicted, and they’re waiting for you to reveal information about that tenant so they can get you for violation of the privacy act of 1974.Do the tenants smell like drugs or animal? This would indicate they may have a pet, or are planning to convert the back laundry room into a meth lab.If possible to do without being suspected or detected, does the inside of their car have an animal or drug smell to it?During the tour, are they whispering or trying to keep ahead of you just out of earshot so you can’t make out what they’re saying?Are they separating or trying to separate during the tour, so you can’t keep eyeballs on everyone simultaneously?When time to leave, do they seem to depart rather quickly – noticeably faster than the arrival?All of these things may mean nothing. But they are flags and indicators you should take mental note of for when you process their application if they fill one out. If you accept an application from these folks, it will help you determine just how deep you need to process that application.The landlord should follow closely behind without crowding. Allow the viewers to lead the tour. During the walkthrough do not enter rooms with them. Wait just outside the door keeping them in view. Prospective applicants are imagining the room with “their” furniture in it. You physical presence in the room detracts from their imagination. You can expect them to open drawers, doors, cabinets, toilet seats, flip light switches, turn on water faucets, flush toilets, open and close windows and blinds, operate the central air in both heat and cool settings, operate all appliances, and more. Basically, your viewers are going to be busy. During the walkthrough the most important thing the landlord can do is SHUT THE HELL UP! They don’t care about the history of the house and that it was built by Henry Flagler and Marilyn Monroe lived in it at one time. They don’t want to hear you rant about the mess left by previous tenants, or how much work it took to get the property move it ready and hospital clean, or all the damage you had to repair. They don’t even want to hear about the upgrades either. So ZIP IT! They can see how clean and modernized it is for themselves. They’re not blind or stupid! They really don’t care about the property’s past. They’re looking at it for their future.This doesn’t mean the walk through needs to feel like a funeral procession. There will be things to say. For example, “The kitchen is straight ahead through the dining room, and the master bedroom is to your left.” The prospective applicants will be making comments and discussing among themselves, as well as asking you questions and making comments to you. Any responses from the landlord should be supportive of theirs, short, and sweet and to the point. Here are some common questions you can expect as you walk through and show the property.How long has it been vacant?Why did the previous tenants move?How long did the previous tenant live here?How long have you owned or been managing this property?Do you have any other properties you rent?Does rent include utilities and/or yard maintenance?What is the monthly average cost of utilities for the last 12 months?Does it have city water or well water?Is waste via city sewage or is there a septic tank on the property?Do you permit fish tanks or other tanked pets like a small turtle in an aquarium?Do you permit water beds?Is there a homeowner’s association with fees, and who pays?Can I paint rooms a different color?Can I build a deck, shed or other structure or enclosure on the property?Can I park/store a boat, RV or motor home on the property?How close are schools, shopping, hospitals and law enforcement?What’s crime like in this area?What can you tell me about the neighbors?Are there other children in this neighborhood?I’m in the military, so do you allow and honor a military transfer clause?If my job has me deployed or otherwise away at rent due time, how do you work that?When is garbage and recycling pickup?The above are just some of the common questions you’ll get. Expect more. But whatever they ask, have a definitive answer. “I’m not sure what day garbage comes” is not a definitive answer. One major important detail however, never discuss previous tenants. Especially if they were problematic, or you had to evict or take other legal action against the previous tenant, don’t discuss it. When asked why they moved (and you WILL be asked this question) don’t rant about how bad a tenant they were, or that you evicted them. Simply indicate they found other job opportunities and moved to a closer more convenient location. Under no circumstances should you “ever” talk about a previous tenant – good or bad.Indicating to a prospective applicant that you know how, can and will use the legal system against a tenant will scare them off pretty quickly; especially if you tell them you’ve done so at any time in the past. It also gives them reason for concern of how you’ll talk about them when they leave. Rest assured; they will not fill out an application. Even if they take one with them, you’ll never get it back. Towards the end of the tour a truly interested potential applicant usually ask what the process is for moving in. Just explain you have an application process and give a detailed but “brief” explanation. For example:“I have an application process. Here’s one if you desire to fill it out now, or take with and return to me later if desired. Basically, I verify your employment, verify information you provide with your current and previous landlord, check local law enforcement public records where you live now to see if you have any issues with the law that may concern me, and I review your credit report.”There it is. Short, sweet, and to the point. When they ask about the application fee, you can explain it, or simply refer them to the last page of the application which explains it. Sometimes they will fill out the application and give you the fee right there. Other times they will take the application with them to fill out and return later. That’s fine. Just remember this is a “potential” applicant. They’re not a fully fledged applicant until you have a completely filled out application “and” the application fee in your hand. When you accept an application, be it immediately after the tour or when they return it with your fee at a later time, always ask to see the ID of all applicants who have signed it. You need to confirm the names provided on the application match “exactly” their driver’s license or other state ID. Having this information correct and exact on the application is critically important for pulling their credit report, and if you will be executing a lease contract with these applicants.An issue you can expect to experience when explaining your application process is a feeling of uneasiness from the prospective applicant when you mention the credit report or law enforcement agencies. If this occurs or you sense that “feeling”, it’s easy to put them at ease so you don’t lose this potential applicant. I simply state the following to them:“In today’s world, nobody has perfect credit and I don’t expect you to either. Unpaid medical bills, a repossessed car, or even a foreclosure doesn’t concern me. What I’m looking for on your credit report is past due debt of an excessive amount that is in active collection. A $300.00 unpaid car repair bill in active collection is not excessive and will not disqualify you. You need a car to get to work. However, 2 months back rent from a previous landlord or rental management agency in active collection does concern me, and I’m not comfortable with that. So is there anything I may see on your credit report that you would like to explain now, to see if I will still accept your application?”Here’s an example of an acceptable response to something that may be in active collection on their credit report, and it won’t disqualify them to rent from me.“ I separated from my first wife 2 years ago, and the divorce was final 6 months ago. During the period of separation my ex wife maxed out all my credit cards and I can’t possibly make these large payments while supporting my kids whom I have custody of from the divorce. I have a lawyer assisting me with this, but it may take years before I straighten it all out.”For me, this is an acceptable response. The fact they have a lawyer and are actively pursuing resolution and settlement indicates to me that they are most likely a responsible person. I may or may not ask who their lawyer is, so that I can contact that lawyer later and confirm this applicant is “in fact” a client of theirs. But for my own level of comfort, I would inform this particular applicant that in addition to the deposit and 1st month’s rent I would like the last month’s rent in advance also.For the law enforcement background check I offer no condolences. If they have involvement with the local police or sheriff I don’t want them bringing that involvement into the neighborhood around my rental property. It doesn’t matter if they are the ones calling the sheriff because of that pesky neighbor who can’t mind their own business. This would be recorded in the public record as “domestic disturbance”. There’s still the risk that while in my property, their actions could turn otherwise nice neighbors into “pests”. I won’t have it. I don’t care who the problem may be with or who calls the sheriff. If I see your name or names of family members that would be residing in my rental on the public records within the last 18-24 months, you’re disqualified. I then return the application and fee.When the tour is complete, it doesn’t matter if prospective applicants fill out the application and pay the fee at that time or takes an application with them. It’s time for everyone to depart. You should follow, and not lead your new applicants out the front door. Upon exiting, close the door behind you and lock it. When they head to their car, you head to your car. Do not enter the property again until they have departed and are completely out of sight.Once they are gone, you can return and turn off lights, central air, refrigerator (empty the ice maker), and check that all appliances and other devices are off, windows and blinds are closed and all drawers, doors, lids and other covers are closed. Then depart until the next viewing. Even if you have the application and fee, keep advertising and showing the property to other prospects.If you’ve accepted an applicant, continue advertising and showing until you have received at least the security deposit. The general rule is, the security deposit takes it off the active market, and the first month’s rent (last month’s rent too, if you’re requiring it) with a signed contract gets you the keys to the front door.For the application, if the current and previous landlords and employers are local, inform your applicants it will take 3-5 days to process. If any of these items are out of town or another state, tell them it takes 7-10 days to process. If they can’t wait that long, there’s something wrong. Return the application and fee apologetically, and end it there.Some final notes on application fees. If you are paid in cash and the applicant request a receipt, provide the applicant a written receipt with your original signature on it. Carbon copies are for you. The applicant paying you the cash gets the original. Make sure it is understood that if they are not accepted, yet qualify to get their application fee back, they are required to return the original receipt to you – no copies.If the cash is $50 or $100 bills, don’t just put those in your wallet mixed with other bills you may already have there. Head straight to the bank to deposit them in your account. But before you present those large bills for deposit, ask the teller to confirm their authenticity. Tellers are trained to recognize and identify counterfeit bills. If the unthinkable ever does happen, don’t worry. You haven’t tried to deposit that money yet. (If you present counterfeit bills to a teller with a deposit slip, “you” have problems now)If they are by some wild chance counterfeit, the bank will call law enforcement and those counterfeit bills will be confiscated. You just lose it. So what? It’s no loss to you really. Just give the law officers the rental property application you have and after answering questions, you’ll probably be on your way. If they’re lucky, the current address information on the application is valid, and the law will be going after the “prospect” that gave you the counterfeit money. Of course, don’t expect to hear back from these applicants. They have more pressing legal issues now. If the applicant pays the application fee with a personal check, then no receipt is necessary. The check itself is the applicant’s receipt. If the check is on a local bank, take it to that bank and they can verify if the check is “good”. If so, then take it to your bank and deposit it. If it’s not good, call your applicant and politely tell them. Their phone number is on the application. People can and do make mistakes. So don’t assume the applicant is scamming you.If the check is on an out of town bank, inform the applicant you will not begin processing their application for 3 business days while you wait for the check to “clear”, and total processing time will be 7-10 days. Then deposit the check that same day if possible.Application ProcessingIn GOD We Trust. All Others I Verify.It happens to the best, and it could happen to you if you haven’t processed an application thoroughly enough. You’ll have that perfect applicant that after you process their application, they appear to be perfect; God’s gift from heaven that gives you a high level of comfort and confidence they’ll take care of your property like no other before them, and never be late with the rent. Everything goes smooth for check in and you depart the property so they can get moved in. But when the second month’s rent comes due, it’s not there. Every time you call the tenant, they’re not home. When you go by the house to knock on the front door, there’s no answer even though there’s enough evidence to make you at least “think” that someone is inside. It’s also apparent the grass hasn’t been cut since they moved in.What’s going on? The two previous landlords provided excellent reviews. Their current employer extrapolated on their “attention to detail” in their job, and the previous employer hated to see them go. Heck, the previous landlord told you they went so far as to clean the carpets when they vacated. So where’s the rent, and why is your property the eyesore of the neighborhood now?Basically, you have been and are continuing to be scammed by this so-called “excellent” tenant. They got you with the casting call scam. I’ll discuss scams later. There are things you can and should do to identify these scammers before they can even get their foot in the door. The most important thing of course, is to pay attention to the details. Particularly during the viewing tour as discussed earlier.Methods used by these unscrupulous renters are numerous, and practically all of them have a name. I’ll cover many of these scams later, and explain how they are set up, how they’re executed and how they work. At this point, the only thing on the application that you know for a fact to be true, is the applicant’s name. You verified that when you compared it to the name on their driver’s license or other government issued ID when they presented the application to you. You don’t even know if their current address is right…. So verify it!While you’re waiting for that application fee check to clear, there’s quite a bit you can go ahead and start doing immediately.Start by searching the applicants on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Friendster. (Betcha didn’t see that coming did you?) Their social website page as well as their tweets, will reveal a lot about them. Expect to get the same initial impression of the type of person they are, as when you initially met them in person for the rental property tour.Many newspapers publish a daily jail log or police blotter every day. It’s a listing of who was arrested or apprehended that day or the day before, and on what charges they were arrested or apprehended for. Go online to the website of the local newspaper (local for where the applicant presently resides) and search those logs and blotters for as far back as you can. If you find them, the blotter or log entry may look something like, “John Q. Public – Domestic Disturbance – Apprehension/Released” Don’t jump to any conclusions just yet, as this could be anything.Maybe this applicant was in a bar fight where the law was called and he was escorted out of the business and just issued a no trespassing warrant. No “arrest” was involved. Basically, the business owner just told them to never come back again, and had the officer issue them a no trespassing warrant so he could have them arrested “if” they ever came back. What if instead of Domestic Disturbance, you see “Probation Violation”? Doesn’t mean they have a criminal history. Could be they violated a restraining order, or were just “accused” of doing so by that ex-wife who has a grudge and is intent on making their life miserable until their last dying day.But then again, maybe this blotter entry pertains to spousal or child abuse, and they’re a wife beater? At this point, you may wish to decline this application. If so, wait 3 business days for the application fee check to clear, then return the application along with the application fee (since you haven’t paid for anything yet) to the applicant, and inform them that “based on my findings in the public law enforcement records, I am declining your application” and leave it at that. Otherwise, if you can actually believe and accept the applicant’s explanation, continue processing. I highly suggest you decline this applicant at this point, as you have no definitive way to verify any explanation they may provide.Go online to the local law enforcement agency’s website (local for where the applicant is living now) and check public records. If they live in the city limits check the local Police website. If outside the city limits check the county sheriff’s website. Is this applicant a registered sex offender? If so, that’s no reason to turn them down. But they are required by law to register their current residence with local law enforcement. Just confirm they’re properly registered at their current location and you’re good to go. Go back at least three years, but usually five years. Also search them on the state, as well as FBI most wanted list (Hey! You never know!) If they’re running or hiding from that ex they have that restraining order against, violations of that order will be apparent. Why did the applicant not tell you about this?You should also check online at the county court website for the county they reside in now. Search the civil courts records section to see if there’s any past or pending civil actions or judgments against them. Maybe their current landlord is evicting them. Could be that previous landlord evicted them and has a judgment against them for back rent that’s still in litigation. You want no part of this.If the current address is local, do a drive by in the evening. Is the car in the driveway the same one they drove to the viewing? If so, that’s not enough confirmation they actually live there. Absence of the car or seeing a different car doesn’t mean they don’t live their either. What’s the yard and outside of the house look like? Well kept, or the eyesore of the neighborhood? Maybe there’s a dog in the backyard? Food dish for the pet by the front or side door? Important note here, whatever you do, DON’T talk to any of their current neighbors. They talk, and these applicants don’t need to know you did this drive by.For the rest of this, you’ll need the original and several photocopies of the application to take with you. When verifying information on the application, whoever provides that information may need to see the signature page of the application, which authorizes them to release the information you are requesting, Don’t be surprised if they request a copy of that signature page, and a copy of “your” photo ID. While law doesn’t require it, the law does permit them to keep a record of all who ask for and receive the information you are requesting. It’s part of the privacy act of 1974.Drop by the local water company that supplies water to their current residence. Show the last page of the application, which is what they signed authorizing the release of information to you, and ask they confirm these applicants are the ones actually billed for the water, and that the water bill is mailed to them “at that address”. Also confirm this utility account has been in their name since the time they indicate on the application they moved into their current residence. Finally, ask if there is a pending cutoff or transfer order on this account, and what the cutoff or transfer date is.What if the current residence has a private well? They don’t get private electricity, so visit the power company that provides electric service to that residence, and verify the account and billing information with them. You should do the same with the local Cable, Telephone and any other utility companies also.If the current residence is out of town, or if the utility company does not have a local office where you can go and talk to someone face to face, then get their phone number either in the phone book or on the internet at or and call them. Identify who you are and that you are calling for a credit reference. Ask for a fax number to send a copy of the application to, and who to call and ask for once you’ve faxed it. Then follow through. You might even type up a letter and fax or mail it with the application, and request they call you to provide the confirmation information you’re requesting.Then, local or not, confirm the landlord/owner of their current residence. You can do this by going on line to the local county’s website and accessing the property owner search page to find it, and see who pays the property taxes for that address. It’s usually accessible from the page for that county’s tax collector’s office, or the property appraiser’s website. Expect the mailing address for the owner as listed on the application, to match the mailing address on the county tax record. If not, the tax record address is the correct one since that’s where the county sends the property tax bill every year.If the name and/or address on the tax deed does not match what is on the application, do not assume at this point that there is a problem. It is very possible that the owner of that property pays a rental real estate professional or some other person to manage their rental for them. Therefore, your applicants may not even know who their “real” landlord/owner is. So contact the real owner of that property and investigate!You may find when searching for the phone number of the real property owner, it’s not listed. With the advent of cell phones, you can expect that. Maybe that owner has a Facebook page? If so, private message them identifying who you are, who your applicants are, and provide your cell phone number with a request they call you. You can also mail a letter with a copy of the application and the appropriate questionnaire to the owner at the address on the tax deed. Be sure to include a self-addressed stamped envelope for them to return the questionnaire in. A sample letter and questionnaire is below.Louis B. Landlord789 Current Address LaneAnytown, FL, 32099John Q. Public322 Applicant BlvdMytown, FL, 33233Mr. Landlord, My name is John Public and I am writing because:____ You are named as a reference on an application I am processing for an applicant who desires to rent from me.____ You are the listed owner for property my applicants claim to be renting from you. My apologies if sending this letter via registered mail has inconvenienced you. It’s the only way I can be confident you are the one who receives it.Enclosed is a copy of my applicant’s application and a signed authorization allowing you to release information to me, along with my questionnaire and a self-addressed stamped envelope. The application states they are currently renting and residing in property you own at 911 Birdie Lane, Anytown, Fl. If possible, it would be most expedient if you would kindly call me on my cell phone at (212) 523-8199 and provide me the answers on the questionnaire verbally. Otherwise, if you would please complete my questionnaire and return it in the enclosed stamped self-addressed envelope at your earliest convenience it would be much appreciated. Thank you for your time.John Q. PublicPer-se- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Applicant Name: Ronald R. & Nancy Reagan- Is the information on the application pertaining to their current residence correct?- Have they provided you notice they are moving?- Have they ever violated the terms of your lease agreement? If yes, can you provide details please?- Have they ever been late with the rent? If so, how many times? How late?- Are you planning to deduct any amount from the tenant’s deposit or keep the entire deposit when they vacate your property? If so, can you tell me how much and why?- If your property was available for rent a year from now, and these tenants offered you $100 more per month than you are asking, would you accept these tenants again?YellowbirdIf you do a phone interview, questions to ask the current landlord or owner are things like:Does the tenant take reasonable care of the property they live in now?Ever been late with rent? How late? How many times late?Are you aware your current tenant is moving? Did they give you notice? How much notice?Do you know why the tenant is moving? (maybe they didn’t give a reason or the reason they gave you during the walk through was different)At this time, as best you can tell, are you planning to deduct any amount from the tenant’s deposit or keep the entire deposit when they vacate your property? If so, can you tell me how much and why?If you have a written agreement with the tenant, have they ever violated the terms of your agreement to the point where you had to issue written notice for potential breach of contract or possible actions for eviction?A year or more down the road if your unit is vacant again, and this tenant offered you $100 more per month than you are asking, would you rent to this tenant again if they wanted to move back in?If I mail letters and the recipient elects to call me on my cell phone, I have a little trick I do to confirm I am actually talking to the recipient of the letter. Yes, I sent it registered mail, which means they had to sign for that letter. Therefore, they had to go to the post office and get it, which means they had to show ID. But even the mailman can be lazy, and just deliver it to the house because he has known the recipients to live there for so long. I’ll end the conversation by thanking them for calling, and then ask as follows:“Oh, by the way, on that letter you received from me (which I expect them to be holding in their hand at this very instant, since that’s where they got my phone number to dial) please, can you tell me what color the actual text is for that tiny word is in the lower right corner?”If his answer is “yellow”, then he’s not holding the letter I sent him, and there is a possibility this isn’t the true intended recipient of your letter. See the trick there? I always make that word a color, be it red, green, yellow, orange, whatever. But I make the color of the text for that word a different color. In my example letter above, if he’s actually holding it in his hand, he’ll say “blue”. If he’s not holding it in his hand, he won’t remember the color, but he will remember the word “yellow” and that’s what he will say.You next confirm, then contact the previous landlord or owner of the previous property they lived in (the one your applicants had before their current residence) using the same methods you did to confirm the real owner, and that they actually lived there too, and that the “real” owner of the property and associated contact information is the one listed on their application. Then you can communicate with them directly to get the real scoop on this applicant by asking the same questions you did of their current landlord or owner.Suppose you get an “excellent” report from the current landlord. Don’t leave the river bank just yet. Sometimes the current landlord or owner just wants these tenants out. If they tell you how great this tenant is, like angels from heaven he doesn’t want to lose, this should raise a red flag. The current landlord is probably disguising this shark as gator bait. Don’t feed the sharks. It’s imperative you contact the property owner of their previous residence. They don’t deal with them anymore, and are more likely to tell you the truth.One final note on contacting previous landlords. If you interview the landlord via telephone, email or if you forgot to ask for ID when you met them in person, regardless of the method used to establish that contact, send a confirmation of communication to the mailing address on the tax deed. In this letter, request they call you one more time to verify it was them you were speaking to during the interview. There are some really smart scamming applicants out there who are one step ahead of you, and create a Facebook page or other information sources based on the information they find on the tax deed of the properties they list as their current and previous address. Besides, while you may list your email address and contact phone numbers on Facebook, you certainly don’t make them viewable to the public, now do you?If all the above has checked out, it’s time to check out current and past employers. Of course, the first thing you need to do is to confirm the employer name and/or supervisor name on the application is real, and is “in fact” their employer/supervisor. Could be a relative or just a co-worker for all you know.Start by looking up the phone number for the employer in the phonebook or online at or . Confirm the address and telephone number on the application match. If local, physically go to their place of employment and visit the Human Resources Department, or meet their manager, supervisor or business owner in person. If it’s a medium size or fairly large business with its own HR department, most likely you won’t be talking with the supervisor or manager listed on the application.Show the HR personnel the application and confirm the name they put down is “in fact” their supervisor, manager or other person they report to directly. By law, there are only two questions you can ask the employer. “Is the information on this application that pertains to this specific employment true and accurate?”. They only need answer yes or no. However, if they keep talking shut up and listen. You’re not breaking any laws – they are.For the previous employers there is one additional question you can ask: “Is this employee eligible for re-hire?”There are other questions you can ask and they can answer with no concerns about the privacy laws. My favorite is, “How or where do you envision this employee in your company or business one year from now?” They may have a job now, but the answer to that question gives you an indication of whether or not they will keep it.If you actually talk face to face with the person listed on the application as their supervisor, confirm they are in fact “that” person. Ask for ID. The application scammers pre-arrange the supervisor interview too! They just have a co-worker play the part. If the previous employment is local, do the same as you did with the current employer. Remember to first confirm the phone number on the application is the same as in the book or on the website.It’s pretty much a given that an applicant’s current employer will be local. But what if it’s not? It’s also highly likely that a previous employer may not be local. They could be in another state for that matter. So if the personal visit just isn’t possible, you can do it by mail using the appropriate forms provided here. But first, get on line and confirm that previous employer’s mailing address and phone number. If calling, always start with the publicly available number – not the one on the application. If mailing documents, always use the address you can “confirm” is right. Keep in mind that while their physical work location may be at the address on the application, the official “business address” could be a P.O. Box. So mail your documents to the official address.Ima D. Supervisorc/o ABC Widget Manufacturing Inc.P.O. Drawer 15523Anothertown, ST, 32099John Q. Public322 Applicant BlvdMytown, FL, 33233Mr. Supervisor,My name is John Public and I am writing because you are named as a past employer/supervisor/manager of Ima D. Renter, who is applying to rent housing from me. Enclosed is a copy of my applicant’s application and a signed authorization allowing you to release information to me, along with my questionnaire and a self-addressed stamped envelope. The applicant states they were previously employed by your company for the period stated on the application, and that you were his direct supervisor/manager prior to their departure. Would you be so kind as to confirm the information on the enclosed application is accurate? Would you also take a few minutes to answer the enclosed questionnaire and return it to me in the provided stamped, self-addressed envelope?If possible, it would be most expedient if you would kindly call me on my cell phone at (212) 523-8199 and provide me the answers on the questionnaire verbally. Otherwise, if you would please complete my questionnaire and return it in the enclosed stamped self-addressed envelope at your earliest convenience it would be much appreciated. Thank you for your time.John Q. PublicPer-se- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Applicant Name: Ronald R. & Nancy Reagan- Is the information on the application pertaining to their employment at your business accurate?- Is there any information on the application that you know to be inaccurate, incorrect or otherwise false?- Should this applicant return, are they eligible for rehiring with your business?At this point, even if you mailed out confirmation requests and are waiting for those responses, if you still feel comfortable with this applicant, you are ready to pull their credit report. But how? TANSTAAFLNever Tell A Zombie They Look Like Death Warmed OverThere ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. Or maybe you’ve heard this one: The best things in life are free – plus tax, shipping and handling. By federal law, every consumer is entitled to receive one copy of their credit report once every year at no charge, except for postage if you request a hardcopy mailed to you. The three major credit reporting services are Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.Go to their websites, and you’ll find that you can pull your own credit report from each, for free. If you take it via electronic delivery and view it on line, there’s not even a postal charge. It’s in PDF format, so you can even save it. But no one report will have everything. Those credit cards you have in your wallet may only be on two of them, while your home mortgage is on all three. That 24 month signature loan may only be on one of them. Your credit score may be different on each too. At a cost of $20-$30 each, pulling applicant credit like this will easily eat up that application fee leaving you in the hole. What you need is a consolidated report that has everything, with no duplication. You can get this for considerably less than the application fee you charged – if you’re “in the know”.You can search online for “Tenant Credit Screening Services” and just take your pick. For example, AAA Credit Screening Services, LLC is the one I use. You can call them at 1-800-282-0447 and set up an account with them in about 10 minutes. Or you can just go online to their website at and sign up there – for free. Pulling reports for an individual is generally less than $30. For a married couple it’s about $50. You’re well covered with your application fee of $50 per applicant. But what’s this thing about setting up an account with them?Credit reporting agencies have a responsibility to protect the information they have, from those who have no need for it. There are different types of accounts so that only the information necessary for whoever is pulling the credit is provided. For example, your mortgage lender needs to know your income, whereas you as a landlord really have no need to know what your tenant gets paid every week – you just need to know they have a job, and you’ve already confirmed that. There’s the Lender account, the realtor account, the consumer account, the credit account and more. For you, there’s the landlord account. Yep, there’s an account type created and designed just for you! So when you pull credit, you only receive what matters to you, and not information that may matter to the “buy here pay here” used car dealer down the street. Additionally, you get one credit report whose information is consolidated from all three credit reporting agencies into one simple report. The credit score on it is the “real” score; but not necessarily the right score.Requesting a report on your applicants is easy. Simply fax your request along with a copy of that signed application page and the fax number for them to send the report to, and you’re done. If you’ve not already provided them a credit card or check/debit card account, you’ll need to include payment information to pay for the report also. Necessary request forms are provided to you by the screening company used.Generally, if you fax your request in the morning, you’ll have it around lunch. Be sure your fax machine is turned on and has sufficient paper and ink loaded! There’s no “heads up” phone call to let you know it’s coming. Expect 15-30 pages per applicant, plus another 10 pages for the code sheets to help you understand and interpret the codes in the report. It’s easy really, so don’t feel intimidated.Basically, the report provides several useful things:All addresses they lived at in last 5 yearsAll previous names and aliases associated with their social security numberAll outstanding debts due, balance due as well as payment historyHere’s an idea of what you’re looking for. Do the names match “exactly” what’s on the application and their government issued ID? Do the current/previous addresses on the credit report match what’s on their application? If they’ve been at their current residence for a year or less, that may not be there. If at their past residence for at least 12 months, it should be there. If less than 6 months, it may or may not be. If neither address is on the credit report, you should contact the owner of the most recent address listed and investigate.Is the wife’s maiden name listed? If not, or if there’s 4 other names or aliases listed, how many times has she been married? Are those kids really from the seeds of her current husband? Maybe they rely on child support, and without it can’t pay rent. Ask your applicants to explain.You’ll see their credit score. While it’s the real score, it’s probably not the right score. You’ll see why below.Don’t be shocked to see 15, 20 or even more credit card accounts. Pay attention. 12 of them are probably closed. Items remain on a credit report for up to 7 years after the debt is paid or the account is closed.Is there a bankruptcy shown? If so, it’s in a completed or closed status, blow it off. It’s done. Expect the rest of the report to show plenty of accounts in a closed, write-off status. Unpaid balances forgiven by the bankruptcy action will be shown as uncollectable with a status like “Closed by Lender– Bankruptcy” or “ “Bankruptcy – Chapter 7”. I love renting to those with a recently completed bankruptcy. It tells me two things. First, they can’t file bankruptcy again for a minimum of 7 years. Second, they have no outstanding debt, so paying rent shouldn’t be an issue. If you see credit card accounts that are actually active on a credit report that shows a bankruptcy, most likely those are prepaid accounts they’re using in the mistaken belief it will help them rebuild their credit a bit faster. That’s fine; let them believe what they want to believe.Are there unpaid medical expenses that are past due, over extended, or in active collection? If so, draw a line through all those medical expenses. They don’t count. Why? When their grade school son got that ear infection 2 years ago that resulted in a visit to the emergency room, it probably generated a $1500.00 bill they knew they couldn’t pay. But what did you expect them to do? Let their son’s ear rot off? Get real. Medical expenses don’t count. You have “GOT” to have medical care no matter what. So draw a line through it.Don’t waste time asking your applicant to explain medical expenses. The medical services provided may be personal in nature, and none of your damn business. Besides, if this man’s wife learns he used to be a woman, you’re losing what could be your best tenants ever. Now you see why that real credit score, isn’t necessarily the correct credit score. Don’t let a score lowered by unpaid medical expenses count against your applicants.Is there an account for child support or alimony payments? Does it indicate those payments are being made? Did the applicant not tell you about this up front? One or two late payments in the past are expected. During time between jobs, he just couldn’t do it.Is there an account for a home mortgage? Why are they renting from you if they already own a home? Could be they’re from out of town or another state, and their jobs required them to relocate here. Perhaps, instead of selling the old house, they’re renting it out? Maybe the house was just put on the market? Did the applicant tell you about this already? If it’s being rented out, I want a copy of that rental contract. At least, let me see the contract so I know you’re telling the truth. (I’ll contact his renter later, to confirm I’m not being scammed on this.) Should I ever need to take court action to get money from my tenant, it’s nice to know that through the legal system I can make it so that his tenant pays the rent to me, to satisfy that obligation if necessary. It’s called “income garnishment” and is easy to do.Is there an auto loan listed? If so, the car they drive now is obviously not owned free and clear. Nice to know in case you need to take legal action in the future. You may not be able to possess it. But you can put a lien on it.Expect to see credit cards listed to. A few late payments shouldn’t concern you – so long as there’s not a discernible pattern to those. You’ll see overdrafts for savings and checking accounts to.Understand that absolutely nobody has perfect credit. So don’t expect it. What you’re looking for in the credit report is a history of financial irresponsibility. A renter with perfect credit doesn’t rent – they buy. But then, never say never. Every rule has its exceptions. There is only one rule in the entire universe for which there truly is no exception. It reads as follows:Every rule has its exceptions – no exceptions.If you pull a report and its perfect, am I a liar? If you’re pulling credit on an individual or recently married couple under the age of 22, it’s perfectly feasible it’s perfect, or you’ll see no debt listed at all. You’ll never see it though.You may see a car loan opened 2 years ago, a revolving line of credit from Home Depot, or even a debt account from the local furniture store opened last month. When these folks got together and struck out on their own, last month, they had to start somewhere. Furniture may be made from trees, but it doesn’t grow on them. But your applicant is 19 years old - what about that car loan established 3 years ago? He was only 16, so how can that be? He was probably flipping burgers at McDonalds, so technically, he had a job. A parent or some other responsible adult with a good credit history co-signed the loan for him. It’s a method used by young people with no credit, as a way to establish credit without making a large down payment or paying an abhorrent interest rate. Let it go. So if you get a 35-40 year old couple with a 14 page credit report and a credit score of 845 and not so much as a mar, there’s something wrong here. With credit like that, why are they renting, when they should be owning? So check it out. You’ll read about such a case when we cover scams later.When I receive a credit report, I first draw a black line through all medical expenses. Then a green line through all closed accounts. Next, I take a red pen and circle each individual late payment on accounts that are still active. That’s all the markup I do.I lay the report out on the table and look at it. I’m looking for patterns in the red circles. This may be a married couple, so their credit reports are side by side. The husband has a home depot card marked “individual account”, meaning his wife has no liability for this account. She may not even know about it. There’s also a MasterCard account, visa, and discover card accounts, in addition to an auto loan account. Finally, there’s a Rooms-To-Go account opened 2 years ago, and there’s a rather hefty balance on it similar to the auto loan. No big deal. These accounts are marked ”joint”, indicating husband and wife have shared liability for these.On the wife’s credit report I see a Wal-Mart charge account, and it’s marked “individual”. Bet the hubby doesn’t even know about it. Then there’s the MasterCard, visa and discover card accounts along with the auto loan account and the Rooms-to-Go account, and they’re marked “joint”. So both parties are aware of the credit cards, furniture, and the car loan of course. The wife also has a revolving credit account with Victoria’s Secrets marked “individual” and while it’s in an open status, there’s no balance due on it. I wonder if she’s “stepping out” on occasion, or just surprises the hubby once in a while. None of my business, but it is interesting.After laying this out and looking at it, I see a pattern in the red circles of all the missed/late payments. It doesn’t jump out right away – I have to look for it. Seems that starting about 2 years ago (when they got the new furniture) they were late with a payment on something every month. January – Home Depot payment late (bet wife didn’t know)February – Victoria’s Secret payment late (bet hubby didn’t know)March – Mastercard payment lateApril – furniture payment lateMay – Wal-mart payment lateJune – Discover card and Victoria’s Secret payment lateJuly – Car payment lateAugust – Visa payment lateThis is nothing that would keep another credit card lender from giving them say, another $1000 of credit or even getting a 2nd used car loan. They won’t get the best interest rate, but what’s going on here? First, I’ll tell you what I “think”. Then I’ll tell you what I know.I think the husband gets paid the 1st and 15th of every month, and the wife gets paid the 2nd and 4th Friday of every month. See those two late payments in June? The previous May had 5 Fridays in it. So the wife probably had to stretch her paycheck an additional week until the first Friday in June. While they are both aware of the late discover card payment, I bet you hubby hasn’t a clue a about the other.So what do I “know”? This couple is a good distance away from driving over the cliffs of Broke-ass Mountain. They seem to be picking up speed as that cliff gets closer. While they appear to have everything, they don’t own anything free and clear. They themselves can’t see it yet, but they’re in the beginning stages of living beyond their means. Right now they’re doing okay. But they’re living paycheck to mouth. My bet is, three months after moving in they’ll have a new 52” plasma TV on a rent to own deal from Rent-A-Center.What happens three months later when the car needs a $1500 transmission repair? Will I get the rent? Even if I work out a split payment for the month, will they be able to pay half on the 1st, and the rest on the 15th of the month? I doubt it. Everything else on their application checked out just fine. They’re a really nice couple. But based on these findings on their credit report, I’m just not comfortable doing business with them. Since I am refusing them, I will return their application fee and send them on their way. Let’s consider another scenario.After marking all my black and green lines, and making all my circles on the credit report, I do see a few dings here and there. No real pattern. But there’s a period about 18 months ago where it looks like the bottom fell out and nothing was paid on time for 2 months. Appears to have taken an additional three months to climb out of that hole and get things back to normal. What happened? Looking at the application, I see the previous job prior to the one he just started upon moving here, has a start date around that period. I can pretty much figure what happened there, and will confirm my theory by talking with the applicant.My educated guess is that for whatever reason, he lost the job he had prior to the previous job listed on the application. So he couldn’t pay the bills during that time. It took him 2 months to find another job and collect that first paycheck. Then another three months to climb out of that hole. This appears to be someone who is financially responsible and most likely learned a lesson from the experience. There are two questions I can ask this applicant concerning this, which will confirm my theory. First, I’ll ask him what happened. Then when he tells me what I expect to hear, I’ll put this one out there:“If your only choice for tonight was to literally sleep on the curb, or pay deposit, first, and last month’s rent to sleep in my rental property tonight, where would you be brushing your teeth in the morning?” Regardless of the answer, I’ll still rent to this applicant. But if he answers “the bathroom sink”, then in addition to being financially responsible, this applicant has learned from his experience, and has an emergency fund. I’ll bet he’s a Dave Ramsey fan too. That’s a definite plus to rent from me.Be aware also, that you cannot, under any circumstances or any reason, allow your applicants to see their credit report. You agreed to this in a legally binding contract with the credit reporting agency you signed up with. If you violate that agreement, there is no fine if the company finds out about it. You will be criminally prosecuted. They don’t play games with this, so don’t ever show your applicants their credit report. I always make it a point to never take the credit report with me when I go to meet them for anything. That way if they ask, it’s not on my person so there’s no chance of me being “talked into it” by them. If they want to see their credit report, they can pull their free copy, or pay for it just like I did.Your Day Will ComeDave Ramsey Is My IdolWhile this isn’t the last chapter in this book, it is the last one I wrote. During the days and weeks of writing, I contemplated on whether to even include it or not. It has nothing to do with the purpose or intent of this book. I put it in, took it out. Put it in, took it out. Did it so many times I lost count. Damn, I feel cheap. But in the previous chapter I made a comment that some of you reading it had an immediate mental response to of “But ‘I’ have perfect credit!” And now you’re asking “Who the hell is this Dave Ramsey guy!?”Fair enough. So do I. No dings, dents, not even a scratch. So why would I make a comment like that? If you’re reading this book and actually made it to this chapter, you don’t pay rent. Neither do I. I collect it. But if you still insist on calling me a liar please give me a fair opportunity to respond to your unsolicited, yet understandable outburst.In my younger years I liked listening to the radio as I proudly drove around town with my buddies checking out the bikini clad babes on the beach. We’d roll down the windows, crank up the tunes and cruise the dunes. Pumping hard rock through the radio speakers at an ear splitting volume got a fair number of those fine beauties in the car with us too!Upon arriving home in the late afternoon while dad was tinkering in the garage, he’d always greet my arrival with the same comment: “Turn that shit-kicking music down!” His generation grew up in the Big Band era. People and things change over time. Or do they?After serving my country overseas for my entire 20 year career, I retired and returned to my hometown to find work and raise my own family. Dear old dad had it right. When my son turned 16 and we upgraded his driver’s license from a learner’s permit, I let him drive the car to school. That afternoon I heard him coming a block away with some Snoop-Dog rappin’ type of gibberish blaring full blast throughout the neighborhood. Without thinking, as he pulled into the driveway I hollered the first thing that came to mind: “TURN THAT RAP CRAP DOWN!”. Oh the memories.After military life my new job was a 30 mile drive each way. This was just over a decade ago, and I needed something calming on that long drive home. The tunes of my day were hard to find. Country music was depressing with its wife leaving and dog dying themes, and that rap crap stuff is just that. Crap. News talk was (and still is) nothing but bad news which invoked feelings of depression. It makes one contemplate crossing the centerline on the interstate as the oncoming semi approaches.My impression of truckers is that of country boy rednecks who love that music. With my luck, his wife just left, the dog died and his desire to swerve out of my way is severely diminished. News Talk radio is so depressing. Listening to it on those long drives occasionally brings about those thoughts of “what if?”. So I made efforts to avoid those stations while pressing the radio scan button looking for my musical era on the long drive home. About three weeks into this job, it happened. Scanning through the radio stations at 70 miles an hour I hit one where the first words I heard was a group of people screaming at the top of their lungs, “Weeeeee’re Debt Freeeeeeee!”You have my attention. Definitely nothing depressing about that. I’ll listen to this commercial and see what the newest get rich scheme is these days. There’s only two ways to really get rich quick – print it or steal it. But the potential retirement plan tends to be a deterrent. I was bought back to reality by the blaring horns of the oncoming 18-wheeler monstrosity heading my way, and quickly got back in my lane. So did he, thank God. Hope he pats the dog and kisses the wife for me when he gets home.I’m thinking this commercial is one of those 30 minute infomercials like on late night TV. A few more minutes, and I knew it wasn’t. But this “Dave” guy wasn’t promoting the latest get rich quick scheme. Instead, he’s telling listeners how to keep more of the money they already have – and he’s telling them for free! Arriving home, I sat in the driveway for another 45 minutes until the end of the program. I really like this Dave Ramsey guy! Heck, I realized that one of the things he’d suggested for saving money was something I could put in practice right away.Upon entering the house through the garage door, my wife greeted me with “You’re late and supper’s cold.” The perplexed look on her face when I responded with “Where’s the calculator?” was priceless. I couldn’t wait to get to work the next day, and it wasn’t because I liked the job either.By the end of that first year on the new job I had grown to like it, and Dave had really made a difference in our lives; the best next door neighbor anyone could ask for. I want so badly to walk across the yard and see if he’ll write the forward for this book. Fat chance that’ll ever happen. When bringing that paycheck home in the white envelope and cashing it, I am no longer hauling it back out the door in wheelbarrows. When the day comes for me to depart this earth, I’m ready. So is my family thanks to Dave. Dear old dad has always been and will always be my hero. Dave Ramsey is my idol.When you depart this earth it will of course, be shocking to your family. It’s just something which, no matter how prepared you or your family is, they’re never fully ready for it. It’s always bad. But when that day does come, it takes about 3 days for the mortician to prepare your corpse for the funeral, and it’s generally the day after that you get put in the ground. Add another 10 days until your survivors get the official death certificate from the state office of vital statistics. They can’t file for the life insurance without it. Count on yet another 10 days before the settlement check arrives.Meanwhile, those credit card bills you leave behind? They keep coming. The one or two that were due during the turmoil following your passing are late by the time the insurance settlement check arrives. That’s a definite ding on your credit report that will remain there for 7 years after you’re gone. Bye-bye perfect credit. Now that the contact cement is dry, if you still insist on slapping that label on and declaring me a liar, remember this………………You Ain’t Dead YetTurn the damn page.Make It Happen Cap’nOnce the processing is complete and all communication verification letters and phone calls are received, it’s time to contact your applicants and let them know the good news. Arrange to meet in person so you can receive the deposit amount and execute the Pre-Lease Deposit Agreement. Make sure they understand that this is not just a receipt for the deposit – it’s a legally binding commitment to sign a lease on the date specified in the agreement. It shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes at the most. Have enough copies for everyone to sign, and the landlord should keep two originals.Once payment is received, inform your new prospective tenants that the contract signing and check in process takes approximately two hours and requires the uninterrupted attention of everyone involved. They will need to ensure their small children will be kept at bay during this time. Suggest that if at all possible, arrange to leave them with a responsible party and not bring them to the contract signing. If that’s not feasible, they will need to bring another responsible person with them that will not be signing the contract, to watch and entertain the children for them while we complete the contract and other paperwork.If the landlord feels it’s necessary, they can also inform the prospective tenants that if they arrive on contract signing day with their small children and no responsible party to supervise them, the landlord may elect to cancel the appointment and reschedule for another time, or return their deposit minus the per-day charge and not rent to them at all.Last but not least, inform them they need to bring the following items with them to the contract signing.All vehicles they own and the valid registration for those vehicles.Driver license or other government issued ID for each person signing the contract.Digital camera. IPhone and IPads with built-in cameras are fine.The Pre-Lease Deposit Agreement if one was executed.The security deposit if not already paid.The first month’s rent.Last month’s rent if you are requiring it.The landlord will need to bring the following:A folding card table or other small table.Enough chairs for all contract signers to sit in.Enough pens so each signer will have their own pen.A stapler with sufficient staples.The prospective tenant’s application.Enough copies of the lease agreement so each signer will have their own and the landlord will have two copies when completed. Pages should NOT be stapled together.Enough copies of the Check In/Check Out Form so each signer will have their own copy and the landlord will have two copies when completed. Pages should NOT be stapled together.Receipts tenants will need to sign for the keys when you provide those keys to the tenants.A digital camera. An IPhone or IPad with a camera will suffice.A small trashcan – like one you might have in the bathroom next to the sink.There are some additional things the landlord can and should bring if feasible and possible. If you have a laptop, put a copy of the contract and check in form on it and bring that with you along with a small deskjet printer. Ensure you remember to load it with sufficient ink and paper too. This way, if during the contract review or check in review something needs to be changed or updated, it can be done on the spot and updated copies printed immediately for everyone. A real time-saver! Also, if you have a digital scanner, bring that to. Then you can quickly scan copies of all IDs and vehicle registrations, and you have them right where you want them.There are two things you should never bring:Do not bring more chairs to the contract signing than required for each signer to have a place to sit. If you bring extra and they bring the kids with them, it makes it more difficult for whoever is watching them to keep them out of mom and dad’s presence during this process. You also don’t want that babysitter to have a place to sit and supervise the children in the presence of those signing the contract. So no extra chairs. The babysitter can and should keep the kids outside in the yard.Do not bring the credit report you paid for on these prospective tenants. It’s too risky. You are not allowed to show the credit report to them, or to allow them to see their credit report. It’s a direct violation of the agreement you have with the company that supplied it to you. It may even be against the law. So do not bring it. There is absolutely no need for it at the contract signing anyway. If they want to see their credit report, then they can request their free copy the law entities them to every year, or they can pay for their own copy – just like you did.Sign On the Dotted Line PleaseThe day before the scheduled contract signing and preferably two days prior, check the weather forecast. Remember that reference to “unforeseen circumstances” in the Pre-Lease Deposit Agreement? This could be one. You don’t want to lose this prospective tenant because they don’t like the idea of moving their fine furniture into your house in the middle of a hurricane.If the forecast calls for inclement weather, contact the prospective tenant and give them the option to reschedule. Even if the contract signing date is the same as the start date, and they won’t be moving in the same day they sign the contract, give them the option to reschedule. Usually the next day is fine. But if they work during the week, you may need to reschedule for the next weekend. Also, if the signing date and contract start date are the same, inform the prospective tenant that you will adjust those dates in the contract accordingly. Then do it. The main thing here is, work with the tenant. Otherwise, this unforeseen circumstance may require you to return 100% of the deposit as well as the application fee. So work with it.On contract signing day, the landlord should arrive a few hours early with all the items and supplies listed previously. Perform the same actions as you did to prepare the property for viewing for prospective applicants. The property inside and out, should be in the same pristine condition for tenant move in, as it was when they initially toured it. When finished, set up the table and chairs if possible, in the main room you enter upon walking in the front door. Don’t set up in the foyer, hallway or any other pass through area of the house. You don’t want folks to feel crowded while sitting at the table and reviewing the paperwork with you.Place one copy of the contract and Check In form on the table for each tenant, and two copies on the table where you the landlord will be sitting. Place a pen on the table for each signer also. If you bought a digital camera, place it in the dead center of the table. Finally, place that small trashcan next to your chair. If you also bring your laptop, printer and/or scanner do not set this up on the signing table. Doing so makes it look like you’re sitting behind a corporate desk and your contract signers feel below you. You want everyone feeling equal and comfortable. Instead, set up your laptop and other peripherals on the kitchen counter. It’s out of the way there and easily accessible. Once you set it up, confirm its working. It could be a bit embarrassing if you need to update and print a new check in form, and the printer is out of ink or the paper jams. So test it.When the prospective tenants arrive, greet them as you did at the viewing. Meet them outside and let them enter the front door first. After all, in a few hours this property will be “their” home. Expect them to do another quick walkthrough prior to sitting down. When everyone is seated, start by giving them the basic outline of what is to occur.“I’ll start today by making a copy of everyone’s ID for my records. Then I need to see your vehicle registrations, confirm the VIN numbers on those registrations and make copies of those for my records also. After that, I will review the contract with you, one item at a time. As I read each item, if you have any questions please ask. I’m not in a hurry today, and it’s important for you to understand this contract with absolute clarity so there’s no chance of us experiencing misunderstandings later. Once we complete the contract and sign it, we will all take a copy of the Check-In Inspection form with us as we walk the property to confirm the condition of every item on the form. During the walk through if you have concerns about anything be it on the checklist or not, please ask. I also encourage you to take pictures of anything you think may be of concern should you need to move out in the future. If you have a camera and do take pictures, I request you email me a copy of those pictures, so that I will also have a clear record of those things that concern you. If you didn’t bring a camera with you, please feel free to use mine during the walkthrough. If you will provide me an email address prior to my departure today, I will gladly email you a copy of all pictures taken today, as soon as I arrive home. Once the checklist is complete and all documents signed, I will provide each of you signing today with a copy, and will have two copies for my records. When everything is signed you can provide me the 1st month’s rent payment at that time, and I will give you the keys. Upon giving you the keys, you’ll need to sign a separate receipt for those keys, verifying you have possession of them. The final thing will be to take all copies of the Pre-Lease Deposit Agreement, and destroy them. Do you have any questions before we begin?”Answer questions if any. One question you can expect here is, “Why do you need my vehicle registration?”. My response, always delivered with a bit of a grin and in a “comical” tone of voice is:“That’s so if you skip town without paying the rent, the cops will know what car to pull over.” Now ask all signers for ID. Confirm the names on the contract and check in forms match “exactly” what is on their IDs. If it doesn’t, then you can continue, but you can’t complete the signing and check in process until you’ve updated and reprinted the first and last pages of your contract and check-in forms. Pen and ink changes of names on any contract or other legal document are NOT valid. If you have your laptop with scanner, excuse yourself and go scan a copy of all IDs. The signers will be perusing the contract while you’re doing this, and that’s a good thing. Otherwise, use your digital camera and take a picture if each ID. Then ask for vehicle registrations for all vehicles.Take the registrations and go outside to confirm the VIN number on each registration matches the vehicle it belongs to. Return inside and scan or photograph each registration. Then begin with the contract review.There’s no need to read every single word aloud, until you get to item number one. Start by explaining as follows:“At the top you see today’s date and the date the rent goes into effect which is the 1st day this lease starts, as well as the amount of the rent to be paid each month. Then there’s the amount of deposit you’ve paid, the date you paid it, followed by the amount of the first month’s rent, and today’s date indicated as being the date you paid it. So this contract is your receipt for the deposit and first month’s rent. Once we finish here today, I will destroy my copies of the Pre-Lease Deposit Agreement before departing. The paragraph below that identifies what and who this contract applies to and for how long, and identifies the terminology used throughout the remainder of this agreement. Are there any questions pertaining to this part, or anything I’ve just said?”Once questions are answered, I begin with item 1. I will verbally read each item aloud so the signers can clearly hear me say it. If necessary, I will further “explain” the legalities or legal meaning and ask for questions on that item. Then move on to the next item. It’s important to do it this way for each individual item on the contract. In court, the tenant will not be able to claim that “sufficient clarity was not provided as required by law.”Here’s an example of where I provide more than sufficient clarity, after reading aloud item 2 of the contract.“So if you’re late paying the rent after the 5th calendar day of the month that has potential to make me late with the mortgage payment on this property. Not only can I charge you the $47.50 late fee, but if my late mortgage payment generates a mortgage payment late fee of $85.00 to me, then you are agreeing I’m entitled to collect that $85.00 from you, in addition to the late fee. Do you have any questions or need any further clarification on this one?”Contracts generally have more than one page. So when you finish the first page instruct all signers to sign their initials on that page, and “pass it to the right” so that all copies will have an original signature or initials on it of all signers. Then start reviewing the next page.When the contract is completed and signed by all parties, staple all pages of each copy together. Give one copy to each signer, and two for the landlord. Walk the Walk, Talk the TalkInform each signer to pick up the property Check-In/Out Form and head outside with you to begin inspecting the property. I begin the process with this statement:“We’re going to inspect the condition of the property now. We do this to protect your deposit. I may not be able to recall everything when you move out a few years from now. So if I try to charge you for that cigarette burn on the hallway carpet, it’s documented as already being there prior to your occupancy. Bring your camera so you can take pictures of anything you feel necessary. All I ask is that you email me a copy of those pictures so I can print and attach them to my copy of the inspection. If you don’t have a camera please use mine. I will email you a copy of all pictures you take as soon as I get home and download them to my computer. So let’s head outside and get started.”Some things you must cover:Location and operation of the main water cutoff for the houseLocation and operation of the main gas cutoff for the houseLocation and operation of all electrical circuit breakers for the house. Especially the main.How to switch the central air to emergency heat (if so equipped)Location and operation of the septic tank sump pump alarm (if so equipped)Location and operation of all fire extinguishers During the walk around for the inspection you’ll come across things that need to be corrected, updated or even added. For now, make all pen and ink alterations on the Landlord copy of the inspection only. When you complete the inspection you’ll already be inside the house. Return to the signing table. If any pen and ink changes were made during the walk through, right now only the landlord’s copy has those changes. The landlord and not the tenant should update all other copies with the same changes. This way, all changes on all copies are in the landlord’s handwriting. The landlord will need to at least initial all those changes too.If you have the laptop and printer set up on the kitchen counter, then just update the inspection in the computer, print new copies for all signers and there are no “pen and ink” changes to contend with.Then start signing each copy of the inspection and “pass to the right” until all copies have been signed by all signers. Everyone needs to initial each page too, and don’t forget the back of any pages with updates or changes written on them. When complete, staple each report together. Each signer gets a copy and the landlord gets two copies.Now request the first month’s rent payment and hand your new tenant’s their keys. You may feel it necessary to have your new tenants sign a receipt for those keys also. Nothing wrong with that, and probably not a bad idea. Only one of the tenants needs to sign for the keys really. A simple receipt like the one below is all you need, and if needed it will stand up in small claims. Make sure you have them sign two copies of the receipt, and keep them both for your records.Key ReceiptI_____________________________ hereby acknowledge receipt of ____ keys for the property located at _________________________________________________________. I understand that, at the discretion of the landlord/owner there is a charge of $5 for each key not returned when I vacate the premises, or the cost of replacing all locks the keys fit. I understand that if I have additional copies of these keys made, that I must surrender them to the landlord/owner upon vacating with no compensation for same. I further understand that should I change any locks these keys fit, or have same rekeyed, I must supply the landlord/owner with a copy of the key within 24 hours with no compensation for same. I further understand that the property is not considered as vacated by me until these keys are returned to the issuer.Signed ___________________________________Date:__________________Ensure that each person who signed the contract and checklist has their own personal copy of that contract and checklist. Even if it’s a married couple, they each need to be supplied their own copy, and all copies have original signatures on them. This way, if they separate for whatever reason while residing there, you have supplied each signer with their own personal copy of all paperwork.The final piece of paperwork to deal with, is the Pre-Lease Deposit Agreement. In the presence of your new tenants, take your two copies of that agreement, tear them up and put them in that trashcan you bought with you. If the tenants have their copies, do the same with those also.Fold up the card table and chairs, grab that little trashcan along with the stapler, camera and anything else, and put them in your car. Get the laptop, printer and scanner off the kitchen counter and load them up also. You can now depart and let your tenants start moving their stuff in.At this point, once you depart the property you can NOT enter the residence again without the express consent of the tenant. So if you’re halfway home and remember something you forgot when you go back this is NOT your residence now. It’s theirs – so knock on the front door and wait for them to answer.Get The Hell Out!Once all paperwork is signed, monies transferred, keys turned over and the car is loaded up, leave. Do not stick around to help your new tenants move in. If you’re carrying one end of that couch through the front door and it gouges a hole in the wall and breaks the couch leg, who’s at fault? Who pays for what? GET THE HELL OUT!Ideally, the only time you hear anything from your tenants is on the rent due day. But this isn’t a perfect world. Many of the issues you can expect to deal with during their tenure will be covered later. But right now, let’s go over the exit strategy.Exit, Stage Right!It’s approaching the end of the lease and getting close to decision time for both Landlord and Tenant. Will they renew the lease for another year? Maybe they’re planning to vacate and move? Is the lease like mine, are the tenants just going to do nothing and continue staying in the unit on a month to month basis? If the lease is expiring and a new one needs to be executed, or if it converts to a monthly commitment, you need to know. The earlier you know, the better – especially if the tenant will be vacating. You may need time to make arraignments’ to cover mortgage payments and other commitments while it’s vacant, as well as returning the vacating tenant’s security deposit if they’ve successfully honored your contractual lease agreement. In reality, what usually happens is the tenant will verbally notify you of their intentions to vacate your property when they pay that last month’s rent. That’s fine. But go home, draft up sufficient copies of a “Tenant Notice to Vacate” and drop by the property and have them sign all copies. Then keep one for your records and you’re set.The best thing to do is to send the tenant a letter at least 45 days before the end of the contractual commitment, and 15 days before the last month’s rent is due. In that letter provide a self-addressed stamped envelope. Then if the tenant will be vacating they can give you the required notice in writing and mail it at no charge, along with the last month’s rent. You can also include both a “Tenant’s Notice to Vacate” and a “Tenant’s Notice of Desire to Renew Lease” with that letter. They just fill out the appropriate form and return it to you with the final month’s rent check. Most importantly, if they’re leaving it gives you sufficient time to plan your schedule to prepare your property for the next tenant also. Suppose you the landlord don’t want to renew the lease? If it’s one that coverts month to month, you MUST give your tenants notice the same as they are required to give you notice. See item 7 of the sample contract included here. What’s good for the goose, applies to the gander also!If you desire the tenants to vacate your property at the end of their contractual commitment, you should send them a “Notice of Termination of Tenancy/Lease Agreement”. Generally, it’s best for the landlord to meet the tenant in person with sufficient copies of the necessary notice so that all parties of the contract being terminated will have a signed copy of the notice with original signatures on it. Below are examples of Tenant Notice to Vacate, Tenant Desire to Renew Lease, and a landlord’s Notice of Termination of Tenancy/Lease Agreement. That last one may read as rather “cold”, but it’s worded exactly as the law requires in my state. Also inform the tenant that you need their new address prior to the check out day, so you know where to send their deposit to. If the tenant states he’s expecting return of deposit and/or resolution of deposit on check out day, inform them that you have no way of knowing how things will go on the final inspection, and that if there are issues, state law allows you 15 days after they vacate to return their deposit. If the tenant still will not provide their new address, then refer them to item 3 of the contract, where they agree you have 15 days after they vacate to return their deposit. Make sure they know you can’t return it to them, if you don’t know where to return it to. If tenant still refuses, then leave it alone. They’ll learn the hard way on checkout day, If you do it “my way”, you can rest assured they will “gladly and happily” provide it to you then. I can almost guarantee it.Finally, ask the tenant to please inform you at the earliest possible time, of the cutoff dates they arrange for the utilities that are in their name. Once you become aware of the cutoff dates for the electric, water and gas utilities if applicable, immediately contact the utility company and arrange for turn-on of that utility in your name. That changes the tenant’s cutoff request, to a transfer request and transfers the utility into your name on that date. Hopefully, with no interruption of service.Tenant Notice to VacateDate:____________________To: Landlord/Property Manager Please consider this my notice that I will be vacating my rental home located at ___________________________________________________on the _____ day of _________________________________, 20_________. My forwarding address will be:_____________________________________________________________________________________________.Sincerely,______________________________ ___________________________Tenant’s Signature Tenant’s SignatureHome PhoneWork Phone Cell PhoneTenant Notice of Desire to Renew LeaseDate:____________________To: Landlord/Property Manager Please consider this my notice that I desire to renew my lease for an additional year for the rental property I presently occupy at:__________________________________________________________________________________Please contact me at the property or phone number below, at your earliest convenience so we may arrange to review and execute a new lease agreement. Sincerely,______________________________ ___________________________Tenant SignatureTenant SignatureHome PhoneWork Phone Cell PhoneNOTICE OF TERMINATION OF TENANCY/LEASE AGREEMENTDate: ______________To: Tenant You are hereby notified that your tenancy lease agreement expires on _______________ and is hereby terminated on said date. To wit: <exact date here>. You are to remove yourself, all other occupants and your property from the property described as:Address of property here If you vacate the property before <date lease ends here> no portion of the agreed upon rent will be returned to you. If you vacate the property after <date lease ends here) then a prorated monthly rent will be due at the rate double your present monthly rent as permitted by law, of $56.00 per day. You will need to contact me at <phone number here> at least 24 hours before your last day of occupancy to schedule check-out procedures necessary for you to obtain any deposit refund you may be due.Landlord NameAddressPhone NumberI hereby acknowledge receipt and understanding of this notice on October 25th, 2012._________________________________Tenant Names listed here.Only one signature of any lease signer is required.The Final FlybyOn the final date the lease ends when you show up for the tenant’s checkout and final clearance, bring the following with you.One of your copies of the lease agreementOne of your copies of the Check In/Out formAll pictures that were taken during the check-in processOne copy of the key receipt with tenant’s original signatureSeveral pensFolding card tableSufficient chairs for all contract signers to have a place to sit.Digital CameraWhen you arrive, the tenant should have “EVERYTHING” out of the residence and at least loaded in their car or in the U-Haul trailer and ready to pull out of the driveway. So do an initial walk-through. Open every cabinet, drawer, door, cover, lid and closet. Vacating tenants always forget something. Your vacating tenant is no exception. They left something, so find it. Check the dishwasher.Once you’re sure the property is truly empty, take your copy of the Check In/Out form and both you and the tenants head outside and start reviewing everything on the checklist exactly as you did at check in. Keep in mind they’ve lived in this house for at least the last 12 months. So don’t expect “anything” to be in the same exact or pristine condition it was at check-in. You must allow for “normal wear and tear”. For example, the flower beds may have a few weeds in them. Big deal. You can tell they were maintained sufficiently during the tenant’s stay. Maybe the grass was cut every Saturday, and here it is Sunday (their check-out day) and it wasn’t cut yesterday. Hey, they’re moving! Besides, it’s apparent the grass was cut the previous week, as it’s only 4 inches tall. That’s fine. Besides, after they move you can bet this property will be vacant for at least another week, and you’d have to cut it again anyway, even if they did cut it just yesterday. In other words, don’t be an asshole. It’s just unrealistic to expect them to leave it in the same pristine condition it was when they moved in. They’ve probably spent most of the morning cleaning the filth out of their new residence so they can start moving in that afternoon. You just can’t expect a vacating tenant to have your house “move-in ready” when they vacate. You can expect:The carpets to be dirtyDeep impressions in the carpet or linoleum where furniture was placed.Walls to be dirty around door knobs and light switches, and where the couch wasDead bugs in the light covers“Small” holes in the walls where pictures were hangingSpackle patches in the walls where the vacating tenant filled holes larger than your pinkyA few weeds in the sidewalk cracksThose deck rails that were “lightly rusted” at check in, to be “moderately rusted” nowChipped off paint around the outside of the back doorDirty ceiling in the kitchen above the stove with hanging dust bunniesDirty ceiling around all central air ventsDirty filters in the kitchen stove exhaust that appears to have been periodically cleaned.Dust on top of the kitchen cabinets where you can reach and feel, but not seeCalcium build up and possibly a bit of deterioration around all water faucetsClogged shower headFootprints on the wall in the bedroom just above where the 4 year olds bed was.Rusty hinges on the medicine cabinet in the bathroomDiscolored and/or cracked caulk around tubs, sinks and toilets.Rusty toilet bolts where the 4 year old used the cover as a toy and lost itDirty baseboardsThe window sills to be very dusty, but not dirtyFilthy, but not cruddy, light switches and plugsVery dusty chandelier and ceiling fan in the dining roomAll the above and much, much more is “normal wear and tear”. Remember, your tenants are moving, and most likely, the place they’re moving to will take three days of cleaning before they can put their stuff in it.Yet on the other side of this coin, if you’ve done your checklist as depicted here, there are those things you should expect to be back to the same condition as they were at move-in, or as close to that condition as reasonably possible. For example, you can expect:Every appliance in the house to workEvery light bulb in the house to workEvery ceiling fan to work and all pull chains to be present and functionalEvery appliance light to workStove/oven to be pristine clean inside and out. But not the flip-it-on-it’s-back bottom.Refrigerator pristine inside and out, and the door seals cleaned, but not the cooling coils.Microwave clean inside and out with clean air intake filters (but not the exhaust filter)Front and inside dishwasher cleanTubs, sinks and toilets (not inside toilet tank) to be cleanFloor and wall behind and under refrigerator and stove to be clean, but not pristine.Cabinet sides next to stove to at least show an “attempt” to clean them prior to move-outThere’s more you can expect on this side of that coin. Just make sure it’s supported in your lease agreement, as well as on the checklist. Any discrepancies found for which you will be withholding any portion of the vacating tenant’s deposit, must be documented. You can write it on the back of the checklist itself. You should also take a picture of it to, in case there is a disagreement here, and it actually does end up in small claims court. I highly encourage taking pictures during the checkout process. If the vacating tenant decides to contest your findings later, they can. The picture will be worth a thousand words.Overall though, if you find a discrepancy which involves a withholding from the deposit, the tenants will most likely be in agreement and not have issue with it if you identify it properly, and it’s something that’s obvious the tenant is responsible for.For myself, a single broken overhead light cover that costs $10 to replace isn’t going to bother me. That broken $4 window blind in the kid’s room? I’ll just let it go and buy a new one later. But if they’ve taken every light bulb in the house or if every one of them are blown, (as I’ve had happen), they’re paying for it and I don’t care that it’s only $10 to do so.As an example, in the lease agreement contract provided here, see item 33. If during checkout I find the oven caked ? “ thick with baked on food deposits, it’s fair to say that’s going to be at least a two hour cleaning job, since I’ll most likely have to take it outside to ‘really’ clean it, as well as clean the floor, walls and cabinets below, behind and beside it. So I’m going to claim $36.00 from the deposit, plus the cost of any cleaning supplies I need to purchase for this job. Note that I cannot charge for cleaning supplies I may already have on hand.I will need to produce a receipt for all purchased supplies or other things necessary to return the oven to “a similar condition” of cleanliness and functionality that existed when the tenant moved in. Those receipts have to be dated on or after the date of the checkout. If it’s dated before, then the items on the receipt are considered to have been previously on hand and I can’t charge the tenant for them.When complete and all findings are documented on the back of the checklist, request the tenant to sign the back of every page of the checklist you have discrepancies written on. You only need any one of the contract signers to do this. If they refuse, it doesn’t matter. You have it documented on “your” copy of the checklist, and you have pictures too. Simply get the keys back from them, return the key receipt to them and send the tenant on their way.Generally though, if properly planned and executed, you can expect checkouts to be smooth. In fact, if there are not findings that require monetary compensation to the landlord, it’s no big deal to just write a check to the tenant on the spot and send them on their way. But I don’t recommend it, because you don’t know what else you may find after they’ve left and you’re preparing for a new tenant. After they’re gone, do another walk through to turn off all lights and appliances, batten down the hatches, lock the doors and leave. The real work starts tomorrow. But what if the tenant refuses to give you the keys until you return the deposit?State law dictates, when a residential rental lease agreement ends, or the tenant vacates the property, whichever is last, the landlord has 15 calendar days to effect and execute a “Resolution of Deposit”. Do everything possible to keep the conversation amicable as you let the tenants know that if they keep the keys, they have not completed the contractual requirements of item 8. Inform the tenant that for each day they keep the keys, you will charge a daily rent which is double the prorated monthly rent as permitted by state law, and will withhold that from their deposit as you pursue legal action in small claims court.Remember that Lawyer your tenant has already paid in advance for you? You’re not bluffing here. If it actually gets to this point, I’ve never had it, or evening heard of it continuing beyond it. They’ll give you the keys, their new address, and leave. Other possible scenarios you may experience at checkout, as well as how to handle them are covered later.After The Lovin’ Is OverOnce the tenant has departed, you still have to deal with the process of returning the deposit. Don’t just drop a check in the mail without some means of supporting whatever you may be withholding. Since it’s going to take you five days to turn this around for the next tenant, complete this process first. If you find something during the turnaround process, photograph it and document it. Then you can do a Resolution of Deposit when the property is once again move in ready.In most states, after the contract ends or the tenant vacates; whichever is last, you have 15 days to resolve the deposit. It’s referred to as Resolution of Deposit. It’s a simple document, and once completed should be mailed with the amount of deposit being returned if any. You need to mail it out in reasonable time so the prior tenant can receive it within that 15 day period.In many states, if the tenant disagrees with the resolution, they have 30 days to respond to the previous landlord and attempt to resolve any disagreements. After 30 days has passed and no disagreement action has been initiated, no further action can be taken.When you send the deposit, always do it via certified mail. You don’t need a receipt proving the prior tenant received it. You only need to prove you sent it. If the prior tenant did not provide you a forwarding address or just refused, then you must send it to the last known address. That would be the address of your property they just vacated. Still send it certified mail. For all you know, they have set up mail forwarding with the postal service. If the Resolution of Deposit is returned to you as undeliverable or unclaimed, do not open it. Just file it with your certified mail receipt. That way, if the prior tenant gets ugly and files in small claims court, you can let the judge open it.When it comes to the deposit amount, many states require that the landlord deposit it in a financial institution of the landlord’s choice. If the deposit is any type of financial vehicle that pays interest, that interest is the property of the tenants, and the total amount should be included in the Resolution of Deposit. For example, John Smith gives you a $1000 deposit and the $1000 first month’s rent. You, the landlord, go to the bank and open a savings account in the landlord’s name and deposit that $1000. Then you put the first month’s rent in a separate checking account used for the property’s income and expenses. The savings account pays 1% interest a year. That means after one year the savings account with the deposit in it has earned $10, making the amount of the Tenant’s deposit $1010.00. If the tenant will be receiving the entire deposit back, you pay $1010.00 to the vacating tenant. If you will be withholding $25 from the deposit, the vacating tenant will be returned $985.00, which is what’s left after deducting $25.00 from the amount of $1010.00 the tenant has on deposit at that time. Note that you don’t necessarily have to put that deposit in an interest bearing account. It could be a non-interest bearing account. However, if it’s a non-interest bearing account that charges monthly or quarterly maintenance fees or inactivity fees, those fees are paid by the landlord. They can not be deducted from the tenant’s deposit.You should also include a copy of all receipts for items purchased and services performed if not performed by you, to substantiate your claims. Receipts need to be dated on or after the date the tenant vacates. Those materials and supplies purchased prior to the tenant vacating are considered to be materials already on hand, and your state’s laws may not allow you to claim those expenses.For example, it is reasonable to expect that the 2 hours you spent cleaning the oven will not generate a receipt. However, the 2 cans of EZ-Off you used to clean it with need a receipt. Below is a sample Resolution of Deposit letter.Date: May 15, 2004To: Ronald R Reagan & Nancy Reagan 1600 Pennsylvania Drive Washington, D.C. 10100NOTICE OF CLAIM AGAINST SECURITY DEPOSITThis is a notice of my intention to impose a claim for damages against your security deposit of $1000.00 dollars as identified as being received by me in a residential lease for the property located at 123 Anystreet Blvd, St. Augustine, FL, 32084, in a contract dated 7 May 2003 and signed by you on said date, and terminated on 6 May 2004. 1.Yard work to cut grass, remove vines from fence, and weed Flowerbeds.$75.002.Damaged (3) and missing (2) window blinds.$19.253.Missing or blown overhead light bulbs (12 standard bulbs)$5.044.2 small and 2 large stove top grease catchers.$10.975.Kitchen/Laundry bi-fold door track damaged beyond repair.$13.486.Hallway smoke detector missing.$7.067.3 door stops (front door, Middle bedroom & master bedroom) broken.$5.948.2 cans of EZ-Off for cleaning oven$3.688.Labor for oven (2 hours @ $18/hr)$36.00TOTAL CLAIMED$176.46Deposit$1000.00Deposit Interest earned$10.00Remaining deposit balance$833.54TOTAL AMOUNT RETURNED TO YOU:$833.54 (Check enclosed)This notice is sent to you as required by F.S. 83.49(3). Any remaining balance of your deposit, with interest, is enclosed. You are hereby notified that if any amount is due in excess of your deposit, you must pay the amount due within 30 days from the date of this notice or I will pursue collection in a court of law. If you dispute the amount due you must object in writing within 30 days of the date of this letter. Your objection must be sent to Clint Eastwood, 4632 Legends Lane, Elkton Florida, 32033.Dated: May 15, 2004Clint EastwoodPro-SeTenant/Landlord Issues During OccupancyThere are any number of issues you may deal with during tenant occupancy. They may call saying the hot water isn’t working, or the faucet leaks, or they will be late making the upcoming rent payment. You the landlord may need to gain access for yearly servicing of the central air, or to have the property sprayed under contract. I cover the most common ones here.Tenant can’t pay rent on timeIf you haven’t noticed, in my contract the first seven items deal directly with the rent money. Note also that those seven items are all on page 1 of the document. I’ve designed my contract that way for a reason. Many renters don’t plan very well for emergencies, or don’t produce the income necessary for effective financial planning beyond the next payday. That’s just a fact of life with many renters. So get used to it. During the contract signing I have a bit of a speech I give as a transition from page 1 to page 2 of the contract. It goes something like this:“The important thing I emphasis here is that I understand things happen. If you have an emergency such as the car breaks down or some other financial emergency that’s going to make it difficult for you to pay the rent on time, then you need to call me as soon as you are aware of it. The sooner you call the better. If you notify me say, 10 days before the rent is due, there is a possibility we can work something out to get through it. If we can’t work something out, then you have time to traverse other avenues. However, if you wait until rent due day to call me, you can call. But don’t expect me to have the time to cover my financial obligations for which I depend on your rent payment. The number one thing you must remember is that COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY. If you call me early and I can’t work with you, it’s nice for you to know that so you have sufficient time work other arrangements and still meet your obligations to me. “With that in mind, it doesn’t matter if I’ve made the above comments or not at the contract signing. The most common call I get from tenants, is a heads up they’ve got an unexpected financial hardship, and want to work something out for that next rent payment. You’ll read references to the 3-day notice here. I explain that in further detail later when I go over the legal process of evicting a tenant when they don’t pay rent. But here are two ways I handle this, if I feel comfortable with the tenant and don’t want to lose them. Which method I use, depends on the tenant.Scene 1This utilizes a delayed 3-day notice and there’s no need to involve the lawyer. I’ll use this method for what I consider a good tenant. But they’ve been in my property less than a year. So I agree the tenant can pay the entire rent on the 15th. I also let them know I want that late fee too. Furthermore, I inform the tenant that I will be bringing him a 3-day notice 3 business days prior to the 15th. That way, if he doesn’t pay on the 15th, I can file at the courthouse on the 16th and get the ball rolling for eviction that much sooner. I’ll start where the tenant calls me on the phone.Tenant: Hey, my mother passed away and I’m helping the family with burial expenses. There was no life insurance. I really need to help with this, but if I do, I can’t pay the rent on the 1st. Can you let me delay and pay on the 15th?Landlord: Let me check my situation when I get home, and I’ll call you tomorrow.I will always make the tenant wait at least a day before I give an answer. Otherwise, they get the impression I’m growing twenty dollar bill tress in my back yard and have all this money. I don’t want to give an impression of “it’s no problem”, when in fact, it may be. When I call back the next day, it goes like this:Landlord: I’ve checked my own situation, and you’re really squeezing me here. However, I can do it, but it’s imperative you actually pay me the entire rent on the 15th. Since I’m helping you out here, I also expect the $50 late fee to be included. Is that a problem?Tenant: No problem at all. I really appreciate it.Landlord: Okay, I’m holding you to this. So what’s going to happen is this. Since the 15th is a Tuesday, I’ll be coming by your house on the 9th, which is Thursday, and delivering a 3-day notice to pay rent that was originally due on the 1st. Nothing personal, it’s just business and the way I do things. If you pay me on the 15th, then no problem. If you don’t, I’m giving you a heads up now, I can’t take any excuses. It will put me in such a financial bind, I’ll have no choice but to go to the courthouse and start the eviction process first thing Wednesday morning on the 16th. Understand that once I start the eviction process, it doesn’t stop until you are physically out of my property. I’m doing you a favor today, so if you don’t pay the rent on the 15th, I’ll be your worst nightmare you just can’t wake up from. Are we straight on that?Of course, the tenant will signify their understanding, and there’s no doubt they know I’m not playing games. By waiting until the 9th to deliver the 3-day notice, this keeps the lawyer out of this for the moment, doesn’t violate any terms of the contract, doesn’t require any addendums to the contract, and makes the 15th a “drop dead” date for the tenant to pay the rent. Since 3 days prior to the 15th must be business days, and the day you deliver the 3-day notice doesn’t count in the day count, I drop it off the day before, which is Thursday the 9th. That makes Friday day one. Monday is day two, and if not paid on Tuesday, I get the paperwork together. Wednesday morning head straight to the lawyer’s office for paperwork review, and then I should be filing at small claims court around 9am. Freddy Kruger lives again.Scene 2I’ll do this one for a tenant who’s been there for say, 3 years or more and has always displayed financial responsibility by paying the rent on time, every time. In other words, they’re a long term tenant and have never been late with rent. Not even once. Basically, rent is due on the 1st. On the 20th of the month the tenant calls me. The conversation goes like this:Tenant: Hey, my car broke down yesterday and was towed to the shop. The mechanic just called me about an hour ago and informed me I need my transmission rebuilt at a cost of $1200. My problem is that if I pay the repair, then I can’t pay the rent. Yet if I elect to pay the rent and delay fixing my car, I have no way to get to work. Co-workers will only go out of their way to transport me for so long. Since my wife works on the other side of town from me, and her hours are different, we can’t afford to pay the additional daycare costs for the kids that would be incurred if we do the vehicle swap with one car. Can we work something out with the rent for next month?Landlord: Thanks for calling as soon as you did. With this kind of notice, I may be able to work something out to help you, without hurting me too much. Where was your car towed to, if I may ask?Tenant: It’s at Joe Blow’s Automotive, just off highway 16. I normally drive by it on my way to and from work.Landlord: Yeah, they do good work there. You should be able to get your car back in 3-4 days. But I need time to look over my situation though to see if it’s even possible for me to help you out. I don’t think I can, but can I call you back tomorrow about this time?Tenant: Sure. I’d really appreciate it if you can help me out man – I’m in a real jam otherwise.What the tenant does not know, is that I can handle it with no issues. I have an emergency fund sufficient to make 2 mortgage payments on that property if there’s no rental income. This emergency fund is for my emergency use – not my tenant’s emergencies. My tenant doesn’t need to know this either. If I just allow him to be late; say until his 15th of the month payday, then what’s to say he won’t do it again under the premise of “He let me be late before, therefore I can probably do this again.” I don’t want to give this tenant the impression this is a situation I normally accept. I also want to inconvenience the tenant as they are inconveniencing me. Yet I do it in a way that doesn’t exacerbate the tenant’s financial hardship either.For starters, I will personally visit the shop where his car is to confirm it is in fact there. That’s easy to do since I got a copy of his registration when they signed the lease. So if it’s there and the tenant is in fact telling me the truth, the next day I call the tenant back and the conversation goes like this:Landlord: Hey, I’ve had time to look at my own situation. If you’ll recall when you signed the lease I did tell you I depend on that rental income to make my mortgage payment on that house. My problem is, if I let you delay the rent until the 15th, there’s no way I can make my mortgage payment on time. I’ll incur late fees and a hit on my credit report. As per our rental agreement, fees I incur because of late rent are passed on to you. I’m just not willing to do that at this time. However, based on your payment history with me, if you can pay me $400 of that rent on the 1st when due, then I can manage to scrape enough together to make my mortgage payment on time. Will that help you out? Maybe the repair shop will work with you on a split payment for your repairs?Tenant: It’ll be tight, but I believe I can do that. Landlord: Well, your situation is making it just as tight for me too. But I can somewhat identify with what you’re going through; especially with those two kids. How about this? Since your rent is normally $900 a month and you’re paying me $400 for this month that leaves you $600 short. To help you recover, for the next three months following this one, you’ll pay $1100 a month. That way, you can spread out the additional $600 over 3 months. How does that sound? Tenant: WOW! Great! I was expecting to have to pay the remaining $600 on the 15th. This makes it easier on me and my 7 year old can keep her piano lessons. Landlord: Glad to help out. However, since I’m going to be crunched by doing this for you, that means we’re basically making a temporary alteration to the lease agreement we both signed. If you recall, item 35 of our agreement says no changes are allowed unless in writing. I’m also going to need to collect that $50 late fee you agreed to in item 2 of the agreement. Lawyers aren’t free. To keep us both straight on this, I’m going to have my lawyer draft up an addendum to our lease agreement. So do you just want to tack that $50 fee for the lawyer onto the 4th month rent payment, making that one payment $950?Tenant: Sure! Works for me! When can I expect you to come by with the agreement?Landlord: Just call me when you have the $400 and make sure your wife is home. Since she signed the lease agreement also, she and you both will have to sign the addendum with me. Then you pay me the $400 and we’re good. Tenant: Okay! See you then.After finishing that conversation, I will do my best to draw up the addendum agreement to the lease agreement. Then I’ll call the Lawyer (the one the tenant pays for me every month out of his rent payment) and make a quick 15 minute appointment with him for the same or next day. I’ll take the addendum and the original lease to the lawyer to review. He’ll review it, make his pen and ink recommendations to make the addendum airtight legal in line with what the original agreement allows. Basically I want the addendum to be enforceable same as the lease. So if the tenant doesn’t pay me the $1100 in full, I can treat it exactly for what it is in the legal system; non-payment of rent. Here’s your 3-day notice.Then I go home, make the recommended changes to the addendum, print sufficient copies so that all signers will get their own original, and I get 2 originals. Then I wait for the tenant to call me to say he’s got the $400 as agreed. Central Air not workingThis isn’t so bad when it happens in the summer, unless you’re renting to an older couple who just can’t take the heat. It can be really bad in the dead of winter though. Tell the tenant to switch it to emergency heat, as you showed them how during the check in process. If that works, you need to contact a repair service as soon as possible, and have this problem taken care of immediately. This can’t wait. If the emergency heat does not work, then you need to call your repair service and let them know it’s an emergency. You’ll probably pay more for the immediate response. But this is an emergency and you are obligated by the lease agreement to respond in a reasonable time, based on the severity of the emergency. No heat in the dead of winter is a fairly severe emergency. If it’s a weekend or late hours and there’s no way you can get someone out to handle the emergency immediately, then put your space heaters in the car and head over to the property. I usually keep two electric space heaters in my garage, just in case. They’re adequate enough to heat a bedroom. So the parents can have one, and the kids can just double up in one bedroom for the night and sleep warm. Then first thing the next morning I get a repairman out there.Burst water pipeYou can expect the tenant to be in a bit of panic when they call about this one. First thing is to calm them down. Then remind them where the main water cutoff is for the house. You showed them this during the check in process. Have them cut the water off. Then get a plumber out there as soon as possible. If it’s after working hours, they’ll be fine until you get a plumber out there in the morning. If it’s a weekend, you can’t wait until Monday. Do whatever is necessary to get a plumber out there fast. Your tenants absolutely must have water.If it’s the hot water heater, then after calming your tenant down remind them about the cutoff valve on the cold water side of the hot water heater. Have them turn that off. They’ll still have cold water. But you still need to treat this as if they have no water at all. If they have small kids, they need hot water. So make the calls necessary and get it fixed as soon as possible.No hot waterThis is a common one. It’s not a burst pipe. The hot water heater just isn’t heating the water. If it’s an electric water heater, have tenant flip the breakers for it off and back on. Then tell them to call you back in 20 minutes if still no hot water. If the breaker flip doesn’t do it, then the heating element in the hot water heater is burnt out. Call a plumber for this. It only takes them about 15 minutes to replace a heating element. If it’s an LP or NG gas heater, have the tenant confirm the LP tanks aren’t empty. If they are empty, that’s a tenant issue since they pay for gas. If the tanks aren’t empty and the pilot light won’t light, don’t take any chances. Call the gas man and have them check it out. The gas extruder may be clogged. If so, this can actually cause an explosion. So have the gas man check this. It’s just not worth the risks and liabilities you incur by letting your tenant do it, or doing it yourself.Refrigerator not working, or not getting coldIf you get this call, it’s because you have one of those energy sucking styles with the heat dissipation coils on the back. I warned you this would happen. You have 24 hours to get it fixed, or get a new one and get it in place for your tenant to utilize. You should also reimburse the tenant for the replacement cost of any spoiled food.Stove not workingIf there are at least two burners on the stove working, you have 5 calendar days to get it fixed. If nothing on the stove works, you have 24 hours. If it’s a gas stove, once you confirm the gas tanks aren’t empty, have a professional check it out. It’s usually clogged gas vents and they need a professional cleaning to get all the grease out of those vents. Try doing it yourself and you may have an explosion later. The pros have the tools necessary to property clean the vents. You don’t. For an electric stove, it’s usually the thermostat or temperature control unit behind the knob for that burner. A repairman can have that fixed in less than 15 minutes. If it’s the entire stove, it might be more economical in the long run, to just buy one of those new glass top stoves to replace it. Dishwasher not workingThis is a convenience item, and has no real deadline. But at the most, you should be able to get this rectified within 30 days. I have found it more economical to just buy a new one, as cheap as they are nowadays. Paying the repairman to fix the broken one isn’t that much cheaper than just buying a new one and installing it myself. Don’t Feed The Sharks!Application Scams and How They WorkStupid people do stupid things. Smart people don’t get caught. When you read or hear “Scam of the Century” you think of Barney of course. Barney Madoff isn’t stupid. In fact, it is with a degree of reluctance that I openly admit I have a high level of admiration for good ole Barney. Scam of the Century isn’t the correct term. If those high priced lawyers and other government officials with their Harvard Law degrees would take the time to actually utilize one of those brain cells between their ears, they’d know the correct term is “Shark of the Millennium” He’s absolutely brilliant. Barney Madoff is without question, the best shark out there since man first stood upright and walked this planet. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, he’s still in a feeding frenzy too!He didn’t turn himself into the authorities because he knew he was about to be caught. He wasn’t anywhere close to being caught, and knew it. It was all part of the plan - his retirement plan. Why else do you think his own son turned him in? Barney asked him to! Barney didn’t steal other people’s money because he needed it. The man was already rich! Other people’s money was (and still is) just a toy he played the game board with.He stole their money because he likes to play. For him, it was, and still is a game. Other people’s money was his game piece, the stock market his game board and the world of finance, his ocean. Now, the federal correctional complex in Butner, North Carolina where he’s incarcerated is his SeaWorld. His remaining years are financed by…… other people’s money! Bernard Madoff spent his entire adult life laughing all the way to the bank. Now he spends his golden years at SeaWorld in his own private shark tank giggling - all the way to the grave. Brilliant!Many renters are smart too. Below is a collection of experiences I’ve collected over the years. All of them are true. The names have been changed because the law says even stupid people have a right to privacy. Go figure. I personally have never experienced any of the below – at least not to the degree presented here. All stories are from the landlord’s perspective and show how using my methods protected them. The first one, “Logan’s Run”, is named after a popular TV show of the early 70’s, because the name fits. It really happened to a friend of mine, and shows what I consider a worst case scenario. This is what can occur if you don’t educate yourself and exercise prudence and common sense.Logan’s RunMy new bride and I purchased out first home in 1993 on a standard 30 year mortgage. Nice 2 bedroom 1 ? bath place. In 1995 I finished my night schooling and got my contractor’s license. I started my own construction business out of that house later that same year. In early 1996 I quit with the construction company I was working for and took my business full time. Business was booming. Towards the end of 2008 when the housing market started falling of its cliff, it was no real issue for me really. Even though business dropped dramatically, the wife and I had a few 5 figure bank accounts for a rainy day fund.Since things had slowed down for me, my wife didn’t need to spend so much time in the office doing paperwork. So shortly before Christmas 2008 she went out and found another job that produced sufficient income to reduce the dropping economy’s impact on the lifestyle we had become accustomed to. As for our existing mortgage, we were 16 years into it. Prior to 2008 we had quite a bit of equity in it, as its value had risen appreciably since we bought it in 1993. But by the start of 2009, that equity was almost nil. At least we weren’t upside down though. By the middle of 2009 the “Bank Owned Foreclosure Sale” signs were popping up all over – many of them on house’s I’d built.In my eyes, the current economic downturn was an opportunity. To make a long story short, I ended up buying a 4 bedroom 2 bath house I had build in 1997, for half the price it cost me to build it. I figured I’d just sell the 1st house before I went underwater with it, and then in 8-10 years when the economy recovered I could make a real financial killing by staying in the current house a few years beyond the recovery, until the kids were grown and gone. Then sell it for a windfall and buy something smaller for the wife and I to retire in.After moving, we put the first house on the market where it stayed for six months. Nobody was even making offers. They didn’t need to, since they could get better houses at foreclosure prices that were significantly less than I owed on my house.Basically, that first house was now underwater – and deep. Didn’t hurt us financially though. Even though my business had slowed, the wife’s income kept us afloat quite comfortably through those six months we had it on the market. In an effort to at least get “something” out of that first house, I decided to rent it out. Looking back now, I know I made the right decision. However, my execution of that decision was absolutely stupid.Figuring my experience as a “contractor” was sufficient knowledge for playing the landlord role, I sat down and drew up a simple rental contract. It was nothing fancy, just front and back of a single piece of paper. The wife and I spent the weekend cleaning it and getting it to what we felt was rent ready. Then stuck a FOR RENT sign in the front yard and waited.Two days later I get a call from a fairly experienced couple with no kids, who wanted to see the house and were “very interested” in renting it. During the tour they commented about how perfect it was for them, close to their jobs, shopping, and how nice the neighborhood was. This couple appeared to be in their late 30’s or early 40’s and childless. They stated that they didn’t use credit cards or checking accounts because they didn’t believe in credit, and wanted to know if cash payment for rent was okay. Of course it is!I met them the next day at the property with my contract. They signed it and paid the first month’s rent. Due to my inexperience on either side of that leasing fence, I never asked for a deposit. As a contractor, financing has never been my issue. It’s always something the homebuyer I’m building for deals with. I just get the call from the bank that the funds are approved and the first installment has been released and deposited to my account. I can then buy materials and start building. So deposits were things I never dealt with, since I didn’t buy construction supplies with my money in advance of the buyer obtaining financing.After the lease signing, I took their money and departed. Later that day, I drove by and saw there was a large U-Haul trailer backed into the driveway all the way up to the garage door. Figured they must be hauling all their furniture in through the garage. It would be easier through the front door in my opinion. But hey, if that’s their way of doing things, so be it.My wife’s employment required her to drive to work every day passing within about 6 blocks of the house. So for that first week, she made it a point to drive by and see how it was going, what they were doing in the yard and things like that. During that week when she’d come home, she mentioned that the U-Haul was still parked in the driveway up against the garage. By the time she reported the same thing on Wednesday, I did think it rather odd that it was taking in excess of three days to unload their furniture. But it was a rather large U-Haul after all. To each their own I guess. My wife did no drive-bys over the weekend since she didn’t go to work. But upon returning home that next Monday, she reported the U-Haul was gone. I asked if she saw either of their cars there, and she replied no. However, the garage door was closed, so there was a possibility one of the cars was in the garage, and maybe the other hadn’t got home from their work yet, or possibly they were out for the evening. My wife did no more drive-bys after that.The next month was July 2010. On July 1st. I didn’t think to get phone numbers from them at the time they rented the property. Mail wasn’t delivered on July 5th of that year. Since the 4th was a holiday and on a Sunday, I figured the rent would be in the mail. Then on Monday the 5th while I was enjoying a day off from my business, I recalled they didn’t use checks, and preferred cash. Allowing for the possibility they were out of town celebrating the 4th of July with relatives or friends elsewhere, I decided to stop by Tuesday evening to collect the rent payment. I stopped by on Tuesday about 4pm and the house was locked up tight. All the blinds in the front and side were closed to. What I really noticed is that the rain gutter over the front door was gone. What’s going on? Ringing the doorbell resulted in nothing. I could “swear” that when I lived here, if you stood at the front door and ringed the doorbell, you “just could” here it from out there. So hearing nothing, I knocked on the door. After about 5 minutes, I figured no one was home and planed to drop by around dusk when “for sure” someone would be there. In addition to getting the next month’s rent, I wanted to know what happened to the 5 foot long rain gutter over the front porch.I returned that evening just after dusk, so it had “just got dark”. Not a single light appeared to be on in the house, and the blinds were still closed. I beat on the front door, then went around and did the same for a few minutes on the back door. As I was walking around to the front of the house, I stepped on something next to the house in the side yard. I picked it up and continued walking around front so I could see what it was in my car headlights. It was the plastic cover for the telephone interface on that side of the house. That really had me perplexed now.I went back to the front door and proclaimed loudly that I was entering with my key as I knocked on it in a final attempt to confirm no one was home. Then I opened the door and looked. In the sidelight glare from my headlights, I could see the main living room was empty. No furniture or anything. I flipped the light swich on, but no light. It didn’t work. Perplexed, and concerned for my safely if I continued into this dark house with no light, I closed the door and departed with the intent to return first thing in the morning and see what was going on here. I was so stupid, I still didn’t realize what was happening.The next morning I arrived at first light. The first thing I did was walk around to the side of the house to look at the power meter. The wheel in the meter wasn’t moving one iota. I thought that was weird; the clocks on the microwave and stove draw power. I went to the front door and knocked for a good 10 minutes, figuring it would take a bit to wake someone up at 6am. No answer. Whet back and checked the power meter again. Still hadn’t moved one iota.I entered the house through the front door and what I saw made my heart sink. I instantly knew that whatever names I had on my contract with these people were fake. I’d never asked for ID. Every electrical outlet, light switch and overhead fixture was gone. It wasn’t ripped out either. All had been carefully removed. Only the empty electrical box in the wall was all that remained of each plug, switch and overhead light. It was the same for every room I passed by walking through the house. In the kitchen, every appliance was gone, having been carefully uninstalled and removed. Then I noticed the attic door on the floor of the master bedroom. Looking in the closet, I could see the attic was open.So I went out to the truck and got my ladder. This time, I had a flashlight. Looking in the attic I found every electrical wire and phone wire was gone. I instantly knew why I had stepped on that phone cover in the side yard last night. I also understood why the power meter wasn’t moving. Finally, I realized why it took them a week to move in.That U-Haul wasn’t in the driveway backed up to the garage for a week so they could unload their furniture. It was there so they could load my stuff in it, without being seen and take their own sweet time doing it. These people were professionals. Me? Shark bait. Heck, in the garage they had even taken the time to carefully unscrew every wire in the breaker box to pull the wires out in the attic. They also removed all the breakers and the very box that contained it., Only the 3 240V wires from the power meter were left hanging in the wall. It’s a fair bet they were still “hot” too. (learned later they were.)After calling the police and filing the report, I contacted my insurance company later that afternoon. I met the adjuster there, and after doing the walk through and report for my claim with him, learned more bad news. Insurance wasn’t paying a dime. I had no clue I needed to convert my homeowner’s insurance policy to a rental dwelling policy. Since leased property is considered a business, homeowner’s insurance doesn’t cover “client theft”. So I was left holding the bag on this one.My cost of repair of this entire property was approximately $20,000. That’s the contractor’s price. Thankfully, I’m a contractor. If I was paying the normal consumer price on this, the cost would be closer to $75,000. They took everything metal, including the rain gutters. It took me 9 months to acquire the money and materials necessary to get this property live in ready again, but I did it.Now, I’ve learned and have an experienced personal friend who is my partner now. He’s assisting and teaching me the ropes of leasing residential real estate. He’s given me a somewhat private nickname, which he only calls me because he knows it gets under my skin. I now understand why crocs don’t swim in the open ocean. It drives me nuts when he calls from across a crowded room, “Hey! Baitman!”. Don’t feed the sharks.The Devil’s AdvocateI personally experienced this one during the course of writing this book. This is where an applicant preys upon your religious beliefs to gain your trust. They portray and present themselves as being “of the faith”. But their real faith is in the almighty dollar when you get down to it. They may be trustworthy, but do you want to risk it?I showed the house to a perspective couple who claim to be unemployed chefs and had come to Florida from Virginia Beach 4 months ago. They said they were staying with her brother while looking for work and a place to live. They are not married, but have the wedding already set for September this year. They both appear to be in their early to mid 30's. They arrived in the brother's truck - a real "Texas Cadillac" piece of junk, if you know what I mean. Her brother drove them to the house. The male applicant stated their combined unemployment was $2700/month. That seems to me to be a bit high for 2 unemployed chefs with no children to support. But for Virginia Beach, that amount may be the norm.The woman claims to have two college age kids from a previous marriage who are actively in college, and one of them is doing so on a student exchange program in France. The other is attending medical school to be a doctor. So let's see, a woman who appears to be in her early to mid 30's claiming to have two kids in college at the same time, from a previous marriage. If her appearance reflects her true age, that means she had to be married and give birth when she was no more than 16 years old. Okay, I’ll buy that. I don't know many mothers who gave birth in their teen years with kids in college; and two of them at the same time. But it is possible.The couple also stated they were staying with her brother on the more shady side of town, and this just wasn’t a desirable area for them. The woman claimed the hard well water was playing havoc with her skin and hair, and she just wanted to get away from it and into a better area. Furthermore, they stated that since the kids were grown and just about gone, they wanted to find a place for long term, to spend their days together for the rest of their lives. They seem rather young for that kind of comment, but what landlord doesn’t want a long term renter in their property?They really liked the house, and especially expressed an appreciation for the kitchen since they both like to cook. When asked about the move-in process and requirements, I showed and explained the application process. The woman wanted to fill out the application right away. On my way back to my truck to get a pen, the male applicant followed me.While at the truck, he started by saying he wanted to talk with me "privately". He again expressed their present state of unemployment and their combined unemployment income of $2700/mo and assured me that paying the deposit and first month's rent would not be "any problem what-so-ever". He further stated that as "a man of God" he could see and was confident the good lord was blessing them with finding this property and had sent them to me, and was turning their situation into a blessing, slowly but surely. He then went on to explain that they would have to return the application on Friday, when they got their next unemployment checks, as this close to the end of the month they just didn't have the $50 necessary for the application fee yet. I didn't bother to mention it was $50 each; therefore their application fee was $100. So he stated they would just take the application with them and return it to me with the application fee on Friday the 1st."No problem - I understand" was my reply. So I walked with him back into the house where we finished up this tour and they got in the brother's truck and left. One thing that really caught my attention with their departure was when the brother was cranking up this Texas Cadillac. It barely turned over. I started heading to my truck with the intention of getting my jumper cables out, when it finally caught, started, and they pulled away and left. After locking everything up, I got in my own truck and headed home. On my way back to my house, here's what I was thinking. - "BOTH" have been unemployed chefs for 4 months. - Not once did anyone ask if the property had city or well water. - Combined $2700/mo unemployment income - They have a wedding planned for Sept. Weddings aren't free last I checked. - Not one, but TWO kids in college, with one overseas and the other in medical school. (8 years last I checked) - For the last four months, how have they been paying those college expenses not covered by tuition and grants? Student loans maybe. But no clarification was offered even though I didn’t inquire. - They did not arrive for the house tour in vehicles they own. So do they even have cars? - If they don't have cars, how did they both get here from Virginia Beach 4 months ago? Certainly not in that Texas Cadillac they came to the tour in. - If they do have cars, why did they not drive themselves to this viewing? Car broke down maybe? No explanation offered even though I didn’t ask. - During the tour, there was no mention of looking for work, or if they had even been trying. - If their combined monthly unemployment income is $2700/mo and they’ve been unemployed for four months, how can they possibly pay for two kids in college, transportation, deposit/first months rent, food, the wedding in September, and anything else you can think of?Something's wrong here, and this couple is hiding something from the get-go. So I decided that when they call me on Friday to arrange returning the application and application fee (which they think is $50) I'm just going to express my concerns and send them on their way.On Thursday, Jan 31st the male called at 12:30pm to arrange to meet somewhere and turn in the completed application and fee. I instantly knew, this is a casting call. How can he be turning in the application with fee, if he's not received his unemployment yet? The only reason for doing so is because they've got all the players lined up earlier than they thought they could do it, and want to get this performance over with. The conversation went like this: Applicant: Hey, my brother offered to loan me the $50 application fee on our way home yesterday and I'll just pay him back tomorrow when I get my unemployment check. Where can I meet you to pay and return our completed application? Me: Hi Jim, I've thought about it, and I've decided to not accept an application from you. I'm just not comfortable with renting to someone who doesn't have a job yet. Applicant: But I told you yesterday by the truck (referring to our "private" conversation) that it was no problem, God has given me a sign and he'll take care of it. We've been looking for work, and with the guidance of the good Lord, he'll send us to the right place in due time. So you really don't need to have any worry about that. Trust in the Lord, and he'll care for you as he has for us. Me: Jim, we share the same faith and belief, though I may not be as deep or dedicated a follower as you. However, you've been unemployed the four months you’ve been here. You have no verifiable source of income. With unemployment, that could stop next month for all I know. If I get into a position where I have to take legal action to get rent from you, the law says I can't touch government benefits - like your unemployment. I'm sorry, but I'm just not comfortable even accepting an application from you at this time. Besides, you didn't even arrive yesterday in your own vehicles, which tells me you have none. To be honest with you, it makes me wonder just how you're getting out there to find work. Applicant: Carl, we really like this place and I give you my assurances we can and will pay the rent - it's no problem! If you share the same trust in the Lord, can't you show some compassion for a fellow follower of the flock? Me: Jim, while we both agree that In God We Trust, for me, all others I verify. I'm sorry, but you have no assets I can verify you own, like cars, and you have no verifiable source of income that I believe you will be able to retain during the full tenure of a lease. Unemployment benefits don't last forever, and we both know it. Basically, you need to have jobs in this town for at least 3 months, before any landlord I know will even consider you as a prospective tenant. So let me quit wasting your time so you can get out there and continue your endeavors in a more productive manner. Continuing this conversation is definitely non-productive for either of us, so have a nice day.With that, we amicably ended the conversation and terminated the phone call. With further hindsight, here are a few other things that just don’t seem right about this couple.For starters, if I don’t have a job “and” a place to live, my first priority is employment. So why is this couple more interested in finding a place to live, yet appear to be expressing no concern for getting a job to produce their own income?Yesterday when this trio arrived for the tour, the male applicant exited the passenger side of the vehicle and introduced himself. His fiancé exited from the back seat, and he introduced her as his fiancé. He then introduced the driver of the truck as his brother-in-law. There are two problems with this.If he’s not married yet, then why did he introduce the driver as his brother-in-law? Wouldn’t it be his “future” brother-in-law? Either way, that makes the driver the brother of his fiancé, and that brings to light the second problem.The fiancé’s ethnicity is obviously of mixed race, leaning about 70% towards the Caucasian side. Her “brother” is clearly African American. While it’s perfectly possible they each may have a different mother and share the same father, or vice-versa, if they really are bother-sister, they’ve been experiencing this “confusion” their entire lives growing up. So even though I didn’t ask, why was no explanation offered in anticipation of me asking?When the male applicant called me just now, he referred to his brother as having “offered to loan me the money on our way home yesterday”. This clearly indicates he was referring to the driver that bought them to the viewing as being his brother. Yet upon arriving for the tour yesterday, he introduced him to me as his brother-in-law. There’s something wrong.It's apparent to me now, that chances are extremely high there's some kind of scam going on here. I don't know for sure what it is and really don't care. These folks in my book are what I refer to as sharks. I believe their reference to a long term lease that insinuated they wanted my property to be the last place they rent, is the hook. They were attempting to use my religious beliefs as their gator bait on that hook. Don't feed the sharks.The Casting CallI have a current tenant renting from me who has been very good and long term. she is moving soon and sent me an email that she had a friend, Stacey, that was interested in the place. She stated that the friend had bad credit but a good rental history. I told her to give this person my info and let them contact me.I spoke with Stacey and she said that they are currently subletting and living with someone temporarily but need to be out at the end of May. I informed her that my current tenant is not moving until mid June and the earliest it would be available would be July 1. She stated that she did not think it would be a problem she has somewhere she can move for a month if needed.I went over her family situation and discussed the fact that she has 3 kids and this is only a 3 BR home. She assured me it was not a problem because they are currently sharing only 2 bedrooms. After we got off the phone I realized that I had forgotten to ask her about pets, so I emailed her and asked if she had any. Stacey responded as follows: “I have a Chihuahua but believe me we can get rid of her (we love her but my kids come first) if no pets allowed we just got her or can pay pet deposit.” I was not in a hurry to send her an application because of the amount of time I had until the current tenant was out. Stacey emailed me the next morning saying she had not received an application and wanted me to go ahead and send it – which I did. One week went by without hearing from her – which I thought was odd because she was in such a hurry to get it. She finally emailed and asked how she should get the application fee to me and I told her to mail the application along with the fee. I received this the very next day in the mail.On reviewing her application, I thought it was odd that she had listed a property she rented 3 years before and “did not recall” the landlord’s name or contact information. She also did not list how long she lived there. I started getting suspicious about the application in general and decided to try to do some research ahead of running her credit report. The woman that she listed that she was currently subletting from was Cathy. I looked Cathy up on directory assistance dot com and found that the address listed there was different. I called the number provided on the application and Cathy answered. I asked if this was the Cathy that lived at said address (I stated the address I had found online). The woman’s demeanor changed and she got angry and asked what business I had calling her. I identified myself and told her I was calling her for a reference. She kept saying that she didn’t know what business I had with her and until I identified myself, she wasn’t going to give me any information. This did not make sense to me because I had told her who I was, but I did not tell her who it was I wanted a reference on. She was acting very strange and angry so I decided to say goodbye and get off the phone with her without continuing this conversation.After I got off the phone, I decided to get on Facebook to see if I could glean any new info. I looked up Stacey and low and behold, Cathy was listed there as her sister. I thought this was odd that she had not mentioned she was subletting from her sister…. It would not be unusual these days for folks to be living with a family member… although I was still uneasy about the listed address for Cathy versus what Stacey had provided on the applicationI went to the next property on the list which would have been Stacey’s previous residence. This one Stacey had told me that she and the landlord agreed to part ways because the landlord was not paying the HOA fees and that the homeowner’s association had tried to get them (the tenant) to pay them and Stacey said she did not want to be in the middle of the situation.At first I very much doubted this scenario as I know the HOA fees are responsibility of the property owner and should never affect the tenant… However I researched on the internet and found where my state put into law in 2010 that HOAs and Condo associations are allowed to demand rent from a tenant to take care of delinquent HOA fees. In other words, they would request the tenant pay the rent to the HOA and not the landlord.With this in mind, I assumed that this was indeed the situation that had taken place with Stacey and her family… so I called the contact information I was given on the application for Gail and Darryl who were the property owners and landlords. I got a voice mail so I left a detailed message and said what I was calling about etc. The next property on the application is the one that Stacey “did not recall” the info. So I went on to the property appraisers website and found the name/address of the owner there. I searched them on directory assistance but they did not have a listed number (this is happening more often due to folks only having cell phones and not a home phone). After thinking about the situation with the sister and my doubts about her “not recalling” this info, I decided to do something I have never done before… (and especially because I had extra time in this case)I got on the county property appraisers website and searched both of the previous addresses on the application to get the property owner’s name and current mailing address. This address is pretty reliable because it is where the tax bills are sent each year. I hand wrote a letter to both property owners asking them to call me on my cell in reference to the rental application for Stacey. I attached a copy of the page that Stacey had signed releasing any information to me. I mailed both letters out right away.Over the weekend there was a return call from Gail – Stacey’s previous landlord. She was returning my call and stated that Stacey was a great tenant and that they had parted ways because of the HOA fees and that they were in good standing. She said if I needed to call her back to discuss further, please do. So now I’m thinking – OK I guess I’m just paranoid about people and these are perhaps some good tenants that just got into a weird situation?The next day, I received a call from Darryl (Gail’s Wife) in response to my mail out last Friday. I told him that I was sorry if I had duplicated and that his wife Gail had already called. He seemed surprised and asked how I would have gotten her number. I stated the number to him off the application and he started laughing out loud.Darryl said “first of all I want to tell you how smart you are for having done what you did. That was not my wife that called you. These people are your worst nightmare. I had to go through the entire court eviction process to get them out for non-payment of rent and then when I got the place back, I found out that they had 2 large dogs there that were unauthorized and my carpets were destroyed. Also there were holes all over the place in the sheetrock and the dogs had chewed up the moldings as well. There was an issue with the HOA, but it was not non-payment of the fees, it was because these tenants would not keep the yard cut. They let it go so bad that when they left, we had to replace the sod in its entirety. They never once changed the a/c filter and we had to purchase a new unit….” There was more.After this conversation, I really felt stupid because if I would have gone on the county clerk’s website, I would have seen the eviction myself and not even gone through this process. After I got off the phone with him, I went to the clerk’s website and found the eviction judgment. I sent the applicant an email as follows: “I just heard back from the company that does my background checks and I am going to have to decline your application due to an eviction that is in the public records of the county where you recently resided. I will mail your check back to you. Good luck with you search for a new home”Shortly after this I received a response as follows: “Thank you for your consideration. Just to clarify it is a $40 filing fee under judgments for the Clerk of Courts. We were not evicted they just wanted us to leave if we were not going to pay the Home Owners Association. So they filed and the cost of filing was $40. I just wanted to be open and honest like I said I would when you and I initially spoke. One question if we can get that satisfied would you consider us? Again if not I understand. “Unbelievable right???? open and honest…..So today, I also heard from another previous landlord whom I had contacted using contact information from the property ownership records. He had a very similar story. He also added that they were in a duplex townhome and he had to hear from the neighbor almost daily about the screaming, fighting and constant problems next door.In the future, I am not even going to process an application until after I have checked all the nearby county websites to check for evictions. I am also going to make contact with and do mail outs to previous landlords based on the tax assessor’s website unless I can confirm the information by some other means (directory assistance). It really only took a few days and frankly it’s worth the extra time. If anybody is in that much of a hurry to move, then there is usually a problem.In looking back on all this, I realize that my first clue should have been when it took this lady a week to get her application to me. Of course it took a week! She had to have a casting call to get all the parts lined up on her end for this big production to make her look like a good tenant. The only honesty on this application appears to be the name Stacey. Everything else was a calculated and contrived bunch of lies. Don’t feed the sharks!In My Father’s FootstepsI received an application from a 27 year old divorced man with two grade school children. He also informed me his mother lived with him. While working, his mother watched the children. Confirmed previous landlord names and employment business names existed by researching tax records on web site. Where they didn’t match, I used phone numbers I could confirm.Called current landlord, and they seemed surprised to learn their tenants were moving. Nothing unusual, I’ve seen this numerous times. But things checked out to my satisfaction. Called previous landlord and received a great reference from them. Visited current employer and confirmed employment. Overall though, I got the impression this applicant would probably stagnate with this employer. Since previous employer was in another state, I called via phone (using confirmed phone number for business) and confirmed applicant’s reasons for leaving that job. All was good.Next, as a confirmation check, I mailed a letter to both current and previous landlords along with a copy of the application, asking them to please call my cell phone as confirmation it was them I really talked to. Three days later the previous landlord called and informed me that yes, it was him I talked to. However, the applicant on the application was not who they had rented to. It was his father. Seems the applicant, Carl Jr., was using the former landlord of his father. Later that night, I got a call from the current landlord who told me the same thing. Now I see why he seemed so surprised his tenants were moving. The fact is, they’re not moving. The applicant’s father is remarried and living there. He was using his father’s information since the fathers name was Carl Sr. and the applicant was Carl Jr.I then called the previous employer and after obtaining a fax number I faxed them the application. The Previous employer confirmed that my applicant had never worked for him, but his father had. Now I know this applicant has stolen his own father’s identity. My bet is, the SSN on the application belongs to his father too. But at this point, we’re done. No need to waste money pulling credit.I called applicant and informed him that I was unable to verify his information and therefore he should go elsewhere. When he threatened to call the law if I didn’t return his application fee, I told him to go ahead and do so. I never heard from this person again. Scammers don’t call the cops, so I knew better. I did make 44 dollars off his $50 application fee though, since I paid postage for the mail outs.From now on, in addition to initial phone calls, I will always do mail outs. I’m sending them registered mail to, so I know for a fact that the “real” current/previous landlord, as well as current/previous employer is the one who receives the letter. Don’t feed the sharks!Live! At The Opry!A 23 year old couple called to enquire, and then wanted to schedule a viewing appointment. I did the initial interview on the phone to see if a viewing appointment was worthwhile. They claimed they were an unmarried couple that had been together 4 years and had 2 pre-school kids. Unmarried couples even with kids aren’t that uncommon nowadays.The father claimed he worked on the production floor of a local manufacturing facility, and the mom claimed she never worked, having been a stay-at-home mom since the kids were born. During the interview, it sounded like they were in a car, as I could hear young kids that seemed close by. After confirming they were in fact, in front of the rental property I offered to be there in 15 minutes to show it to them. The father stated he was on his lunch break and had to get back to work and therefore really didn’t have time. So we scheduled it for his lunchtime the next day so they could both be there. I arrived early and got the place show ready. The father pulled up first driving a 5-6 year old beater, and I greeted him outside. About 2 minutes later the mother came around the corner in her old beater station wagon with 6 kids. 4 of the kids were teenagers and definitely appeared to old to be her kids.I inquired as to why she was bringing so many people after telling me they were a family of 4. She claimed they were “friends”. This seemed rather strange, because I just don’t know that many 23 year old couples (married or not) with kids, who hang out with older, hormonally challenged teenagers. But for now, I let it go.The teenagers stayed in the car, apparently to watch the younger kids, while the couple toured the house. After the tour they claimed they needed to be moved out of their current place by the end of the month – 6 days away. I informed them that, if they filled out an application right now, I could start processing it tomorrow.I very briefly explained the processing process, and the woman asked if I could possibly check landlord and job refs before tomorrow (Friday) and if they could possibly sign a contract this weekend so they could be moved in by Sunday night. In reality, I can do all this processing in 1 day, but it takes at least 2 days to get the credit report. I informed this couple that I would be willing to try, but suggested they keep looking, as I was offering no guarantees. They filled out the application and paid the application fee. While doing the application the woman kept asking me “You’re going to call my current/previous landlord and current/previous employer today, right?” I kept assuring her I would make every attempt to do so, but couldn’t offer any guarantees. Upon reviewing the application, I noted they were only in the current residence for six months, and asked about it. She said they only got a six month lease because their older child was getting to the point of needing their own room. Now they’re “at that point” and want to move out of the 2 bedroom, and into my 3 bedroom. Seems strange, but perfectly plausible since I do have other friends with rental property that do 6 month contracts. I escorted the couple out, and the father got in his car and mom got in the wagon and headed out. As I saw them off, I noted the teenagers in the station wagon seemed to be paying more attention to texting or whatever on their IPhones, and somewhat ignoring the 2 preschoolers these 4 teenagers were supposedly “watching”, if you know what I mean.After seeing them off, I went back inside to close things up, and upon seeing the completed application on the kitchen counter, decided to pull out my cell phone and call the current landlord now – before this woman got back home with her carload of kids. I talked with the landlord for about 5 minutes. He informed me that yes, he was given 30 days notice. He also informed me that another tenant was already scheduled to move in the next week, and that the family had asked for additional time, but he couldn’t do it. He was holding them to their 30 day notice and they “had” to be out by Tuesday at the absolute latest. Now, I’ve never heard of any landlord having a tenant ready to move into a place, that’s not even empty yet. But hey, that’s not to say it couldn’t happen. So I ended that phone call and called the number on the application for the previous landlord.Called previous landlord and a teenage girl answered. I asked for the landlord by name and was within seconds talking with him. This landlord answered my questions with perfectly believable answers. Yes, they left a mess when they left. Yes, they were late with the rent a few times, but nothing that was of concern really. Yes, he had to get onto them one time about cutting the grass. Okay, sounds normal to me. So I terminated this call and moved on to the current employer.Called current employer to get fax number for sending their application, as I know they will need it before talking to me, because that application is their “permission” from the applicants for the employer to release information to me. Was told fax machine broke this morning, but he’d be happy to confirm the father works there, because he knows him personally, and had offered to help them pack out when they moved out of their previous residence. In a small town like mine, this is absolutely plausible. So I terminated the call and moved on to previous employer. The previous employer was a restaurant, and it checked out. In fact, during the conversation with this employer, I actually heard what sounded like someone dropping a tray of dishes on the floor and breaking them. Accidents happen in restaurants to. So having contacted all, I got in the car and headed home.I have one of those flip phone cell phones that I wear in a belt clip on my right side. Sometimes, the seatbelt buckle in my car will rub or hit that phone just right and cause it to “butt dial”. This occurred on my way home. I was halfway there where I heard the “beep-beep-beep” emanating loudly from my phone. Similar to what you hear if you leave your land line phone off the hook for a period of time without dialing. I thought nothing of it as I reached down and just hung it up. I arrived home and was preparing the paperwork to fax and pay for the credit report when the applicant called me again asking if I was still going to be able to process their application today. When I told her I had already spoken to previous/current landlords and previous/current employers, and that everything looked good so far, she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief on the phone. I told her I had just arrived home, and in an attempt to help them out, I was going to fax the credit pull request now. If I was lucky, I’d have it tomorrow (Friday). She thanked me profusely and we terminated the conversation. Then it struck me. When my cell phone butt dials, it will always be the last number called. So why was it beeping in the car? I check, and sure enough the last number called prior to the tenant calling me just now, was the previous employer. So I dialed it again and unexpectedly got a “this number not in service” message. Huh? I then dialed the current employer and couldn’t believe it! I got the same “this number not in service” message. Same thing when I tried to call back the previous and current landlord. What’s going on here? Are these applicants in a hurry to move for other reasons maybe? I’ve got to know.So I went inside and got on the Internet to see who the real property owners were for the addresses listed for current and previous landlords. They matched what was on the application. Then using and looked up their phone numbers. The phone numbers did NOT match the application. I called the listed number for the previous landlord and this time actually spoke to the “real” one. He informed me that unbeknownst to him, this couple was running a home day care facility in his rental, without his knowledge. When they moved, he found the property literally destroyed. While rent was paid on time every month, he said it explained why, every time something was reported broken, it could never be fixed until the weekend. It was so he wouldn’t be aware of the kids she had in this 2 bedroom house during the week.Next, I called the current landlord and this time of course, spoke to the “real” one. The story I got from him was a shock. Seems the woman was running an unregistered home day care facility out of his two bedroom house, and the neighbors were complaining. He was in the process of evicting them, and the 7 day notice to vacate had been posted by the sheriff’s department on Tuesday – 2 days ago. So that’s why they needed to be moved in to my house by Sunday! The father has to work during the week of course. If they don’t get out by Sunday, the sheriff’s department will literally be throwing them out on Tuesday. Even though I had enough to justify refusing these applicants, my curiosity wouldn’t let it go. Since the previous and current employers of the father were local, I looked up their numbers in the phone book. They didn’t match the application either. What’s going on here?I called the previous employer and, as expected, they wouldn’t give any information without a signed release. So I got in the car and drove over to the restaurant. Showed the application which is also the information release authorization, and the employer said this applicant had never worked there. Wow!Got back in the car and drove over to the current employer. It’s a fairly large manufacturing company, so took the application to their HR department. They confirmed that the father did indeed work there. However, he wasn’t in today because he had called in sick. Really? Sick? Looked fine to me at the viewing just 3-4 hours ago. However, I didn’t say anything to the HR folks about it. I figure if these people lied to me and if those kids really are there’s, then in addition to being evicted from their house, daddy doesn’t need to lose his job too on account of me. So I left it alone for the sake of those kids.At my request, the HR folks called his manager to the HR office so I could show him the application and get more details from him.The manager said he was okay, but that he really didn’t know him that well since the “chain of command” put a supervisor between him (the manager) and my applicant, I pointed out to the manager that on the application for current position held, it said floor supervisor. I further explained that’s why I asked for his manager, and not for a “supervisor”.The manager informed me that he was basically just one of the bottom workers, and in his opinion would never make management material, much less be a supervisor anytime in the near future. I thanked the manager and the folks in HR for all their assistance and time, and departed.Upon departing, I got on the cell phone and called the applicant (the woman) back. I informed her that I had spoken with her “real” landlord and was aware of the pending eviction. Therefore, I would not rent to them. She was begging me to at least give them a chance, stating that she wasn’t aware of the contract requirements and all that stuff, and had “learned a lesson”. I then informed her that I had also spoken with her “real” former landlord, and was therefore not convinced she had learned anything. That terminated the conversation right there as she just hung up on me. Fine, I’ve got $100 application fee and I’m keeping it.So how did they do it? Why was it when I called those phone numbers on the application, they “seemed” to check out? Thinking back on it now, it seems rather odd that the woman, who claimed to have always been a stay at home mom, not one time, asked the father for information relating to his previous employment. She didn’t ask his supervisor/manager’s name, or even a phone number. She already knew it. Most likely she was the one that orchestrated this entire performance. In fact, she recited everything on the application out loud, just prior to writing the information in the field she had just read aloud. I also recall that she had her purse close by at all times, never putting it down for anything – even when she had to bend down and tie her shoe. While tying her shoe, I noticed she was wearing a Bluetooth device behind her ear, but thought nothing of it at the time. Didn’t those teenagers in the car all have IPhones? I definitely recall for a fact one of them stopped what they were doing on the IPhone when I approached the car, and removed an earphone from their ear. Maybe they were playing some game with sound? Maybe not.I searched the internet for real time phone scams, and actually found a website called (not the real website name). It allowed you to “try it free” for a 1 hour time period. The way it works is like this. You select the area code, and then it generates a number to be dialed in that area code. Then you enter the number the dialed call is to be forwarded to. For the free trial, the setup is valid for one hour after setting it up, and you can “try for free” up to 5 phone numbers.That has to be it. But they spent a good 30 minutes touring. So how could these numbers have been generated so the setup didn’t “expire” before I called them? Here’s how they did it.Prior to arrival the mother put on her Bluetooth and dialed the number of one of the teenagers in the car – the one wearing the earpiece plugged into their IPhone. Now, that teenager could sit in the car and hear everything that went on during the tour. When the woman was filling out the application and literally reciting out loud the name of every field on the form, she was heard by the teenager in the car.The other 3 teenagers in the car used their IPhones on to generate phone numbers, which was then relayed to the mother via IPhone through her Bluetooth. Most likely, when I was calling the phone numbers on the application, I was actually talking to one of those teenagers. Those broken dishes I heard falling when I was talking with the so-called previous employer? There were some glasses in the way-back of the station wagon. I bet she was breaking to fast and they broke. That’s most likely what I heard.She called me on my way home to see if I’d already called the numbers she provided and if “processing my application” was continuing. That’s because it had passed the one hour limit for their setup. She was checking to see if they needed to “renew” those phone numbers on if I needed to call any of them back. Learning that I’d already called them and was satisfied, she let it go and didn’t renew it. That’s why I got the “beep-beep-beep” off-hook tones.While the above is similar to “The Casting Call”, what makes it different is that this was not pre-arranged. It was an actual live performance where phone numbers and players were casted on the fly. This makes it more convincing than if you pick up the application and hold a casting call prior to returning the application. They had no idea what information I was going to ask for on my application. Not only did she have to provide valid information on the fly, she had to inform the actors what their parts would be in real time also. The Bluetooth device allowed for exactly that. Sometimes, butt dialing is a good thing. Don’t feed the sharks!The Bait n’ Switch I toured a young couple through the house. During my touring interview, the applicants answered all questions to my satisfaction and seemed to make me comfortable with them. They moved here a year ago from Virginia Beach, and were moving across town because it was closer to work and the rent & utilities were lower. After completing the tour, they filled out the application and presented it with the application fee. I began processing it the next morning.I called the current landlord and after emailing him a copy of the application authorizing him to release information to me, he answered all my questions as expected. So I moved on to the previous landlord. When I dialed the number I got a “this number not in service” message. Since previous residence was in another state, I got on line to to look it up. Not listed. No surprise with the advent of today’s cell phones. So I got back on the web and searching tax records for that county I was able to confirm the name they had put on the application for the previous landlord did match tax records. Okay, it’s perfectly possible that since they left that state over a year ago, the landlord no longer has a land line. Additionally, the number they provided on the application could very well be a cell phone number that the landlord no longer has.I called the applicants using the number provided on the application and informed them the number they provided was bad, and that I could not continue processing their application without talking with that previous landlord of theirs from over a year ago. I offered to return the application and fee to them. Applicants asked if they could provide valid contact information, would I consider continuing my application processing. I agreed and we terminated the conversation.Twenty minutes later they called me back and I was provided an updated, correct phone number for the previous landlord. A few minutes later, I called that number and identified myself and that I was calling for a reference for previous tenants on rental property he owned. All questions were answered as expected, with nothing really sticking out. Afterwards, I terminated the conversation. Next, I called the current employer and successfully faxed them the application authorizing them to release the information to me. They called me back shorting after receiving the fax and confirmed employment to my satisfaction.I next called the previous employer, also in the same state/location as the previous landlord, and got the “number no longer in service” message. I looked for a webpage for that business on the Internet, and found none. Okay, businesses come and go. Maybe they’re out of business since my applicants left the state. So I searched the state’s website for a business license for the business, and found it. The status of the business was “inactive”, indicating that I was right. They were out of business. However, that business license, though inactive, has the name of the last owner on it. I searched for the name of the owner on the property search pages and found one. Since the property address and mailing address were the name, this was obviously his primary residence. I then attempted to look up a phone number for that name/address on and found none. Again, no surprise since the advent of cell phones. Looks like another dead end.So I called my applicants and informed them of what I had discovered and how I had discovered it on the Internet. I further stated that since I had no way to confirm previous employment, I could not continue processing, and again offered to return their fee. To my surprise, they asked for the opportunity to get me a valid number and continue processing. I accepted.Less than 20 minutes later they call me back with a phone number. I called that previous employer and actually spoke to them. I offered to send or email him a copy of the application authorizing him to release information about my applicants, and was told he no longer had a fax machine since closing the business, and that he presently wasn’t close to anywhere he could check email. He then offered to answer any questions I asked. So I interviewed this now out of business previous employer, and was satisfied. We terminated the phone call and that was that.About an hour later as I was preparing to fax my request for the credit report, it occurred to me. How was my applicant able to obtain the “correct” phone number for a previous landlord and a previous employer (that was no longer in business) from over a year ago, in another state, inside of 20 minutes, when I couldn’t do it? I decided to check the area code for the previous employer and landlord. Guess what? The area code was Nebraska. They claimed to have moved from and worked in Virginia Beach. To allow for the possibility I had called the previous employer on a cell phone with a Nebraska area code, I found a valid reason to call him back for “one more thing…”. I asked my question and it was answered. Then I asked about him. “How long you lived in Virginia Beach?” He replied “All my life.”. So I mentioned I had been there about 20 years ago while in the military and enquired if he had done any traveling in his time. He replied “Nope. Lived here all my life.” Now for the killer question.I asked that previous employer, “Then why is the area code of the telephone you are on, an area code in Nebraska?”. A few seconds of silence, and he hung up on me. Caught with his pants down. I purposefully waited until the next day to call my applicants.I called the applicants about 9am the next morning, and informed them I would have to decline their application and…….. Before I could finish (I was going to end with “and return your application fee”) she cut me off and asked why. I explained that I was unable to verify the information on the application relating to their previous landlord and employer. She replied, “But he said I was a good worker, always showed up as scheduled, and was never late!” I couldn’t help it. I asked, “How do you know exactly, word for word, what he told me?” At that point, she hung up the phone with me. They never enquired about the $100 application fee –which I intended to return. So I kept it.So exactly what was done, and how did they do it? Also, why did they do it? The check with their current employer and landlord was fine. I suspect that since they had left from another state over a year ago, they really didn’t have contact information for their previous landlord and employer from the other state. Most likely, other landlords they applied to rent from had declined them because of their inability to contact and confirm previous landlord and employment. So in an attempt to get the next house, which happened to be mine, they did a bait and switch for the out of state residence and previous employer.When I called my applicants the first time I explained what I had done on the Internet in an attempt to verify the identity of and contact their previous landlord. I basically “spilled the beans” so to speak. So they basically did the same thing I did. They got on the Internet and viewed the tax deed for that previous landlord. Then using the website, she set up a phone number. Her mistake was the area code. When I called back with the same issue on the out of business previous employer, she did as I did again by looking up the inactive business license on the Internet , and then setting up a phone number for that previous business owner/employer also. This was confirmed to me when she recited to me exactly the answers provided for the questions I asked. I’ve already said they probably did this because of being declined by other landlords who couldn’t verify their out of state residence and employment. They have a good record with their current landlord, as well as the current employer. Most likely they really do have nothing to hide with the out of state landlord and employer. Heck, if they would have “come clean” with me, I would have considered renting to them. All I would have required in addition to deposit and first month’s rent, would have been last month’s rent also. But since they lied I have no assurance they won’t try other things in the future. So they blew it with me.These applicants had no way of knowing exactly when I would be calling the previous landlord and employer. So with the one hour limit of the website, it would be impossible for them to set it up at the right time. So they purposefully put phone numbers on the application they knew to be invalid. They hoped that whenever I called and got the not in service message, that I would call them right away. They were right. It took them less than 20 minutes to set up a valid number on , and if they were lucky, I’d call that number within a hour after they set it up. Again, they were right.So I was ‘baited” with invalid numbers, and later they “switched” them for valid numbers. Even though those numbers were valid for only an hour, that’s all they needed. Hence, the “bait & switch”. It almost worked. Don’t feed the sharks.Here Come Da Judge!The Devil Made Me Do It!Ever watch one of those TV programs like Divorce Court, or Judge Judy? It’s nothing like that. What you see on TV is all pomp and circumstance designed and executed for the sole purpose of ratings and selling advertising. The cases are real. But the performance is all purposefully orchestrated. In reality, if you ever have to take a tenant to court, it’ll be small claims court. It is absolutely nothing like you see on TV. If you have to take a tenant through the legal system, or are ever pulled into court by a current or former tenant, you will most likely never see the inside of a courtroom. There won’t be any bailiff or jury either. There may be a stenographer or other court reporter present, to document a record of the proceedings. But usually, it’s just a tape recorder and everything is documented at a later time. Don’t expect the judge to be wearing the traditional black robe either. Sometimes the proceeding will occur in the judge’s chambers just off the courtroom. But it’s more likely to take place in the conference room of the judge’s private office. You may be nowhere near the courthouse. Nobody’s going to jail. If you ever experience the legal system as a landlord, small claims court is where you can expect to be. Exactly what is small claims court? Is there a big claims court? In many states, a small claim is defined as anything less than $5,000.00. It can differ from state to state. Some have it defined as anything less than $3,000.00. With a small claim, the defendant is not being accused of or charged with a crime or having committed a criminal offense or even breaking any laws per-se. So nobody’s going to jail, and no bail has to be paid for anything. Much of the time those utilizing the small claims court don’t even have legal representation with them, nor do they even need a lawyer. Generally speaking, when you are using the legal system to collect monies you feel you are legally entitled to, if that amount is $5000.00 or less, you utilize small claim court in an attempt to legally force those who owe you financial compensation, to pay it. Note I said an “attempt” to collect monies you’re due. Having a judge or mediator find in your favor and awarding any money you’re entitled to, and physically collecting that just debt are two different things. If you ever do take a tenant or former tenant to court, I’ll show you how to significantly increase the possibility of collecting any monetary judgments you may be awarded.There are many reasons you could end up taking your tenant to court. Basically it will be for breach or violation of one or more items in your lease agreement. The most common is for non-payment of rent. No matter the reason though, the notification methods and filing procedures are essentially the same.The decision to evict usually occurs after broken promises made outside the contract. The tenant calls stating that due to an unforeseen financial hardship they can’t pay the rent on the 1st. They ask if they can pay when they get paid on the 15th, and offer to pay that $50 late fee too. You’re thinking you can use the tenant’s deposit to cover the mortgage payment with, and just replace that deposit amount on the 15th when he pays.Don’t count on it. If you pull the deposit to cover your payment, and the tenant doesn’t pay on the 15th, where do you get the money to pay your court filing fees? Then you’re really up a creek when the tenant doesn’t pay rent for the next month. So bottom line is:NEVER USTILIZE DEPOSIT MONEY TO REPLACE THE RENT INCOMEIf you accept partial payment of rent, say half a month, then your due date for the remainder of that rent starts on the day after the prepaid portion of the rent is expired. Let’s say your rent is $900 a month, and the tenant pays you $600 on the 1st with a promise of the remaining $300 on the 15th. For a 30 day month, $600 covers the first 20 days of the month. So from a legal standpoint, the remaining rent is not due until the 21st of the month. Add the required 5 calendar day grace period, and you can’t post the 3-day notice until the 26th of the month. Add 2 more days if there’s a weekend in there.Now to cover an actual eviction process. You can do the single count eviction where all you are doing is getting the tenant out of the property. The only monies the court will award you in a single count eviction are filing fees, lawyer fees and court costs.A two count eviction is sometimes referred to as a Hybrid Complaint. Count 1 is for the eviction, and count 2 is for back rent, damages, legal fees and any other costs incurred in direct relation to the hybrid complain. I’ll cover Count 1 – Eviction first.COUNT I - EVICTIONCount 1 is eviction of the tenant for non-payment of rent or other violation of the terms of the lease. The notification time frames may differ from state to state. All the time frames I refer to apply to my state. My state requires a 3-day notice to pay rent once the grace period has passed. It may be different in your state, so check it out first. For this walk through of the process, the rent is due on the 1st day of each month. For this month, the 1st day of the month is Monday.You can have that lawyer this tenant has been paying on your behalf do all this for you. However, if your lawyer does the legwork, costs add up quickly and you’ll exhaust your credit in just a few hours. If you do the legwork and filing yourself and just have the lawyer review your paperwork before you file it, you’ll save a ton of money.On Thursday the 4th I still haven’t received the rent. I call the tenant and enquire. Maybe they forgot? Things happen. Tenant informs me he doesn’t have the money due to an unexpected financial obligation, but he’s working on it as hard and fast as he can. I remind the tenant that the rent is late if not paid tomorrow. I further remind him that if he pays it after tomorrow, he’ll need to add the $50 late fee. Tenant understands, though reluctantly, and you amicably terminate the phone call.On Friday the rent is not received. I type up and take the below 3-day notice, in person to the rental property residence on Saturday or Sunday. Remember, weekends and holidays don’t count for this three day notice. So day one doesn’t start until Monday.Date: Jun 6, 2010TO: Ronald R. & Nancy Reagan123 Anystreet AveAnytown, ST, 33212THREE-DAY NOTICE FOR NONPAYMENT OF RENTYou hereby are notified that you are indebted to me the sum of $900.00 for rent and use of the premises located at 123 Anystreet Ave, Anytown, ST 33212, now occupied by you. That rent was due on June 1st, 2010, and I demand payment of the rent or possession of the premises within three days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) from the date of delivery of this notice, specifically, on or before June 10th, 2010.CERTIFICATE OF SERVICEI certify that a copy of this notice has been furnished to the above-named tenants on April 7th, 2012 at 123 Anystreet Ave, Anytown, ST 33212, by:__________ Delivery.__________ Posting in a conspicuous place on the premises._______________________________________Clint Eastwood1099 Mystreet LaneMytown, St, 10111(212) 685-1234Upon arrival, I will have 3 original copies of the above. If anyone over the age of 18 answers the door, I will check item 1 indicating personal delivery, sign it and give it to that person and depart. I inform them that if rent is not received on or before the date specified, I will be visiting small claims court. I further inform them that once I file in small claims court, they can no longer pay the rent directly to me. They have to pay the clerk of court.If there is no one home, or if someone under the age of 18 is not present, then I will check item 2 to indicate I posted it and sign it. Then I will tape it to the front door and depart. The other two original copies of the 3 day notice will be filled out identical to the first one and signed. I will keep these two originals for my records. In my state, there is no need for my actions to be witnessed, or notarized.You don’t have to do this, but for me, on the evening of Wednesday, June 10th, I attempt to call the tenant to enquire if they have and can pay the rent “right now”. If not, I will explain to them that I will be visiting small claims court in the morning. I further inform them that once I complete my filing actions at the courthouse, we can have no further direct communications with each other on this matter, as all of their communications with me, must be through the court.You don’t have to call the tenant and tell them this if you don’t want. For me, if the tenant is not being amicable upon receiving the 3-day notice, I don’t bother calling. Once I’ve posted or presented the 3-day notice, it’s their legal responsibility to contact me if they have the rent.Then I start preparing to file my small claim at the courthouse for Thursday morning. Recall that in all your contract and leasing procedures in this publication I say the landlord keeps two originals of everything? This is because when you file at the courthouse, you need to provide at least one copy of all documents with original signatures. By the landlord having 2 of each, you can provide the courts what they require and still have an original for yourself. Those who work at the courthouse occasionally lose things too. This protects you with another original should the unforeseen happen. Below is what I type up for my initial small claims court filing and is the final approved by my lawyer.IN THE COUNTY COURT FORMY COUNTY, STATECase No.:Division:Clint Eastwood Plaintiff,Vs.Ronald R. Reagan and Nancy Reagan,As Husband and WifeDefendantsCOMPLAINT FOR EVICTIONPlaintiff, Clint Eastwood, sues defendants, Ronald R. Reagan and Nancy Reagan, his wife, and alleges:1.This is an action to evict a tenant from residential real property located in Mycounty, State for past due rent in the amount of $900.00, filed under F.S. 83.625.2.Plaintiff owns the following described real property in that county: 123 Anystreet Ave., Mytown, ST, 32133.3.Defendants have possession of the property under a written agreement to pay rent of $900.00 payable monthly. A copy of the rental agreement is attached.4.Defendants failed to pay the rental installment of $900.00 due on June 1st, 2010.5.By written notice of June 6th, 2010, plaintiff demanded of defendants’ payment of the above overdue rental installment or possession of the above premises within three days, but defendants has failed to respond as demanded. A copy of that notice is attached hereto.6.Plaintiff has retained counsel and is obligated to pay a reasonable fee for services. Plaintiff is entitled to attorneys’ fees under the lease and F.S. 83.48. Counsels’ charges are attached hereto.WHEREFORE, plaintiff requests judgment against defendants for the following relief:1.Possession of 123 Anystreet Ave, Anytown, ST. 32122.2.Court costs, filing fees, process fees, and statutory attorneys’ fees, as authorized by F.S. 83.48 and as allowed under the lease.3.For damages.By: ___________________________________________Clint EastwoodPro Se1098 Mystreet BlvdMytown, ST. 10111With the above document I will need a copy of the lease signed by defendants, a copy of the check in form signed by defendants, a self-addressed stamped envelope; one for each defendant named in my complaint. It doesn’t matter if they are married and living together in the same rental property. The law says that each individual contract signer is notified separately. I also need a self-addressed stamped envelope addressed to me, the landlord. These documents all must have original signatures on them. Then I need to make photocopies of the above three documents.I must make a sufficient number of copies so that each defendant will receive a copy, and I will receive a copy when the court mails these documents out with the legal notice provided by the court. The judge will keep all the originals you provide until this case is closed.If you don’t make and provide the photocopies, the court will make them and you will pay for each photocopied page they make. So do it yourself. For the case filing I am depicting here, I will need originals plus three photocopies of each, plus 3 self-addressed stamped envelopes. Then I head to the courthouse.A filing fee must be paid at the time of filing. To get the cost, I called the small claims court and explained I was filing for eviction. I was informed the fee was $120.00 filing plus a $20 Sheriff’s delivery fee. On the way to the courthouse I stop by the bank and withdraw the $140 necessary from the account with the tenant’s deposit in it. The tenant has already agreed to this in item 3 of my contract.Upon arriving at the courthouse I proceed to the small claims office. I file my paperwork and pay the fee. After paying, I will be issued a case number. Sometimes, the folks in the small claims office will write the case number on my copies of all documents and return them to me right there. Other times, they will issue me the case number separately, and I’ll have to wait for my copies to come in the mail. It doesn’t matter either way. Just don’t depart without having that case number written down and in your possession before leaving. Once you have completed the filing and departed the courthouse, you cannot step back on your property until you have physical possession of a piece of paper titled “Writ of Possession”. Not one single toenail over the property line. Otherwise, you could be charged with unlawful entry and negate your entire small claims case. Stay as far away as possible, so chances of you even being accused are diminished. If you’re on schedule, you are walking out of the courthouse on Thursday, June 11th. Today is day 6 since the rent became past due per the lease agreement. Let’s recap.On Friday, June 5th was the last day of the grace period to pay rent. For the 3-day notice, weekends and holidays don’t count in that day count. Also, the day you post the 3-day notice doesn’t count. Since it was posted on a Saturday, that day doesn’t count anyway because it’s a weekend, the day count for that 3-day notice started on Monday, June 8th. The earliest you could file your court documents is the morning of Thursday, June 11th, and this was completed well before lunch. So while its 6 days after the rent was due, it was 4 business days after the rent was late that you filed. So why am I recapping here and pointing this out? See item 2 of the lease agreement, and pay particular attention to the last sentence of item 2. If this comes to a hearing before the judge, this armed you with additional ammunition the day you filed. It will probably never make it to the hearing stage though.The next business day after you filed, which is Friday, June 12th, the defendants will be served a notice of YOU ARE BEING SUED by the court, along with a photocopy of the documents you filed. That same package will be mailed to them, and one to the landlord using the stamped self-addressed envelopes you provided when you filed. The notice states that the defendants must do three things within 5 business days. The day they are served does not count as one of the 5 days. The 1st day of this 5 day count will be Monday, June 15th. The three things they must do are:Write down the reasons you should not be forced to move and present them to the Clerk of Courts.Provide a copy of those reasons to the plaintiff (which is the landlord)Deposit with the Clerk of Courts the amount of rent due, and any amounts that will accumulate until this case is resolved.What will usually happen, is that on Friday within minutes after the defendants are served, they call the landlord to “work something out”. Really, they’re too late. However, the landlord does have options.As the landlord, I can elect to meet the defendants on Monday at small claims court where I filed. The tenants will need to bring with them a money order or certified cashier’s check (No cash and no personal checks.) for the amount of the rent, the late fee, the amount of the filing fees, and whatever the lawyer charged me for his consultation and review fees. If you meet me at the courthouse with those monies and give them to me, I will drop this case in your presence.As the landlord, I can elect to do nothing and refer the defendants to the court, as per the notice they were served, instructing them that I can no longer deal with them directly, and they must deal with the court. Bottom line is, I am evicting them no matter what. I just want them out. Otherwise, I may be doing this all over again the first of next month. But keep in mind that by referring to the court, I will not be getting the rent or late fee. In reality, here’s what really happens. Since the tenants didn’t pay you the rent, what makes you think they have the money to deposit the rent with the courts? They don’t. They will however, provide written reasons of why they should not be forced to move. They will wait until the absolute last minute of day 5 to file them with the court. They do this to buy time before they are forcibly evicted. So the day they file their response to the court is Friday, June 19th. Over the weekend I will type up a document titled “Plaintiff’s Motion for Default and Clerk’s Default”. Here’s what it looks like.IN THE COUNTY COURT FORMY COUNTY, STATECase No. SP12-2123Clint Eastwood,Plaintiff.Division: 65vs.Ronald R. Reagan and Nancy Reagan,Defendants.PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR DEFAULT AND CLERK’S DEFAULTPlaintiff, Clint Eastwood, moves for entry of a default by the clerk against defendants, Ronald R. Reagan and Nancy Reagan, for failure to deposit with the Clerk of Courts the amount of unpaid rents claimed as past due and payable by defendants, to plaintiff.I hereby certify that no payments or any other compensation of defendants in the above-styled cause has been served on plaintiff or his attorney as of the time of filing this motion for default.Dated: November 5, 2012By: ______________________________________________Clint EastwoodPro SeDefaultA default is entered in this against the defendants named in the foregoing motion for failure to deposit any monies as required by law.ORDERED at St. Augustine, St. Johns County, Florida, on November 5, 2012Cheryl StricklandClerk of the CourtBy: ___________________________________________________________________________________Deputy ClerkOn Monday, June 22nd, I the landlord will go to the courthouse to confirm they have filed a written response with the court, and have paid the clerk of courts the rent due. In my experience, they will file the written response, but not pay the clerk of court. They can’t pay the clerk. Otherwise, they’d have paid the rent! I then present the above document to the clerk of courts after signing it. I will also provide enough signed copies and self-addressed envelopes so the clerk can mail them once completed, to all persons named in the legal action. If filed before lunch that Monday, the judge will get the completed document that same day and issue a “Final Notice of Eviction” for posting the next business day. For our scenario here, the next business day is Monday, June 25th. Sheriff’s OfficeMycounty, STATEFINAL NOTICE OF EVICTIONA Court Order (Writ of Possession) has been issued regarding that all persons be removed from these premises. If this is not done by June 26, 2010 before <time> it will be necessary for the sheriff’s office to remove all persons from these premises.AUTHORITY FOR THIS ACTION: CHAPTER 83.62, STATE STATUTEPOSTED:DATE: June 24th, 2010TIME: <time posted>JOSEPH ARAPIO, SHERIFFSigned by: __________________________DEPUTY SHERIFFThe sheriff’s office or the person posting the above notice will call the landlord after they have posted it. They will arrange to meet with the landlord at the property no earlier than 24 hours after posting. The landlord needs to ask if the house was already vacant when they posted, or if appeared the defendants were still occupying the property. If he says it appears there belongings are still there (cars in the driveway, toys in the yard, or he saw furniture through the window) you need to know this.While the deputy will remove all persons from the property, it is up to you the landlord to haul all of their personal property out of the house, and deposit it by the curb on public property outside of your property lines. You cannot place it on a neighbor’s private property. You may need to assemble a crew to help you do this, because the sheriff may not hang around and help. If you are told the house is vacant and all tenant property appears to be gone, then you’re fine. But you still cannot step one toenail over your property line yet. You don’t have the Writ of Possession at this time. The next day, show up no earlier than 15 minutes prior to the agreed upon time. Be sure to bring the original check in list and a digital camera with you.If the property is not occupied and all tenant belongings are gone when you arrive and meet the deputy, you’re set. Simply use your key to unlock the door and enter the property. Then using your checklist you and the deputy tour and inspect the property. Document and photograph any damage or anything you will be claiming against the deposit. Ask the deputy to sign your checklist confirming your findings. The deputy will then sign the Writ of Possession and present it to you. The property is now legally in your possession and you can begin the turnover process to prepare for the next tenant.If the property is still occupied when you arrive, the deputy will remove all persons from the house if present, and escort them off your property. When he does that, you will need to request the deputy to issue each person escorted off the property, a no trespassing warrant. They can’t issue this, if you the property owner don’t explicitly request it. A deputy will then enter the house with you and do a preliminary tour with you, to document any apparent damage that is easily seen right away.Then you and your crew can begin hauling the tenant’s belongings out. You should have enough with you to do this in a hour or so – but try to get it done within 2 hours. If the evicted tenants get upset, the deputies will handle it. It helps if you’ve had the deputies issue a no trespassing warrant. That way, if the tenants get unruly and step one toenail over your property line, they can be (and usually will be) arrested for trespassing, handcuffed and hauled off.Once all of the tenant’s belongings are off your property, you can take your checklist and you and the deputy tour the property again. Document and photograph any damage or anything you will be claiming against the tenant’s deposit. When done, ask the deputy to sign the checklist confirming your findings exist as you have them documented. After that, the deputy will sign and present you the Writ of Possession. The property is now legally in your possession and you can begin the turnover process to prepare for the next tenant.COUNT II – BACKRENTFiling and notification procedures for a 2 count complaint are the same as for a 1 count. However, the paperwork is a little bit different. You’ll still post the 3-day notice as explained above. When you go to file your complaint at the courthouse, the complaint will look more like this:IN THE COUNTY COURT FORMY COUNTY, STATECase No.:Division: Clint EastwoodPlaintiff,Vs.Ronald R. Reagan and Nancy Reagan,As Husband and WifeDefendantsCOMPLAINT FOR EVICTION AND PAST DUE RENTPlaintiff, Clint Eastwood, sues defendants, Ronald R. Reagan and Nancy Reagan, his wife, and alleges:1.This is an action to evict a tenant from residential real property located in Mycounty, State for past due rent in the amount of $900.00, filed under F.S. 83.625.2.Plaintiff owns the following described real property in that county: 123 Anystreet Ave., Mytown, ST, 32133.3.Defendants have possession of the property under a written agreement to pay rent of $900.00 payable monthly. A copy of the rental agreement is attached.4.Defendants failed to pay the rental installment of $900.00 due on June 1st, 2010.5.By written notice of June 6th, 2010, plaintiff demanded of defendants payment of the above overdue rental installment or possession of the above premises within three days, but defendants have failed to respond as demanded. A copy of that notice is attached hereto.6.Plaintiff has retained counsel and is obligated to pay a resonable fee for services. Plaintiff is entitled to attorneys’ fees under the lease and F.S. 83.48. Counsels’ charges are attached hereto.WHEREFORE, plaintiff requests judgment against defendants for the following relief:7.Plaintiff incorporates by reference the allegation of Paragraph 1 through Paragraph 6 of Count I of this complaint.8.By the terms of the attached rental agreement, $900.00 rent accrued, due in advance, on June 1, 2010, and rent will continue to accrue during the pendency of this action.9.The lease further provides for the imposition of late fees in the amount of $50.00 per month, as well as attorney fees and damages that may accrue which sums are also due from defendants.10.Defendants are retaining possession of the subject rental premises and have failed to make the rental payment.11.Under State Statute 7.020(c) plaintiff request that Count II of this action proceed under the State Rules of Civil Procedure to allow defendants 20 calendar days within which to serve an answer to Count II.WHEREFORE, plaintiff request judgement against defendants for the following relief:Possession of 123 Anystreet Ave., Mytown, ST. 32133.Past due rent in the amount of $900.00 as ancillary relief if plaintiff prevails on the claim for possession.Court costs, filing fees, process fees, and interest on the above overdue rental installment, and statutory attorneys’ fees, as authorized by F.S. 83.48 and as allowed under the lease.For damages.By: ________________________________________Clint EastwoodPro Se1098 Mystreet BlvdMytown, ST. 10111The paperwork served to the defendants the next day will have the same three things they must do for the Count I – Eviction, plus 2 more requirements for the Count II – Back rent. So the five things the defandants must do are:Write down the reasons you should not be forced to move and present them to the Clerk of Courts within 5 business days.Provide a copy of those reasons to the plaintiff (which is the landlord) within 5 business days.Deposit with the Clerk of Courts the amount of rent due, and any amounts that will accumulate until this case is resolved, within 5 business days.Provide a written response to Count II – Back rent within 20 calendar days.Provide a copy of the written response to Count II to the plaintiff within 20 calendar days.Then for Count I – Eviction everything will proceed as above, assuming everything stays on schedule for Count I and there is no hearing for Count I (there usually isn’t). When you receive the Writ of Possession for the property it will be the 14th calendar day (15th day if there was a holiday in there). This gives you a few days to assess damages and other claims you will be claiming on Count II. On the 21st calendar day, or the first business day after the 21st calendar day, you’ll file your motion for judgment on Count II with small claims. Below is an example.IN THE COUNTY COURT FORMY COUNTY, STATECase No. SP12-2123Clint Eastwood,Plaintiff,Vs.Ronald R. Reagan and Nancy Reagan,Defendants.PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR FINAL MONEY JUDGMENT BY DEFAULTPlaintiff requests that the court enter a final money judgment by default against defendants, and shows:1.This is a hybrid eviction action for residential tenant removal and past due rent filed under F.S. 83.625.2.Personal service of process was effected on defendants on October 26, 2010 requiring defendants to respond within five days to the complaint’s claim in Count I for possession of the premises and to respond within 20 days to the complaint’s claim in Count II for past due rent.3.On defendant’s default under Count I for possession of the premises, the court entered an order for tenant removal against defendants on November 13, 2010, reserving jurisdiction over this action to enter a final money judgment for court cost, statutory attorneys’ fees, past due rent and interest, and damages as alleged under Count II of the complaint.4.The time allowed by law for defendants to respond to Count II of the complaint has expired, and no defensive pleading or other paper has been filed or served to me in this action.5.Upon execution of Writ of Possession on November 15 2010, a thorough inspection of the property reveals the below additional costs for inclusion in Count II of the complaint, as agreed by the defendants in the lease agreement contract:ChecklistDescrepancyRepair/Restoration ActionCostItem YardGrass 18” tall, sidewalkHired yardman to clean up. Grass wasnot edged, flowerbedsso high he had to cut it twice in same$75.00overgrown with weedsday to get it down to 3”. weeded& south fence partiallyflowerbeds and had to manually pullOvergrown with vines.Vines off back fence. Took 5+ hours.Living Room1 venetian blind damagedPurchased replacement and installed$3.85Beyond repair. All 4 light bulbsin ceiling fanlight fixture were missingPurchased replacements and installed$1.26Cereal, candy and otherCarpet vacuumed & vent cleaned.Debris on carpet indicating itLabor cost amortized below in accord-Was not vacuumed prior toance with lease contract item #32vacating . Ceiling A/C ventcaked with dirt/dust.Labor CostsI have spent in excess of 15 hours of my time returning the property$72.00to the state plaintiff agreed to return it to me in per our contract leaseagreement items 30, 31 & 32. I am charging for the minimum of fourhours labor at $18.00 per hour, per item #32 of the lease agreement.Florida state sales tax paid on above purchased taxable items.$6.39Professional expenses paid to The Law Office of John Travolta for legal advice$300.00and consultation.I also have expense for soaps, detergents, cleansers, scrubbing pads, steel wool, etc. I cannot quantify a cost for these because they are materials I already had on hand in my household which were purchased at different times when prices were different. Therefore I cannot assign a value to the quantity of the cleaning items and materials used.Total amount claimed for damages is $551.35 in addition to 462.40 already awarded in Count I of the complaint, plus back rent in the amount of $850.00 for the period October 16 2012 to November 15 2010 for a total of $1863.75. Clint EastwoodPro SeThe above example is severely truncated. In reality, this filing is usually several pages because you have itemized everything based on your check in form the tenants signed when moving in. If you recall, the judge already has a copy of this checklist which you included when filing your initial complaint. The important thing to remember about a hybrid complaint is that there will definitely be a hearing for Count II – Back rent. Count on it. Within five business days or so you’ll receive a notice in the mail from the courthouse titled NOTICE OF HEARING.Whatever you do, do not miss this scheduled hearing. Don’t be late for it either – or you can expect the judge to throw it out. You really don’t need your lawyer to accompany you to the hearing. But if you want to pay for him to attend with you, then you can. All you really need to do is take the notice and all other paperwork supporting your claims, and review it with your lawyer.Your lawyer knows this judge, as he’s probably represented other clients and appeared before him in the past. The lawyer can brief you on how best to conduct yourself during the hearing. Follow the lawyer’s advice and you’ll be fine representing yourself in small claims court. The fact is though, while the judge may find in your favor, don’t expect to get every penny you’re claiming. Just remember, being awarded a monetary settlement, and actually collecting it are two different things. So after being awarded a monetary settlement, how can you improve the possibility you’ll actually collect it? There’s a little known secret that judges don’t want you to know. It’s called the Asset Statement of Fact. ASSET STATEMENT OF FACTAn Asset Statement of Fact is a document detailing every asset the defendants own. Every car, TV, the couch, cell phone, beds, tables, chairs, clothes, everything. If you request it, the judge cannot refuse it. It’s the law and you the plaintiff are entitled to it. But you must request it. It’s not automatic. Here’s how such a proceeding ended for me.Judge:After reviewing all the evidence and hearing statements from plaintiff and defendants, this court passes final judgment in favor of the plaintiff for the amount of $1266.00. The recorder will notate this in the record of these proceedings and provide a copy of this final judgment to plaintiff and defendants within 2 business days.Plaintiff: Your Honor, I would like to have a defendant’s Asset Statement of Fact attached to the final judgment.Judge: (Rolls his eyes because he hates this) Recorder, strike my last order. Defendant, you have 10 business days to provide this court with a list of all assets in your control or possession. If not received by this court within the specified time, you may be found in contempt of court.Plaintiff: Your Honor, I would like to submit these copies of the vehicle registrations for the two cars they own, to start it off with.Defendant: You mean I have to provide a list of everything we own, the value of it, and he might be able to legally take my cars from me?Judge: Well, if not take them, with further court action he can at least do things like put a lien on your vehicles and any other high value items you own. It’s even possible for him to take actions forcing a court ordered auction of your assets, that doesn’t end until all your assets are sold, or the amount of the judgment as been raised.Plaintiff: (Addressing defendant directly) Tell you what. If the judge will permit it, if you want to go to the car, get your checkbook and pay me now, I’ll drop my request for the Statement of Fact.Defendant: (To the judge) I can be back in 5 minutes. May I run out and get the checkbook?The above is how it ended for me, and I actually collected every penny awarded in the judgment. However, there’s no guarantee the defendants will have their checkbook with them. In this case, you can inform the defendant that once you receive payment, you’ll drop your request for the Statement of Fact with a simple letter to the judge dropping it. That will usually result in you receiving payment in just a few days – usually in the mail.If it doesn’t end that way, then when you receive the judgment with the Statement of Fact attached, go visit your lawyer and he’ll talk you through the procedures for taking possession of assets, forcing the auction/sale of assets, or at least putting a lien on assets. Then you’re set. For example, when they sell that car, the buyer can’t register it until you clear the lien. If the car is in a accident, the insurance payout must pay the lien holder first. Then anything remaining goes to the defendant or the repair shop that fixes it.Whether you do a single count or a hybrid complain, it’s important to not forget that you have 15 days from the day you receive the Writ of Possession, to execute a Resolution of Deposit. I generally just mail the plaintiffs a copy of what I will be filing at the courthouse for Count II. I just title that “Resolution of Deposit” for them, and then I’m good.Remember, just because your evicted tenants violated the terms of the lease, doesn’t give you any right to do the same. Besides, remember item 34 in the lease agreement? Your evicted tenant is upset with you. If you don’t execute a Resolution of Deposit as required by law, they can get you on that. So do it.Obviously, the first item on your resolution will be your legal and filing fees. Then any remaining deposit can be applied to the unpaid rent, damages, etc.That unpaid rent must be prorated up to and including the day you received the Writ of Possession. So if rent was $900/mo that works out to $30/day. For 22 calander days, it’s $660.00 and that’s all you claim on the Resolution of Deposit. You can also claim costs of damages and cleaning as allowed in the lease. Of course, that will be in excess of the deposit now.When you do the Resolution of Deposit, instead of titling it “Notice of Claim Against Security Deposit”, you should title it, “Notice of Claim Against and In Excess of Security Deposit”. Then end it with the amount due, who the check should be made payable to, and the address to send that check to. Then send it certified mail to the last known address – which of course, will be your rental property. You should wait at least 10 days after the Writ of Possession to give the evicted tenants time to set up mail forwarding. You really want them to receive this Resolution of Deposit. On a single count eviction, don’t expect them to pay the balance due. By them knowing they have a balance due, they will stay as far away from you and your property as possible. The last thing they want is for you to find them. It keeps them away for good, and that’s exactly what you want.If the Resolution of Deposit is returned to you as unclaimed or undeliverable, do not open it. Just file it with all the other paperwork on this. If these folks are stupid enough to take you to small claims court over the deposit, then you can let the judge open it. That’ll cost them even more money then, and won’t cost you another dime.Another important aspect of an eviction is the mailbox. You cannot do anything with mail received in the rental property mailbox for 15 calendar days after receiving the Writ of Possession. Stay as far away from the mailbox as you can. When the mailman sees it piling up, he’ll take care of it. Usually, when the mailman takes it after a week, they check for a forwarding address back at the post office. If there is no forwarding address, then it gets returned to sender. Bottom line is, tampering with mail that is not addressed to you is a federal offense. You can do prison time. So the mailbox is off limits for 15 calendar days from the date of the Writ of Possession. There are no exceptions to this.Variations To The Count I Eviction Process1 – If when presenting the 3-day notice you are informed it’s in the mail, you should present and issue the 3-day notice anyway. If it’s really in the mail you will receive it within the 3 business days allowed by your notice. Then you need take no further action.2 – If after you have filed at the courthouse and paid your filing fees, you receive anything in the mail from your tenants you believe may be rent, DO NOT OPEN IT. If you open it and it contains the rent payment, then by opening the envelope you have accepted payment. You have no claim to reimbursement for your filing fees then. Instead, take the unopened mail to the courthouse, write your case number on the envelope and submit it to the small claims court for inclusion in your filing. Indicate on the envelope that you give the judge assigned to your case, permission to open it. That way, you don’t have to accept payment and lose the filing fees. You still get the payment, yet can continue your case for filing fees and other legal expenses already incurred.3 – Usually, as per the notice received by the tenants, they will supply a written statement to the court, stating why they should not be forced to move. The defendants may feel cornered and desperate. They will exaggerate and outright lie in their letter to the judge. They do this to buy time, and sometimes it works. So instead of evicting them right away (even though they’ve posted no money) the judge will schedule a hearing. You’ll know this is occurring when you submit your Judgment for Default request. If the defendants have filed a letter, the small claims court will give you a copy of it. If your Judgment for Default is not signed and ready for you to pick up the next business day, the judge is scheduling a hearing. Tenants will do this to buy time, allowing them to stay in the property longer, without paying the rent. Don’t let this alarm you, as it’s no big deal. The rent they owe continues to accumulate, and they’re still going to be evicted. You will receive a notice of this hearing in the mail, generally 3-5 days prior. Do not miss this hearing. Otherwise, your case will be thrown out. Once you receive the notice, take it along with the copy of the letter the defendants sent to the judge, and copies of all other paperwork to your lawyer for review and advice. Your lawyer knows this judge – he’s probably represented clients before this judge many times. Your lawyer can tell you what to expect during the hearing, and advise you accordingly. Of course, you can have your lawyer go to the hearing with you – but he expects to be paid for that time. The most important thing I can tell you about the hearing is TELL THE TRUTH. Do not emphasize or exaggerate anything. Here is part of a transcript I pulled from actual court records that occurred during such an eviction hearing.Defendant: But your honor, the carpet is flea infested and I’ve incurred medical expense having my kids treated for all the flea bites. Additionally, I had to pay for having the house sprayed for fleas and basically deloused. Every window is painted shut and I couldn’t open a single one for airing out the house after having it sprayed – at my expense I might add. That’s why I couldn’t pay rent.Judge: Based on what I see in the check in form you signed when you signed the lease, you verified the house was immaculately cleaned, and specifically agreed in every room of the house the carpets were clean. You also verified all windows and window sills were clean. Are you telling me you didn’t know the windows were painted shut? Even if you didn’t know, it’s not relevant to this case. Why should I not evict you for not paying rent?Plaintiff: Your honor, here’s my receipt showing this house was sprayed inside and out, including the yard, prior to the tenants moving in. Also, here is my receipt showing I had the carpets cleaned by a professional carpet cleaner the day before it was sprayed. I would also like to bring to your attention item 16 in the contract, where the defendant agreed he was responsible for non-destructive pests.Defendant: But your Honor, I reported the hot water heater broken on the 15th. Per item 23 of our contract, he hasn’t fixed the hot water heater within a reasonable time. I have pre-school kids and they’ve been taking cold baths for 2 weeks. So that’s why I didn’t pay the rent. When he fixes the hot water heater, I’ll pay the rent.Judge: While I do agree your landlord violated the lease agreement by not fixing the hot water heater in what I consider a reasonable time, that does not give you the right to violate your terms of the lease. Two wrongs don’t make a right. This case is for non-payment of rent, not for violation of contract, specifically item 23. Therefore, I find for the plaintiff. You have 3 business days to vacate the premises. I will be issuing a Writ of Possession to the plaintiff in three business days. If you are not out of the plaintiff’s property by that time, law enforcement will forcibly remove you and your belongings from the plaintiff’s property. This hearing is closed. In the above the defendant was telling the truth about it being flea infested. But it’s apparent the tenant introduced the fleas when moving in. The eggs were probably on his furniture, having been infected at his previous residence. However, the defendant was flat out lying about the hot water heater. It was never reported to the landlord, because it was never broken. The judge is not stupid and sees what’s going on here. Note the judge did not question the plaintiff about the hot water heater. The judge doesn’t want to spend any more time than absolutely necessary on this case – he has other cases on his schedule. Therefore, he’s only going to entertain facts related to “THIS” case. Basically, the best thing the landlord can do at these hearings is KEEP YOUR DAMN MOUTH SHUT! Show absolutely no response to anything the defendant says, verbally or emotionally. Note that even though the judge did not ask for a response to the flea infestation accusations, the plaintiff simply produced FACTUAL PROOF. He presented carpet cleaning and bug spraying receipts to the judge. Then the plaintiff KEPT HIS MOUTH SHUT! If the judge is in any way interested in considering anything the defendant says, then the judge will ask you the plaintiff for a response. So…. If not asked – DON’T TELL. The more the defendant runs their mouth complaining about things not related to *this* specific case as filed, the better it is for you. ................
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