Are there any bases that need to be covered when including a no smoking policy in the lease agreement? Also can I put in increasing penalties for violation with possible eviction??
How about a NO-SMOKING rider for your lease that says something like:
Your rents are based on a non-smoking preference you elected when signing your lease. If, at the time of terminating or renewing your lease, it is established that you were not obiding by the the guideline of no smoking on premises, you will be billed for any and all parts and labor needed to eliminate odors, marks, burns, and stains left from smoking. All or portion of the deposit will be used towards the damages. If the damage repair costs exceed deposit amount, you will be billed for the remaining amount, payable within 14 days of invoice.
Signed dand dated...
Create your own wording, play with it and let an attourney double-check it before you use it. But this is a legal way to get paid for getting that mess of butt-burns and yellow stains cleaned up, as well as ionizer shock, industrial steam cleaning, and re-painting to eliminate the smells. EEEEGH!
Unless there is something in a lease that permits her to break it if she is called, she is still responsible for it. I would suggest looking for another tenant and trying to mitigate damages.
Since it is a military installation, perhaps you could go to the housing dept. on base. They are helping her pay for it most likely by giving her a basic allowance for quarters.(BAQ) You can probably work something out with them. They also might kick a new tenant your way. Get in good with somebody in that office because they get all newly stationed personnel in their office asking where to find good properties for rent. If your name comes up first.............
Tell her that you will be very fair to her, and honor the military rules and regulations, but in return you ask her to be fair to you, and find a friend to "take over the lease" and so to speak replace her. So you take her name of the lease, put a new person on, use her deposit and the same lease continues.
Not all the advice was accurate. Those who did not understand the special protections offered service members under the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act were off base.
Quote:Unless there is something in a lease that permits her to break it if she is called, she is still responsible for it. Soldiers and Sailors relief act excuses the service member from any liability when premature lease termination is required to comply with military orders.
Quote:Tell her that you will be very fair to her, and honor the military rules and regulations, but in return you ask her to be fair to you, and find a friend to "take over the lease" and so to speak replace her. So you take her name of the lease, put a new person on, use her deposit and the same lease continues.Military rules and regulations have nothing to do with this situation. The Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act is public law. In the absence of any actual damages, you have no right to withhold the security deposit.
I have to disagree with you. I spoke with a sargent who notified me that regarding the security deposit, it was between myself and the tenant. I investigated the "Soilders and Sailors relief act" and in fact it does not give the soilder the "right to terminate the lease without consequenses". Which means the tenant is still responsible to mitigage damages.
I spoke with the tenant today and told her that her security deposit will be forfieted if she terminates, and she said she understood and will attempt to get someone to take over her lease. If in fact I am able to get another military person in there I will not request additional monies.
I do not want to appear that I am not patriotic. However, this is business and also a learning experience. But I would much rather have this problem than some of the others I have read about.
Army personal have a code of ethics that must be followed on and OFF base.
You have TWO MONTHS to find a tenant, TWO MONTHS! She is fighting for OUR freedom which includes the ability of owning property in the GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!
Have done considerable research concerning SSCRA and tenant is definately covered if she chooses to fight for her deposit. Will be a slam dunk in her favor if goes to court. So question is ,give back deposit and move on or take chance and keep deposit and perhaps later wind up paying attorney to defend.Dont know if NY is same as MD but I couldnt represent self in court because of LLC had to be represented by Atty.You say its about business and if thats the case and your are dealing in military issues you need to study SSCRA and learn how to protect business interests within limits of law
I appreciate your advice and I certainly have no intentions on this going to court. As I said I liked this tenant, she was great and certainly I will let her out of her lease. I have already contacted the base and was placed on the "list" for incoming military personnel requesting off base housing.
I will certainly in my future dealings with the Army, specify a military clause. Can it be stated in such a clause "if tenant breaks lease due to transfer orders than security deposit is forfieted"? Just asking.
By the way this is my 3rd investment property, the other two have professional private people living in them and have no problems. However, I do find some peace in dealing with the military that the rent will be
in my account and that the tenants are "Peace-Full" folks.
Come to the Central Florida Realty Investors (CFRI) meeting this Wednesday (you can look them up in the phone book). I will be giving a small presentation on screening your tenants.
Get the book LANDLORDING: A Handymanual for Scrupulous Landlords and Landladies Who Do It Themselves by Leigh Robinson. It has a chapter devoted to screening potential tenants, with credit scores to accept, etc.
http://www.landlording.com/books.html
[ Edited by d_random on Date 02/02/2005 ]
another book I HIGHLY recommend (to add to the wonderful book recommended above) is STREETWISE LANDLORDING & PROPERTY MANAGEMENT by Mark B. Weiss,CCIM as well as SECRETS OF A MILLIONAIRE LANDLORD by Robert Shemin, ESQ. Great tips and tricks in both books about how to make sure you get paid by your tenants as well as to become more effective at being a manager and judging other management properties.
When I have a tenant that is falling behind or its time for a eviction I just have a letter come from my lawyer stating that he is going to be following up on the eviction and will be filing it and that it will only cost them more money the embaressment of the constables coming out and having to go to court. Works like a charm never had to follow through with the court action they pay up and bail out every time.
I read your post. I have pre-paid legal also but was wondering how they could handle an eviction if i ever needed one done. can you please let me know how everything turns out? I live here in Farmington Hills, MI.
As a rule of thumb, the best time to go full time in RE is when you have enough positive cash flow which will meet your expenses and more. Maybe acquire multifamily properties creatively that produces enough cash flow. Find out if there are any old, retiring investors in your neighborhood who want to carry a note and you can acquire those properties and then live of the income.
wow... thanks so much for that great info. That really helped to give a realistic viewpoint on this business.
Quick question on the 4 rentals you have under 36 mo lease option. Do you then refi those conventionally after the 36 mos? or sell them?
Just curious, did you buy the house that you turned into an 8 unit apartment from a forclosure auction? REO? I think that was a great idea. Can you give more specifics on that deal how much did you buy it for, how much did you put into rehab? How big was it that you could fit 8 units into it?
How about a NO-SMOKING rider for your lease that says something like:
Your rents are based on a non-smoking preference you elected when signing your lease. If, at the time of terminating or renewing your lease, it is established that you were not obiding by the the guideline of no smoking on premises, you will be billed for any and all parts and labor needed to eliminate odors, marks, burns, and stains left from smoking. All or portion of the deposit will be used towards the damages. If the damage repair costs exceed deposit amount, you will be billed for the remaining amount, payable within 14 days of invoice.
Signed dand dated...
Create your own wording, play with it and let an attourney double-check it before you use it. But this is a legal way to get paid for getting that mess of butt-burns and yellow stains cleaned up, as well as ionizer shock, industrial steam cleaning, and re-painting to eliminate the smells. EEEEGH!
Unless there is something in a lease that permits her to break it if she is called, she is still responsible for it. I would suggest looking for another tenant and trying to mitigate damages.
Since it is a military installation, perhaps you could go to the housing dept. on base. They are helping her pay for it most likely by giving her a basic allowance for quarters.(BAQ) You can probably work something out with them. They also might kick a new tenant your way. Get in good with somebody in that office because they get all newly stationed personnel in their office asking where to find good properties for rent. If your name comes up first.............
Tell her that you will be very fair to her, and honor the military rules and regulations, but in return you ask her to be fair to you, and find a friend to "take over the lease" and so to speak replace her. So you take her name of the lease, put a new person on, use her deposit and the same lease continues.
Not all the advice was accurate. Those who did not understand the special protections offered service members under the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act were off base.
Newkidintown2,
Please explain what you mean.
Quote:Unless there is something in a lease that permits her to break it if she is called, she is still responsible for it. Soldiers and Sailors relief act excuses the service member from any liability when premature lease termination is required to comply with military orders.
Quote:Tell her that you will be very fair to her, and honor the military rules and regulations, but in return you ask her to be fair to you, and find a friend to "take over the lease" and so to speak replace her. So you take her name of the lease, put a new person on, use her deposit and the same lease continues.Military rules and regulations have nothing to do with this situation. The Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act is public law. In the absence of any actual damages, you have no right to withhold the security deposit.
I have to disagree with you. I spoke with a sargent who notified me that regarding the security deposit, it was between myself and the tenant. I investigated the "Soilders and Sailors relief act" and in fact it does not give the soilder the "right to terminate the lease without consequenses". Which means the tenant is still responsible to mitigage damages.
I spoke with the tenant today and told her that her security deposit will be forfieted if she terminates, and she said she understood and will attempt to get someone to take over her lease. If in fact I am able to get another military person in there I will not request additional monies.
I do not want to appear that I am not patriotic. However, this is business and also a learning experience. But I would much rather have this problem than some of the others I have read about.
Army personal have a code of ethics that must be followed on and OFF base.
We will see how this plays out!
You have TWO MONTHS to find a tenant, TWO MONTHS! She is fighting for OUR freedom which includes the ability of owning property in the GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!
Find yourself another tenant and move on.
P.S. If you are reading these posts, thank a teacher.
If you are reading these posts in English, thank a Vet.
I guess I should have emphasized that it only takes me about a week to find a tenant in my market.
In a time of war, with all the political mudslinging, I figured it was easier to find another tenant then to go through all of this.
When you rent to military, uncontrollable things happen. Own it.
Have done considerable research concerning SSCRA and tenant is definately covered if she chooses to fight for her deposit. Will be a slam dunk in her favor if goes to court. So question is ,give back deposit and move on or take chance and keep deposit and perhaps later wind up paying attorney to defend.Dont know if NY is same as MD but I couldnt represent self in court because of LLC had to be represented by Atty.You say its about business and if thats the case and your are dealing in military issues you need to study SSCRA and learn how to protect business interests within limits of law
I appreciate your advice and I certainly have no intentions on this going to court. As I said I liked this tenant, she was great and certainly I will let her out of her lease. I have already contacted the base and was placed on the "list" for incoming military personnel requesting off base housing.
I will certainly in my future dealings with the Army, specify a military clause. Can it be stated in such a clause "if tenant breaks lease due to transfer orders than security deposit is forfieted"? Just asking.
By the way this is my 3rd investment property, the other two have professional private people living in them and have no problems. However, I do find some peace in dealing with the military that the rent will be
in my account and that the tenants are "Peace-Full" folks.
Come to the Central Florida Realty Investors (CFRI) meeting this Wednesday (you can look them up in the phone book). I will be giving a small presentation on screening your tenants.
Brenda
Clerk of the Court
425 N. Orange Avenue
Orlando
[addsig]
Get the book LANDLORDING: A Handymanual for Scrupulous Landlords and Landladies Who Do It Themselves by Leigh Robinson. It has a chapter devoted to screening potential tenants, with credit scores to accept, etc.
http://www.landlording.com/books.html
[ Edited by d_random on Date 02/02/2005 ]
Brenda,
another book I HIGHLY recommend (to add to the wonderful book recommended above) is STREETWISE LANDLORDING & PROPERTY MANAGEMENT by Mark B. Weiss,CCIM as well as SECRETS OF A MILLIONAIRE LANDLORD by Robert Shemin, ESQ. Great tips and tricks in both books about how to make sure you get paid by your tenants as well as to become more effective at being a manager and judging other management properties.
Good luck in your business!
When I have a tenant that is falling behind or its time for a eviction I just have a letter come from my lawyer stating that he is going to be following up on the eviction and will be filing it and that it will only cost them more money the embaressment of the constables coming out and having to go to court. Works like a charm never had to follow through with the court action they pay up and bail out every time.
Hello Quinn,
I read your post. I have pre-paid legal also but was wondering how they could handle an eviction if i ever needed one done. can you please let me know how everything turns out? I live here in Farmington Hills, MI.
Thank you...
Sure will
quinn
As a rule of thumb, the best time to go full time in RE is when you have enough positive cash flow which will meet your expenses and more. Maybe acquire multifamily properties creatively that produces enough cash flow. Find out if there are any old, retiring investors in your neighborhood who want to carry a note and you can acquire those properties and then live of the income.
This is a good thread. I am just starting by buying some rentals. Not enough cash flow to become full time but I hope it is a start.
How many pros in hear are well diversified in the different methods of REI? Does anyone use most of the ways that are talked about on this board?
GMoney,
wow... thanks so much for that great info. That really helped to give a realistic viewpoint on this business.
Quick question on the 4 rentals you have under 36 mo lease option. Do you then refi those conventionally after the 36 mos? or sell them?
Just curious, did you buy the house that you turned into an 8 unit apartment from a forclosure auction? REO? I think that was a great idea. Can you give more specifics on that deal how much did you buy it for, how much did you put into rehab? How big was it that you could fit 8 units into it?
Thanks again, you rock Gmoney!